Interview with Reshmin Chowdhury
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Interview with Mother Pukka AKA Anna Whitehouse
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54,000 women every year are locked out of the workforce for daring to have a baby
The inspirational Anna Whitehouse aka Mother Pukka is a Mum of two, soon to be three girls, a writer, podcast host, campaigner for flexible working and founder of Flex Appeal.
Anna is formidable in her pursuit for equality in the workplace, fuelled by her passion to ensure that her girls, or any girls, don’t face a future where you can have your career snatched away from you just because you dared to have a baby; sadly this is something that Anna experienced first hand.
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Interview with Mother PUKKA AKA ANNA Whitehouse
__________________________________
54,000 women every year are locked out of the workforce for daring to have a baby
The inspirational Anna Whitehouse aka Mother Pukka is a Mum of two, soon to be three girls, a writer, podcast host, campaigner for flexible working and founder of Flex Appeal.
Anna is formidable in her pursuit for equality in the workplace, fuelled by her passion to ensure that her girls, or any girls, don’t face a future where you can have your career snatched away from you just because you dared to have a baby; sadly this is something that Anna experienced first hand.
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MUM-OF-TWO, RESHMIN CHOWDHURY IS A BRITISH SPORTS JOURNALIST AND BROADCASTER KNOWN FOR HER WORK WITH TNT SPORTS AND talkSPORT, AND MAJOR GLOBAL EVENTS LIKE THE FIFA WORLD CUP, THE OLYMPICS AND THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. RESHMIN HAS A BACKGROUND IN POLITICS AND JOURNALISM, AND BEGAN HER CAREER IN NEWS BEFORE MOVING INTO SPORTS BROADCASTING. SHE’S MULTILINGUAL, HAS WORKED WITH TOP ATHLETES, AND IS ALSO A CLASSICALLY TRAINED SINGER. AS A SINGLE MOTHER, SHE ALSO ADVOCATES FOR DIVERSITY AND REPRESENTATION IN MEDIA.
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Reshmin Chowdhury Images © BROOD Magazine Limited
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“…My daughter initially said to me, ‘Mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.”
What has been the most challenging time in your life since having to juggle both work and parenthood?
Anna: “I think this is probably something every one of your readers has gone through. Regardless of whether you are, I hate the term stay-at-home-mum because no parent stays at home, you’re out doing things all the time and everyone’s a full time mum. I think it’s really offensive when you hear, I’m a full time mum. Well no actually, I’m a full time mum too. Everyone’s a full time mum because even when you’re working, you’re still carrying the weight of parenting at the same time, That’s why it’s heavy for us all at times. The administration of that %91parenting%93. You’re carrying your child from birth to primary school even at secondary school and beyond. I think a lot of your readers would probably relate here, regardless of, if you’re a ‘stay-at-home mum’ or, you know, you work, in an office or away… when that moment where your child says ‘Mummy, why are you on your phone?’ And there’s this moment that happens, in every single parent’s day where you’re caught between everything you need to do and just being with your child. My daughter initially said to me, ‘mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.’ And it broke me. So that is the kind of thing that is challenging. It’s trying to mentally balance the love I have for them, knowing that my heart is with them, but my head is with my mortgage, with the things I need to add structure to their lives, safety, security and recognising that is also love for them. And I’m actually split in the middle and I think that our phones are quite representative of that split, that divide, that tension. Because what parent hasn’t said to their child. ‘Just a minute, just a minute.’ And then they look at you and they say, ‘has it been a minute yet.’ And you’re like, ‘just a second’ and then they’ll ask ‘Is it a second yet?.’ Then you can feel yourself rising and you feel that feeling in your chest, because what you’re trying to do is answer an email or message or a client request in the middle of maybe cooking their dinner, or do one of the thousand other things that need doing. You can then get to a point where you lose it. And I lost it the other day, I said ‘if you don’t stop fighting (over some toy that neither of them cared about) …if you don’t stop doing that, Mum is going to lose her temperature!’ And as I said temperature, they just burst out laughing. %91She laughs%93 But that’s kind of how it feels. You’re kind of like a kettle boiling. And as you do lose your temperature, you lose your temper, you lose your marbles, you lose your mind! You know, there’s so much loss in motherhood. There’s loss of hair. There’s a loss of glow. You know, you go from pregnant to not pregnant. There’s lots of skin that used to be firm and isn’t anymore. There’s loss of self. There’s loss of conversation etc. But in all of that, in the fragments of that loss, you find yourself. The best bit of standing in the middle of what can seem like rubble is looking at my two little girls and thinking, ‘I get to be your mother, I get to be your parent.” But yes, all that extra pressure that comes with being a mum I would say probably remains the most challenging job Mother Nature could ever bestow %91she laughs.%93”
And to end on a high note, what has been the highlight of your career so far?”
Anna: “I think the highlight of my career is actually, moments with my two girls. I’m really trying to carve that time out. I think it’s really easy to go to kind of accolades or moments or legislation or, you know, maybe hosting something or quite big tangible things, but the biggest thing for me is reclaiming time with them. That’s my success story. Time that I know a more archaic employer would have taken from me. So I think it’s probably sitting on the sofa on a Sunday morning, when we’re all in our PJs, whilst they eat Cheerios and you end up with one in your bra stuck to you. Those moments where they are snuggled up with you, and you can feel the warmth of their little bodies, whilst watching some inane cartoon; those are the moments you live for.
If I was going to say on a tangible level, it would be changing the law of flexible working. The flexible working bill that came into effect in April of this year. I didn’t do it on my own though, there were a hell of a lot of other organisations involved in that. But the reason that matters is because it’s something where I can say to my little girls, I did that because I’m not letting you go through what I went through. %91Anna voice quivers and her eyes fill with tears%93 I’m not letting you go through that. I just couldn’t. I couldn’t watch them go do their ABCs, and then their GCSEs and their A-levels and maybe get that first job. You know when you get a phone on a computer. Going from the excitement of that to then having someone take it away. I’m not letting them go through that. That’s what happened to me and it’s certainly not happening to this one %91She rubs her stomach%93 So yeah, I think it’s to change the structure of the world that has written us, as little girls, off!”
