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SAHM / Working Mum Series: Introducing Zeruiah



About Zeruiah.

"I am a 29 year old first time mum to a beautiful charismatic 16 month old baby girl Taliyah. With my husband we are a family of 3 residing in South East London. In my spare time my hobbies include art, writing and Photograpy. Before I became a working Mum I was on a long maternity leave for about 14 months. Prior to pregnancy I was a full time working woman."

1. What made you decide to return to work on a full-time basis?

"Well I always wanted to be working once I became a mother and returning full time was not what I originally planned. However I had a good job opportunity and I believed that Taliyah had reached a point in development were I would feel comfortable not being with her 24-7."

2. Now that you are back at work how do you feel within yourself? Do you ever feel that you suffer with mum guilt?

"I am really happy being back at work as I love being in a fast paced environment, although being a mum is just as fast as working lol. It’s a different sense of responsibility and I like that. Before even going back to work leading up to it I was suffering with serious mum guilt. This is because as an exclusively breastfeeding mother of a baby that didn’t drink expressed milk from a bottle I was worried she would miss her nursing sessions during the day. It weighed heavy on me but my husband and my mother assured me she would cope well."

3. Did you ever consider being a Stay at home mum permanently?

"I did consider being a stay at home mum permanently as I really enjoyed spending every moment with my daughter and watching her achieve all her milestones. Being about to do activities with her during the week and just be part of development process was so rewarding."

4. What did you miss about working?

"I think there are two things I missed about working; the money (let’s be honest who doesn’t love extra cash) and the adult interaction. It’s all fine and dandy interacting with your mum friends but sometimes you do need a different type of conversation."

5. How have your aspirations changed since becoming a working mother?

"Since becoming a working mum I think I have a new found respect for all mums as motherhood is a big deal. Also I feel like I want to constantly do my best and continue to work hard to be able to give my daughter the best life."

6. What do you think is the perception of working mums?

"I think a lot of people think that working mums are a bit selfish and put careers ahead of their children, but it’s the complete opposite as we are working hard to provide a bigger and better future for our children."

7. Are there any negatives of being a working mum?

"I would say the only negative about being a working mum for me is not being able to spend as much time as I want with my daughter. As I am limited to evenings and weekends."

8. What are the positives of being a working mum?

"I think my biggest positive is the fact that my daughter has reached new developments (independence) that would have only taken place with me being away from her. For example she has started drinking expressed milk in a bottle, something I didn’t think would happen ever. Also, the fact that the days and time I spend with her is even more special for the both of us."


9. What does a typical day in your shoes look like?

"My typical day starts with an early morning wake up at 6.30am get myself ready before Taliyah wakes up. Then get her ready with the help of her dad. I then race to drop her off at my parents house, give her, her last bit of liquid gold before sneaking out of the house to battle my morning journey into central London for work. During lunch time I spend 15 minutes dedicated to pumping to keep my milk supply up. Hometime- race to my parents to pick up Taliyah which normally ends up with her wrestling me for back to back boob then racing back home for dinner time with hubby then winding down to some trash tv."

10. What advice would you give to working mums or mums who are thinking of returning to work?

"The best advice I would give to any mum wanting to return to work is to be optimistic, plan beforehand and trust your instincts. As mothers we tend to doubt ourselves a lot however our babies are a lot more capable than we think and know how to handle situations that we would deem as very hard."

11. What is your favourite thing to do after a long day at work to unwind?

"My favourite thing to do after a long day as cliche as it sounds is cuddling on the sofa with my daughter."

12. Finally, where can we find you on the internet?

"You can find me on twitter @zeruiah__ or @smilesndrool and you can find me on Instagram flooding your timeline with baby spam @smilesndrool. Lastly you can drop by on my website and have a cheeky read of my lastest blog posts www.smilesndrool.com"

Thank you, Zeruiah, for a very enlightening and perceptive interview into your thoughts on being a married, working mother. I love the fact that you are so dedicated to giving your daughter the very best start in life. I also agree with you regarding our children being much more resilient than we may initially believe. As our children grow up they learn quickly how to adapt and cope with different situations. Therefore, it is important for us to continue being great role models for them.

I love to read everyone’s comments and stories about their own first-hand experiences with motherhood. I feel that as mothers we have so much to share to help others because you would be so surprised at how your story could help to inspire or encourage mothers. I am excited to see how the different topics planned shall unfold and of course to meet so many remarkable and diverse mothers. If you would like to be a part of my series, please feel free to contact me at;

hello@theresilientmum.com

With Love,

Roxanne-Sasha x

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