Brilliant Mum Feature Week 19
Hello and welcome to the Brilliant Mum Feature. Once a week I will be featuring one mum in a bid to find out more about them and their lives.
If you’d like to take part in this series, simply fill in this form.
This week our brilliant mum feature is Gabriella who blogs at Mummy Needs Gin.
Gabriella is 31 years old and lives in Herefordshire with her opera singing fiancé, her 6 year old verlociraptor (that’s what he pretends to be most days) and her 1 year old daughter. Gabriella says she’s doing everything the Government wants, by shoving her delightful urchins into childcare & school while she sits on her bottom eating lunch al-desk-o (see what she did there?) and being a business woman.
Gabriella is head of marketing for a home appliances brand and splits her time between the office and home. In her spare time, she loves to…. wait, SPARE TIME?! What is that and why do you have it says Gabriella!?? She hasn’t heard that delicious phrase in over 6 years…. Her idea of time to herself is having a wee without her 6 year old walking in casually to tell her his bottom hurts, or driving her car without the base only pumping to a nauseating version of ‘The Wheels of the Bus”. In reality, Gabriella loves visiting new places, going to see movies and theatre shows and going for long walks. (This stuff NEVER happens!) But this is her life and although ridiculously chaotic, Gabriella says she guesses she should say she loves it!
Thanks for taking part Gabriella!
Have you always wanted to be a mum?
Absolutely. But I was a naive rose tinted 9 year old when I thought changing nappies was blissfully fun. Little did I realise I’d be wearing human fluids and rusks in my hair most days and longing for bed at 6pm. But yes, I did, I always wanted to own my own little people!
How did you feel when your children were born?
My birth with my son was extremely traumatic and so made bonding difficult. I was in love and relieved he was ok naturally, but I was in shock and had lost an awful lot of blood. It terrified me to consider having children again after him and I couldn’t talk about his birth to anyone for four years. I was diagnosed with PTSD. But fate decided to give it another go and we fell pregnant with my daughter. She was born by elective section and my goodness, what a different experience. It was so calm and controlled and the moment I heard and saw her, I was overwhelmed with love, as it should be. The positive birth experience helped me to heal mentally from my first birth, and we have an incredible bond.
What have been your most rewarding experiences so far as a mum?
Realising that I have a purpose. Motherhood is hard, really hard. And we are expected to be everything else too, career women, perfect wife’s, and look like supermodels. The pressure is intense and it sets you up to doubt yourself. However, when I look at the way these children love me, I realise that I am good enough, I am needed, and I was meant to do this.
What are some of your funniest moments to have happened to you as a mum?
Where to start! My son pulling his pants down in a very posh pub garden and urinating freely as people ate their lunch. (We had previously let him do a nature wee on a long car journey and so of course, he deemed this acceptable!) I literally slid under the bench and tried to hide as I heard horrified gasps whilst this white bottom adorned the garden and a golden stream of wee glistened in the sun.
I always leave the house with some sort of baby fluid on me but I guess I’m so used to it now that my levels of embarrassment have gone down!
Have there been any situations with your children that you have found difficult to cope with?
My son missing his father. We divorced when he was 2 years old and I never wanted my children to feel what I did growing up (my parents were divorced). I always missed one of them and remember being so sad. I struggle with that guilt daily. He sees him really regularly but it’s still hard.
What are your dreams and hopes for your children?
I think the best thing you can give your children is manners and kindness, whatever they go on to do in life, I know that they will be liked. I want them to also know that they are loved and supported whoever they become.
You can find Gabriella online here…
Twitter: @mummyneedsgin
Instagram: mummyneeds_gin
If you’ve been featured as a brilliant mum and would like to share this badge on your blog, please do!