You can follow the inspirational Anna Whitehouse on Instagram @Mother_Pukka or visit her website: www.motherpukka.co.uk/
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“…My daughter initially said to me, ‘Mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.”
What has been the most challenging time in your life since having to juggle both work and parenthood?
Anna: “I think this is probably something every one of your readers has gone through. Regardless of whether you are, I hate the term stay-at-home-mum because no parent stays at home, you’re out doing things all the time and everyone’s a full time mum. I think it’s really offensive when you hear, I’m a full time mum. Well no actually, I’m a full time mum too. Everyone’s a full time mum because even when you’re working, you’re still carrying the weight of parenting at the same time, That’s why it’s heavy for us all at times. The administration of that %91parenting%93. You’re carrying your child from birth to primary school even at secondary school and beyond. I think a lot of your readers would probably relate here, regardless of, if you’re a ‘stay-at-home mum’ or, you know, you work, in an office or away… when that moment where your child says ‘Mummy, why are you on your phone?’ And there’s this moment that happens, in every single parent’s day where you’re caught between everything you need to do and just being with your child. My daughter initially said to me, ‘mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.’ And it broke me. So that is the kind of thing that is challenging. It’s trying to mentally balance the love I have for them, knowing that my heart is with them, but my head is with my mortgage, with the things I need to add structure to their lives, safety, security and recognising that is also love for them. And I’m actually split in the middle and I think that our phones are quite representative of that split, that divide, that tension. Because what parent hasn’t said to their child. ‘Just a minute, just a minute.’ And then they look at you and they say, ‘has it been a minute yet.’ And you’re like, ‘just a second’ and then they’ll ask ‘Is it a second yet?.’ Then you can feel yourself rising and you feel that feeling in your chest, because what you’re trying to do is answer an email or message or a client request in the middle of maybe cooking their dinner, or do one of the thousand other things that need doing. You can then get to a point where you lose it. And I lost it the other day, I said ‘if you don’t stop fighting (over some toy that neither of them cared about) …if you don’t stop doing that, Mum is going to lose her temperature!’ And as I said temperature, they just burst out laughing. %91She laughs%93 But that’s kind of how it feels. You’re kind of like a kettle boiling. And as you do lose your temperature, you lose your temper, you lose your marbles, you lose your mind! You know, there’s so much loss in motherhood. There’s loss of hair. There’s a loss of glow. You know, you go from pregnant to not pregnant. There’s lots of skin that used to be firm and isn’t anymore. There’s loss of self. There’s loss of conversation etc. But in all of that, in the fragments of that loss, you find yourself. The best bit of standing in the middle of what can seem like rubble is looking at my two little girls and thinking, ‘I get to be your mother, I get to be your parent.” But yes, all that extra pressure that comes with being a mum I would say probably remains the most challenging job Mother Nature could ever bestow %91she laughs.%93”
And to end on a high note, what has been the highlight of your career so far?”
Anna: “I think the highlight of my career is actually, moments with my two girls. I’m really trying to carve that time out. I think it’s really easy to go to kind of accolades or moments or legislation or, you know, maybe hosting something or quite big tangible things, but the biggest thing for me is reclaiming time with them. That’s my success story. Time that I know a more archaic employer would have taken from me. So I think it’s probably sitting on the sofa on a Sunday morning, when we’re all in our PJs, whilst they eat Cheerios and you end up with one in your bra stuck to you. Those moments where they are snuggled up with you, and you can feel the warmth of their little bodies, whilst watching some inane cartoon; those are the moments you live for.
If I was going to say on a tangible level, it would be changing the law of flexible working. The flexible working bill that came into effect in April of this year. I didn’t do it on my own though, there were a hell of a lot of other organisations involved in that. But the reason that matters is because it’s something where I can say to my little girls, I did that because I’m not letting you go through what I went through. %91Anna voice quivers and her eyes fill with tears%93 I’m not letting you go through that. I just couldn’t. I couldn’t watch them go do their ABCs, and then their GCSEs and their A-levels and maybe get that first job. You know when you get a phone on a computer. Going from the excitement of that to then having someone take it away. I’m not letting them go through that. That’s what happened to me and it’s certainly not happening to this one %91She rubs her stomach%93 So yeah, I think it’s to change the structure of the world that has written us, as little girls, off!”
You can follow the inspirational Anna Whitehouse on Instagram @Mother_Pukka or visit her website: www.motherpukka.co.uk/
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“I always think I’m at my best when I’m calm, content and my faith is strong. I always say all the best things have happened for me when my faith has been at it’s strongest.”
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Anna’s unwavering passion, eloquence, honesty and relentless campaigning have led her to gain a loyal following that amasses over 400k on Instagram alone. Anna is admired and appreciated by so many parents far and wide for being a much-needed voice around flexible working, childcare costs, and maternity and paternity packages. We sat down with Anna to discuss the challenges she has faced since becoming a parent and why this time around she’s not going to return to work with any apologies.
At what point in your career did you first become a parent? And how did you find that transition?
Anna: “I first became a parent just as my career was really taking off. I think this happens with a lot of women actually; you’re at that junction where your career is going like this, %91Anna gestures an upward movement%93 and then suddenly you have a baby %91she meets and connects the other hand%93 and it kind of cuts you off a bit. And this is not because of a lack of your own enthusiasm, your own experience or your own brilliance, but because of the ceiling that the world of discrimination puts upon us mothers. So yeah, my eldest came along as I was rising %91up%93, I then just hit a complete wall.
Where did your inspiration for ‘Mother Pukka’ come from?
