But they do pass. And it’s not just the tougher parts that pass.
All the lovely little stages will also pass. The sweet milky sighs as they drift off to sleep, the squishy soft rolls of fat that somehow make you want to eat your own baby. The gorgeous little mispronounced words that make your heart burst. They also pass.
Because the mantra is true of everything in motherhood, except your love for your little one.
This too shall pass.
And really, truly understanding and accepting this mantra can have a profound impact on how you cope with the tougher stages, and how you enjoy the sweet moments.
It makes everything easier, more relaxed. The challenging moments are less daunting, less filled with doubt, and the sweet moments are more treasured, more heartbreakingly beautiful.
I can’t teach you how to understand and accept this mantra, it needs to be something you journey towards yourself, and feel in your heart. But I guarantee that once you believe it to be true, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy every stage of motherhood so much more. But even so, remember that it’s still OK not to love motherhood sometimes, too!
Hayley Bukhamsin is founder of The Gentle Mama (www.thegentlemama.com, Instagram, Facebook). She is a certified Infant Sleep Educator, specialising in supporting parents to achieve healthier and happier sleep, balance for the whole family, and confidence in their instincts. Her primary motivation is to empower parents to cut through the clutter of confusing advice in order to listen to their own intuition and their babies’ communications.
Whilst Hayley’s clients come from all over the world, she currently lives with her husband and two daughters in Dubai, UAE. She earned a BA Hons degree from The University of Nottingham, UK, before starting a career in advertising. It wasn’t until the birth of her first daughter that she discovered her true passions: Attachment Parenting, Gentle Parenting and, above all, healthy infant sleep.
For the last 5 years, Hayley has pursued this passion actively, building an Attachment Parenting community within the UAE, blogging about her parenting experiences, founding The Gentle Mama and writing for national and international titles including The Natural Parent Magazine.