Anna: “Mother Pukka came from a really primal, visceral, maternal, angry place. That’s why it was quite blue at first. It was Mother something else! %91She laughs%93 So it was watered down and became Mother Pukka. But initially, it came from a place of just ‘hacked-off-ness’. I’d seen so many baby magazines and so many articles that were aimed at parents, all of them talking about what nipple teat to have and what ‘bugaboo’ to get, and what nappy changing bag worked, but no one was talking about the motherhood penalty. No one was talking about the lack of flexible working for parents. No one was talking about the quiet swathes of women who are disappearing from the workforce just because they assumed that’s what needed to happen because of the status quo. And so mother pukka, just came from this place of frustration that I’d had my flexible working request denied for really vague reasons.
Like ‘it would open the floodgates for other people to have flexible working!?’ And I was like, I’m sorry, let’s open the floodgates because people are drowning behind them! Specifically mothers – 54,000 mothers every year are discriminated against. So, yeah, that’s where it %91Mother Pukka%93 came from.”
At what point in your career did you first become a parent? And how did you find that transition?
Anna: “I first became a parent just as my career was really taking off. I think this happens with a lot of women actually; you’re at that junction where your career is going like this, %91Anna gestures an upward movement%93 and then suddenly you have a baby %91she meets and connects the other hand%93 and it kind of cuts you off a bit. And this is not because of a lack of your own enthusiasm, your own experience or your own brilliance, but because of the ceiling that the world of discrimination puts upon us mothers. So yeah, my eldest came along as I was rising %91up%93, I then just hit a complete wall.
Where did your inspiration for ‘Mother Pukka’ come from?
Anna: “Mother Pukka came from a really primal, visceral, maternal, angry place. That’s why it was quite blue at first. It was Mother something else! %91She laughs%93 So it was watered down and became Mother Pukka. But initially, it came from a place of just ‘hacked-off-ness’. I’d seen so many baby magazines and so many articles that were aimed at parents, all of them talking about what nipple teat to have and what ‘bugaboo’ to get, and what nappy changing bag worked, but no one was talking about the motherhood penalty. No one was talking about the lack of flexible working for parents. No one was talking about the quiet swathes of women who are disappearing from the workforce just because they assumed that’s what needed to happen because of the status quo. And so mother pukka, just came from this place of frustration that I’d had my flexible working request denied for really vague reasons.
Like ‘it would open the floodgates for other people to have flexible working!?’ And I was like, I’m sorry, let’s open the floodgates because people are drowning behind them! Specifically mothers – 54,000 mothers every year are discriminated against. So, yeah, that’s where it %91Mother Pukka%93 came from.”
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When you became a mum for the first time did you have to take a step back from your career at all, and did it affect you – being a woman in the sports industry that’s been notoriously tough for women to break into?
It’s hard to say whether it affected it directly, but I’d say it definitely took much longer to get to my eventual destination. My kids are 20 months apart, so I had to take a real pause in life of about three years. I wasn’t exactly where I wanted to be workwise when I first fell pregnant, so it certainly slowed the process, but I managed to catch up, I guess.
I was working for the BBC in London when I had my daughter and then the job moved to Manchester, which added another layer to the juggle.
However, BT Sport launched the year my son was born and their HQ just happened to be on my doorstep, so that changed everything for the better. I spent my first year based in the office (and juggling the Manchester role), but the following year I started working on the European football, which meant travelling all the time. I’d say that was really my starting point in terms of my ‘parent journey’ in sport. I’d be locked in, often on the road, Monday to Friday in the week and one weekend a month in Manchester with the BBC, whilst navigating two children who were 2 and 3 years old on top of that. That was the most gruelling time of my life with practically zero support and understanding within the industry. Sometimes I look back and think: “how did I do that?” I don’t remember breathing much! Joking aside, I will never sugar coat how tough that period of my life was.
I’m definitely glad I had my children when I did, so despite the initial pause, I feel really blessed. I truly believe in things happening when they’re meant to and this is definitely one of those examples.
Career-wise, you have some amazing career accolades, including going to Qatar for the World Cup and most recently fronting the Paris Olympics. How did you juggle everything during those times and did you have to navigate mum guilt?
The juggle is endless and the mum guilt never goes away. You just have to put your professional hat on and say to yourself, “Right, this is what’s happening and there’s nothing I can do about it. This is part of what I do.”
It’s really hard work. I think it’s hard enough without kids to prepare for a month away and be on top of everything, but when you have a family, and especially as a mother, it’s even more challenging. Mentally that juggle is harder than the actual physical juggle because you’re always torn between two different worlds.
My ex-husband and I share parental responsibility – we’re completely 50/50 and live five minutes away from each other, so however our schedules pan out, we are very flexible and always find a way to make it work.
The kids understand my job and what I do, and to be honest, I don’t think they even notice when I’m away any more! [she jokes].
As with a lot of people in this industry, you work hours that are completely inconvenient to family life. It’s mostly evenings and weekends, but when you work on big tournaments, that’s not a regular set up that’s conducive to family life either, so you have to be constantly flexible.
You also have to have tunnel vision in a sense and be very understanding and kind to yourself. And whilst you have that mental tussle of being away from the kids, you have to be able to deal with it, be professional, do a good job and know that you will make up for things when you get back home. You have to become resilient and most importantly, just get on with it. I have to keep reminding myself about the most important thing: I have a great relationship with my kids, I love them and they know that.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”4.23.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_divider][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Related Articles” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
“…My daughter initially said to me, ‘Mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.”
What has been the most challenging time in your life since having to juggle both work and parenthood?
Anna: “I think this is probably something every one of your readers has gone through. Regardless of whether you are, I hate the term stay-at-home-mum because no parent stays at home, you’re out doing things all the time and everyone’s a full time mum. I think it’s really offensive when you hear, I’m a full time mum. Well no actually, I’m a full time mum too. Everyone’s a full time mum because even when you’re working, you’re still carrying the weight of parenting at the same time, That’s why it’s heavy for us all at times. The administration of that %91parenting%93. You’re carrying your child from birth to primary school even at secondary school and beyond. I think a lot of your readers would probably relate here, regardless of, if you’re a ‘stay-at-home mum’ or, you know, you work, in an office or away… when that moment where your child says ‘Mummy, why are you on your phone?’ And there’s this moment that happens, in every single parent’s day where you’re caught between everything you need to do and just being with your child. My daughter initially said to me, ‘mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.’ And it broke me. So that is the kind of thing that is challenging. It’s trying to mentally balance the love I have for them, knowing that my heart is with them, but my head is with my mortgage, with the things I need to add structure to their lives, safety, security and recognising that is also love for them. And I’m actually split in the middle and I think that our phones are quite representative of that split, that divide, that tension. Because what parent hasn’t said to their child. ‘Just a minute, just a minute.’ And then they look at you and they say, ‘has it been a minute yet.’ And you’re like, ‘just a second’ and then they’ll ask ‘Is it a second yet?.’ Then you can feel yourself rising and you feel that feeling in your chest, because what you’re trying to do is answer an email or message or a client request in the middle of maybe cooking their dinner, or do one of the thousand other things that need doing. You can then get to a point where you lose it. And I lost it the other day, I said ‘if you don’t stop fighting (over some toy that neither of them cared about) …if you don’t stop doing that, Mum is going to lose her temperature!’ And as I said temperature, they just burst out laughing. %91She laughs%93 But that’s kind of how it feels. You’re kind of like a kettle boiling. And as you do lose your temperature, you lose your temper, you lose your marbles, you lose your mind! You know, there’s so much loss in motherhood. There’s loss of hair. There’s a loss of glow. You know, you go from pregnant to not pregnant. There’s lots of skin that used to be firm and isn’t anymore. There’s loss of self. There’s loss of conversation etc. But in all of that, in the fragments of that loss, you find yourself. The best bit of standing in the middle of what can seem like rubble is looking at my two little girls and thinking, ‘I get to be your mother, I get to be your parent.” But yes, all that extra pressure that comes with being a mum I would say probably remains the most challenging job Mother Nature could ever bestow %91she laughs.%93”
And to end on a high note, what has been the highlight of your career so far?”
Anna: “I think the highlight of my career is actually, moments with my two girls. I’m really trying to carve that time out. I think it’s really easy to go to kind of accolades or moments or legislation or, you know, maybe hosting something or quite big tangible things, but the biggest thing for me is reclaiming time with them. That’s my success story. Time that I know a more archaic employer would have taken from me. So I think it’s probably sitting on the sofa on a Sunday morning, when we’re all in our PJs, whilst they eat Cheerios and you end up with one in your bra stuck to you. Those moments where they are snuggled up with you, and you can feel the warmth of their little bodies, whilst watching some inane cartoon; those are the moments you live for.
If I was going to say on a tangible level, it would be changing the law of flexible working. The flexible working bill that came into effect in April of this year. I didn’t do it on my own though, there were a hell of a lot of other organisations involved in that. But the reason that matters is because it’s something where I can say to my little girls, I did that because I’m not letting you go through what I went through. %91Anna voice quivers and her eyes fill with tears%93 I’m not letting you go through that. I just couldn’t. I couldn’t watch them go do their ABCs, and then their GCSEs and their A-levels and maybe get that first job. You know when you get a phone on a computer. Going from the excitement of that to then having someone take it away. I’m not letting them go through that. That’s what happened to me and it’s certainly not happening to this one %91She rubs her stomach%93 So yeah, I think it’s to change the structure of the world that has written us, as little girls, off!”
You can follow the inspirational Anna Whitehouse on Instagram @Mother_Pukka or visit her website: www.motherpukka.co.uk/
” content_phone=”
“…My daughter initially said to me, ‘Mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.”
What has been the most challenging time in your life since having to juggle both work and parenthood?
Anna: “I think this is probably something every one of your readers has gone through. Regardless of whether you are, I hate the term stay-at-home-mum because no parent stays at home, you’re out doing things all the time and everyone’s a full time mum. I think it’s really offensive when you hear, I’m a full time mum. Well no actually, I’m a full time mum too. Everyone’s a full time mum because even when you’re working, you’re still carrying the weight of parenting at the same time, That’s why it’s heavy for us all at times. The administration of that %91parenting%93. You’re carrying your child from birth to primary school even at secondary school and beyond. I think a lot of your readers would probably relate here, regardless of, if you’re a ‘stay-at-home mum’ or, you know, you work, in an office or away… when that moment where your child says ‘Mummy, why are you on your phone?’ And there’s this moment that happens, in every single parent’s day where you’re caught between everything you need to do and just being with your child. My daughter initially said to me, ‘mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.’ And it broke me. So that is the kind of thing that is challenging. It’s trying to mentally balance the love I have for them, knowing that my heart is with them, but my head is with my mortgage, with the things I need to add structure to their lives, safety, security and recognising that is also love for them. And I’m actually split in the middle and I think that our phones are quite representative of that split, that divide, that tension. Because what parent hasn’t said to their child. ‘Just a minute, just a minute.’ And then they look at you and they say, ‘has it been a minute yet.’ And you’re like, ‘just a second’ and then they’ll ask ‘Is it a second yet?.’ Then you can feel yourself rising and you feel that feeling in your chest, because what you’re trying to do is answer an email or message or a client request in the middle of maybe cooking their dinner, or do one of the thousand other things that need doing. You can then get to a point where you lose it. And I lost it the other day, I said ‘if you don’t stop fighting (over some toy that neither of them cared about) …if you don’t stop doing that, Mum is going to lose her temperature!’ And as I said temperature, they just burst out laughing. %91She laughs%93 But that’s kind of how it feels. You’re kind of like a kettle boiling. And as you do lose your temperature, you lose your temper, you lose your marbles, you lose your mind! You know, there’s so much loss in motherhood. There’s loss of hair. There’s a loss of glow. You know, you go from pregnant to not pregnant. There’s lots of skin that used to be firm and isn’t anymore. There’s loss of self. There’s loss of conversation etc. But in all of that, in the fragments of that loss, you find yourself. The best bit of standing in the middle of what can seem like rubble is looking at my two little girls and thinking, ‘I get to be your mother, I get to be your parent.” But yes, all that extra pressure that comes with being a mum I would say probably remains the most challenging job Mother Nature could ever bestow %91she laughs.%93”
And to end on a high note, what has been the highlight of your career so far?”
Anna: “I think the highlight of my career is actually, moments with my two girls. I’m really trying to carve that time out. I think it’s really easy to go to kind of accolades or moments or legislation or, you know, maybe hosting something or quite big tangible things, but the biggest thing for me is reclaiming time with them. That’s my success story. Time that I know a more archaic employer would have taken from me. So I think it’s probably sitting on the sofa on a Sunday morning, when we’re all in our PJs, whilst they eat Cheerios and you end up with one in your bra stuck to you. Those moments where they are snuggled up with you, and you can feel the warmth of their little bodies, whilst watching some inane cartoon; those are the moments you live for.
If I was going to say on a tangible level, it would be changing the law of flexible working. The flexible working bill that came into effect in April of this year. I didn’t do it on my own though, there were a hell of a lot of other organisations involved in that. But the reason that matters is because it’s something where I can say to my little girls, I did that because I’m not letting you go through what I went through. %91Anna voice quivers and her eyes fill with tears%93 I’m not letting you go through that. I just couldn’t. I couldn’t watch them go do their ABCs, and then their GCSEs and their A-levels and maybe get that first job. You know when you get a phone on a computer. Going from the excitement of that to then having someone take it away. I’m not letting them go through that. That’s what happened to me and it’s certainly not happening to this one %91She rubs her stomach%93 So yeah, I think it’s to change the structure of the world that has written us, as little girls, off!”
You can follow the inspirational Anna Whitehouse on Instagram @Mother_Pukka or visit her website: www.motherpukka.co.uk/
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“Hosting the FIFA World Cup Draw in Qatar in 2022 and then presenting the tournament for the host broadcaster was amazing, particularly as a Muslim woman representing on that global stage. That felt like a big deal.”
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You’ve recently posted, I’m not sorry, where you mentioned that when you returned to work after having your first two children, you returned almost ‘smaller’ and quite apologetic. You have shared your understandable frustrations around that. How different will the experience be for you this time around? Do you feel stronger than you did previously?
Anna: “I’m just not taking it anymore, you know. %91Anna talks passionately%93 I think things have and are changing; it’s not a case of employers changing things, I think women are changing things because we’re 50% of the population and we’re just saying ‘No!’. We’re saying, ‘No, call my daughter’s father as well as me when she’s in nursery!’ (And that’s nothing against the amazing key workers who work with our children.) But the expectation, the bulk of childcare, is still strapped firmly to female shoulders. It’s not that we’re fighting some revolution. It’s evolution. That’s the difference. And I think people see that, with the work I do, the work the ‘Pregnant Then Screwed’ group does, the work that the Fawcett Society does – all these amazing organisations shine a light on this. People say to me ‘Oh my God, this is big what you’re all doing!’ and I’m like, no, it’s what it should have been there in the first place! That’s what equality is. It’s rebalancing a system that is structured and built for women, specifically mothers to fail. So I am not apologising anymore for a system that is set up for me, for my daughters, for my daughter’s-daughter’s to fail. It’s not my fault. It’s not your fault. and it needs fixing!”
Is it that personal experience that inspired you to start Flex Appeal? (The campaign for more flexible working for everyone)
Anna: “I think when I started speaking about the other side of the motherhood story, which wasn’t just about what maternity bag to buy or, ‘how to pack your hospital bag.’ It was about the real-time frustrations around giving up, not just work, but your purpose, of yourself, the expectation that you just step back. I decided, actually, do you know what this needs? Governmental change. This needs structural change. So that is when I launched Flex Appeal, which was our lobbying body/platform/organisation for the exhausted women in the street shouting, ‘ I don’t care what you want to call me %91for being me%93!’ It’s that drive to change not just the narrative, but legislation. I just thought, there’s no way through this unless legislation changes for men and women. And I think that’s the big point here. This isn’t just about mums. This is about parents! It’s about dads who are just desperately frustrated that their employer won’t enable them to work flexibly because it’s seen as a ‘her-in-doors’ job still.
I say, the unconscious bias, but it’s a conscious bias that sits right there. So I needed a campaign to hook this on. That would have me, my little daughter at the time, my second daughter, and maybe this one now %91she points to her unborn child%93 knocking on the doors of Whitehall and just saying, what are you doing about the 54,000 women every year that are locked out of the workforce for daring to have a baby? Like, that’s a ridiculous amount. And that doesn’t even include gagging orders, NDA’s, etc, so you could probably quadruple that number you know.”
After 10 years of campaignin, how are you feeling now that it was recently announced the current government has decided to start the ball rolling? And how long do you think it will take to be implemented?
Yeah. Three babies, one decade, and one campaign %91she laughs.%93 I will say the proof is in the pudding because there’ve been so many governmental, political promises and until it actually happens, I don’t and I won’t believe it. So in some ways I’m taking it with a pinch of salt.
It’s quite monumental, but until flexible working is by default, that it is just assumed across the board instead of fought for, the onus is still on the employees. Until that structure changes, I won’t see any level of success. But what I would love to see, before that time is don’t wait for the laws to change if you’re an employer. Don’t take the stick approach, take the carrot approach. Why aren’t you thinking about how you can retain this brilliant talent? You’re not doing us a favour. We’re great. We’re talented. You’re cutting us out at our prime when we know so much and then you have to get somebody else in and %91have to%93 train them up. So it’s about businesses too really. I want to see cultural change. I want to see. For example a dad messaged me, and he told me that he had put his request flexible in and it was rejected on the basis that they said, ‘Can’t your ‘missus’ do that?’ That was in 2023? %91she sighs in disbelief and goes onto answer the question herself…%93 ‘You know what, No. His ‘missus’ might be working elsewhere, or might be a brain surgeon, or you know, might be doing something else. So no, the assumption that ‘her-in-doors,’ ‘ya missus,’ ‘the mum’, the ‘primary caregiver’ should automatically pick up that childcare slack, is so inherently wrong. So I want to see a cultural change around that employer going, yes, absolutely, pick up your daughter from nursery because of the old hapless dad trope, you know, ‘daddy daycare’ or ‘babysitting my children.’ any of that – we’re done with it! Like you’re parenting. I think that it’s language like that that we need to start using: parenting, parental leave, not just maternity leave. Lets unite the two sides of the procreation coin. It takes two to tango. So you know there won’t be equality unless we recognise those two sides.
” content_phone=”
You’ve recently posted, I’m not sorry, where you mentioned that when you returned to work after having your first two children, you returned almost ‘smaller’ and quite apologetic. You have shared your understandable frustrations around that. How different will the experience be for you this time around? Do you feel stronger than you did previously?
Anna: “I’m just not taking it anymore, you know. %91Anna talks passionately%93 I think things have and are changing; it’s not a case of employers changing things, I think women are changing things because we’re 50% of the population and we’re just saying ‘No!’. We’re saying, ‘No, call my daughter’s father as well as me when she’s in nursery!’ (And that’s nothing against the amazing key workers who work with our children.) But the expectation, the bulk of childcare, is still strapped firmly to female shoulders. It’s not that we’re fighting some revolution. It’s evolution. That’s the difference. And I think people see that, with the work I do, the work the ‘Pregnant Then Screwed’ group does, the work that the Fawcett Society does – all these amazing organisations shine a light on this. People say to me ‘Oh my God, this is big what you’re all doing!’ and I’m like, no, it’s what it should have been there in the first place! That’s what equality is. It’s rebalancing a system that is structured and built for women, specifically mothers to fail. So I am not apologising anymore for a system that is set up for me, for my daughters, for my daughter’s-daughter’s to fail. It’s not my fault. It’s not your fault. and it needs fixing!”
Is it that personal experience that inspired you to start Flex Appeal? (The campaign for more flexible working for everyone)
Anna: “I think when I started speaking about the other side of the motherhood story, which wasn’t just about what maternity bag to buy or, ‘how to pack your hospital bag.’ It was about the real-time frustrations around giving up, not just work, but your purpose, of yourself, the expectation that you just step back. I decided, actually, do you know what this needs? Governmental change. This needs structural change. So that is when I launched Flex Appeal, which was our lobbying body/platform/organisation for the exhausted women in the street shouting, ‘ I don’t care what you want to call me %91for being me%93!’ It’s that drive to change not just the narrative, but legislation. I just thought, there’s no way through this unless legislation changes for men and women. And I think that’s the big point here. This isn’t just about mums. This is about parents! It’s about dads who are just desperately frustrated that their employer won’t enable them to work flexibly because it’s seen as a ‘her-in-doors’ job still.
I say, the unconscious bias, but it’s a conscious bias that sits right there. So I needed a campaign to hook this on. That would have me, my little daughter at the time, my second daughter, and maybe this one now %91she points to her unborn child%93 knocking on the doors of Whitehall and just saying, what are you doing about the 54,000 women every year that are locked out of the workforce for daring to have a baby? Like, that’s a ridiculous amount. And that doesn’t even include gagging orders, NDA’s, etc, so you could probably quadruple that number you know.”
After 10 years of campaignin, how are you feeling now that it was recently announced the current government has decided to start the ball rolling? And how long do you think it will take to be implemented?
Yeah. Three babies, one decade, and one campaign %91she laughs.%93 I will say the proof is in the pudding because there’ve been so many governmental, political promises and until it actually happens, I don’t and I won’t believe it. So in some ways I’m taking it with a pinch of salt.
It’s quite monumental, but until flexible working is by default, that it is just assumed across the board instead of fought for, the onus is still on the employees. Until that structure changes, I won’t see any level of success. But what I would love to see, before that time is don’t wait for the laws to change if you’re an employer. Don’t take the stick approach, take the carrot approach. Why aren’t you thinking about how you can retain this brilliant talent? You’re not doing us a favour. We’re great. We’re talented. You’re cutting us out at our prime when we know so much and then you have to get somebody else in and %91have to%93 train them up. So it’s about businesses too really. I want to see cultural change. I want to see. For example a dad messaged me, and he told me that he had put his request flexible in and it was rejected on the basis that they said, ‘Can’t your ‘missus’ do that?’ That was in 2023? %91she sighs in disbelief and goes onto answer the question herself…%93 ‘You know what, No. His ‘missus’ might be working elsewhere, or might be a brain surgeon, or you know, might be doing something else. So no, the assumption that ‘her-in-doors,’ ‘ya missus,’ ‘the mum’, the ‘primary caregiver’ should automatically pick up that childcare slack, is so inherently wrong. So I want to see a cultural change around that employer going, yes, absolutely, pick up your daughter from nursery because of the old hapless dad trope, you know, ‘daddy daycare’ or ‘babysitting my children.’ any of that – we’re done with it! Like you’re parenting. I think that it’s language like that that we need to start using: parenting, parental leave, not just maternity leave. Lets unite the two sides of the procreation coin. It takes two to tango. So you know there won’t be equality unless we recognise those two sides.
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Now that your children are older do you think that by them watching their mum follow her dreams and have a successful career that it will inspire them to follow their career dreams?
My kids are 12 and 13 years old now, so at the moment, my very existence is cringe!! They think I’m embarrassing and it’s actually their friends who defend me when they tease away! That’s just the kind of fun and silly relationship we have. But joking aside, I hope they see a hard-working mum – because I definitely don’t want my kids to be bums! I don’t ever want them to think that anything comes for free, because it doesn’t and you have to work really, really hard to get to do what you love.
I think they “partially” notice the organisation I have to do behind the scenes as well, because I don’t go away and leave it to anybody else. It’s like a military operation, whether it’s cooking four or five meals for them, organising their laundry, sorting cover for when I’m not there for pick ups or whatever else comes up. The outside world will never see that other part of your life. Sometimes, I think people assume you’re just magically teleported into your glamorous job, when in reality, with kids, there’s so much that goes on before you’ve left the house. Work is the easy part!
Even if the kids don’t fully understand the whole process now, I hope in years to come they’ll look back and think “Mum always thought of us and looked after us, even when she had to go away.”
What has been the hardest thing that you’ve had to overcome since having children and juggling your career, and how did you navigate your way through that?
My biggest challenge was just getting into presenting in the first place, and particularly, sports presenting. It’s a really tough industry to get into full stop. I didn’t know anyone in TV, nor did I have an influential friend or family member in sport who knew what I was capable of in a decision-making role. It’s the one elephant in the room that never gets talked about, because it really fast-tracks your career when you know someone who can get you in front of the right people. Add on being Asian, as well as a woman. Plus attitudes towards people from diverse backgrounds was totally different when I started out, so the barriers to entry were enormous for me.
The other hurdle was working at a high level with two young children and all my love and credit goes to my amazing parents – my own and my ex-in- laws. I’m so lucky both sets lived close by and were always on hand the entire time. The kids were so young, they needed 24-7 care and there’s no way I could’ve navigated this road without them.
During these times, it’s completely natural to feel it’s all to getting on top of you. The industry is brutal and effort doesn’t always equate to meritocracy on the career ladder and that was a hard truth to be confronted with. That’s the case whether you have kids or not, but when you do and you’re going above and beyond to balance work and look after your family and still not get the opportunities you’re striving for, it can be really tough to take.
As a parent, the sheer pressure and responsibility of keeping little humans alive, as well as bringing them up to be good, well-rounded individuals means you’re constantly navigating so many differing and difficult emotions.
It’s definitely easier in this phase of my life. I’m really content and I’m not chasing anything any more. I just feel blessed to have the life I have and my lovely little family.
How do you pick yourself up on those days when something is disappointing, what techniques do you use to find that peace and put everything into perspective?
For me, it’s my faith. I’ve always had my religion, Islam and it’s my anchor in life, along with my family to lean on. I always have this innate belief in “tawakkal” – the faith that everything will be okay. Even on a hard day and during difficult life experiences, like when I lost my dad a few years ago, it guides me every step of the way.
I really believe in gratitude too. I never take for granted how lucky I am to just be happy and have all these amazing people in my life. It’s so important to remember there’s always someone worse off than you.
It’s funny because I really don’t stress about the big things. I don’t get nervous about what might happen in the next five or six years, I just believe that what’s best for me will happen when the time is right. It’s taken a while to train my mind to get to that point, but it’s very liberating.
There was a period of my life when I was in this amazing habit (during my divorce and lockdown, actually) which I’m trying to get back to. I’d wake up a few minutes earlier than I needed to, listen to a 10-minute meditation and then I’d write in my gratitude journal. It was such a calming ritual, I don’t know why I stopped doing it, because I really enjoyed it.
I always think I’m at my best when I’m calm, content and my faith is strong. I always say all the best things have happened for me when my faith has been at it’s strongest.
This is what works for me, but it’s not for everyone and I think it’s lovely when you can develop your own tools and find out what suits you best to cope with whatever hurdles may come your way. Don’t get me wrong, I still have days where I’m rueing everything that’s gone wrong, but you just have to stop and think, “Is it really that bad?” When you pause and take a step back you often realise it’s probably not. Everything is salvageable in some kind of way.
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“…My daughter initially said to me, ‘Mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.”
What has been the most challenging time in your life since having to juggle both work and parenthood?
Anna: “I think this is probably something every one of your readers has gone through. Regardless of whether you are, I hate the term stay-at-home-mum because no parent stays at home, you’re out doing things all the time and everyone’s a full time mum. I think it’s really offensive when you hear, I’m a full time mum. Well no actually, I’m a full time mum too. Everyone’s a full time mum because even when you’re working, you’re still carrying the weight of parenting at the same time, That’s why it’s heavy for us all at times. The administration of that %91parenting%93. You’re carrying your child from birth to primary school even at secondary school and beyond. I think a lot of your readers would probably relate here, regardless of, if you’re a ‘stay-at-home mum’ or, you know, you work, in an office or away… when that moment where your child says ‘Mummy, why are you on your phone?’ And there’s this moment that happens, in every single parent’s day where you’re caught between everything you need to do and just being with your child. My daughter initially said to me, ‘mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.’ And it broke me. So that is the kind of thing that is challenging. It’s trying to mentally balance the love I have for them, knowing that my heart is with them, but my head is with my mortgage, with the things I need to add structure to their lives, safety, security and recognising that is also love for them. And I’m actually split in the middle and I think that our phones are quite representative of that split, that divide, that tension. Because what parent hasn’t said to their child. ‘Just a minute, just a minute.’ And then they look at you and they say, ‘has it been a minute yet.’ And you’re like, ‘just a second’ and then they’ll ask ‘Is it a second yet?.’ Then you can feel yourself rising and you feel that feeling in your chest, because what you’re trying to do is answer an email or message or a client request in the middle of maybe cooking their dinner, or do one of the thousand other things that need doing. You can then get to a point where you lose it. And I lost it the other day, I said ‘if you don’t stop fighting (over some toy that neither of them cared about) …if you don’t stop doing that, Mum is going to lose her temperature!’ And as I said temperature, they just burst out laughing. %91She laughs%93 But that’s kind of how it feels. You’re kind of like a kettle boiling. And as you do lose your temperature, you lose your temper, you lose your marbles, you lose your mind! You know, there’s so much loss in motherhood. There’s loss of hair. There’s a loss of glow. You know, you go from pregnant to not pregnant. There’s lots of skin that used to be firm and isn’t anymore. There’s loss of self. There’s loss of conversation etc. But in all of that, in the fragments of that loss, you find yourself. The best bit of standing in the middle of what can seem like rubble is looking at my two little girls and thinking, ‘I get to be your mother, I get to be your parent.” But yes, all that extra pressure that comes with being a mum I would say probably remains the most challenging job Mother Nature could ever bestow %91she laughs.%93”
And to end on a high note, what has been the highlight of your career so far?”
Anna: “I think the highlight of my career is actually, moments with my two girls. I’m really trying to carve that time out. I think it’s really easy to go to kind of accolades or moments or legislation or, you know, maybe hosting something or quite big tangible things, but the biggest thing for me is reclaiming time with them. That’s my success story. Time that I know a more archaic employer would have taken from me. So I think it’s probably sitting on the sofa on a Sunday morning, when we’re all in our PJs, whilst they eat Cheerios and you end up with one in your bra stuck to you. Those moments where they are snuggled up with you, and you can feel the warmth of their little bodies, whilst watching some inane cartoon; those are the moments you live for.
If I was going to say on a tangible level, it would be changing the law of flexible working. The flexible working bill that came into effect in April of this year. I didn’t do it on my own though, there were a hell of a lot of other organisations involved in that. But the reason that matters is because it’s something where I can say to my little girls, I did that because I’m not letting you go through what I went through. %91Anna voice quivers and her eyes fill with tears%93 I’m not letting you go through that. I just couldn’t. I couldn’t watch them go do their ABCs, and then their GCSEs and their A-levels and maybe get that first job. You know when you get a phone on a computer. Going from the excitement of that to then having someone take it away. I’m not letting them go through that. That’s what happened to me and it’s certainly not happening to this one %91She rubs her stomach%93 So yeah, I think it’s to change the structure of the world that has written us, as little girls, off!”
You can follow the inspirational Anna Whitehouse on Instagram @Mother_Pukka or visit her website: www.motherpukka.co.uk/
” content_phone=”
“…My daughter initially said to me, ‘Mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.”
What has been the most challenging time in your life since having to juggle both work and parenthood?
Anna: “I think this is probably something every one of your readers has gone through. Regardless of whether you are, I hate the term stay-at-home-mum because no parent stays at home, you’re out doing things all the time and everyone’s a full time mum. I think it’s really offensive when you hear, I’m a full time mum. Well no actually, I’m a full time mum too. Everyone’s a full time mum because even when you’re working, you’re still carrying the weight of parenting at the same time, That’s why it’s heavy for us all at times. The administration of that %91parenting%93. You’re carrying your child from birth to primary school even at secondary school and beyond. I think a lot of your readers would probably relate here, regardless of, if you’re a ‘stay-at-home mum’ or, you know, you work, in an office or away… when that moment where your child says ‘Mummy, why are you on your phone?’ And there’s this moment that happens, in every single parent’s day where you’re caught between everything you need to do and just being with your child. My daughter initially said to me, ‘mummy, sometimes I think you don’t like me very much when you’re on the phone.’ And it broke me. So that is the kind of thing that is challenging. It’s trying to mentally balance the love I have for them, knowing that my heart is with them, but my head is with my mortgage, with the things I need to add structure to their lives, safety, security and recognising that is also love for them. And I’m actually split in the middle and I think that our phones are quite representative of that split, that divide, that tension. Because what parent hasn’t said to their child. ‘Just a minute, just a minute.’ And then they look at you and they say, ‘has it been a minute yet.’ And you’re like, ‘just a second’ and then they’ll ask ‘Is it a second yet?.’ Then you can feel yourself rising and you feel that feeling in your chest, because what you’re trying to do is answer an email or message or a client request in the middle of maybe cooking their dinner, or do one of the thousand other things that need doing. You can then get to a point where you lose it. And I lost it the other day, I said ‘if you don’t stop fighting (over some toy that neither of them cared about) …if you don’t stop doing that, Mum is going to lose her temperature!’ And as I said temperature, they just burst out laughing. %91She laughs%93 But that’s kind of how it feels. You’re kind of like a kettle boiling. And as you do lose your temperature, you lose your temper, you lose your marbles, you lose your mind! You know, there’s so much loss in motherhood. There’s loss of hair. There’s a loss of glow. You know, you go from pregnant to not pregnant. There’s lots of skin that used to be firm and isn’t anymore. There’s loss of self. There’s loss of conversation etc. But in all of that, in the fragments of that loss, you find yourself. The best bit of standing in the middle of what can seem like rubble is looking at my two little girls and thinking, ‘I get to be your mother, I get to be your parent.” But yes, all that extra pressure that comes with being a mum I would say probably remains the most challenging job Mother Nature could ever bestow %91she laughs.%93”
And to end on a high note, what has been the highlight of your career so far?”
Anna: “I think the highlight of my career is actually, moments with my two girls. I’m really trying to carve that time out. I think it’s really easy to go to kind of accolades or moments or legislation or, you know, maybe hosting something or quite big tangible things, but the biggest thing for me is reclaiming time with them. That’s my success story. Time that I know a more archaic employer would have taken from me. So I think it’s probably sitting on the sofa on a Sunday morning, when we’re all in our PJs, whilst they eat Cheerios and you end up with one in your bra stuck to you. Those moments where they are snuggled up with you, and you can feel the warmth of their little bodies, whilst watching some inane cartoon; those are the moments you live for.
If I was going to say on a tangible level, it would be changing the law of flexible working. The flexible working bill that came into effect in April of this year. I didn’t do it on my own though, there were a hell of a lot of other organisations involved in that. But the reason that matters is because it’s something where I can say to my little girls, I did that because I’m not letting you go through what I went through. %91Anna voice quivers and her eyes fill with tears%93 I’m not letting you go through that. I just couldn’t. I couldn’t watch them go do their ABCs, and then their GCSEs and their A-levels and maybe get that first job. You know when you get a phone on a computer. Going from the excitement of that to then having someone take it away. I’m not letting them go through that. That’s what happened to me and it’s certainly not happening to this one %91She rubs her stomach%93 So yeah, I think it’s to change the structure of the world that has written us, as little girls, off!”
You can follow the inspirational Anna Whitehouse on Instagram @Mother_Pukka or visit her website: www.motherpukka.co.uk/
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What would you say has been your career highlight or highlights to date?
That’s tough, as there have been some standouts which have been so much fun and ones I’ve really enjoyed.
When I look back at my time at Real Madrid TV, the day Cristiano Ronaldo signed for the club was epic. From doing his first interview, to the press conference to the unveiling on the pitch, it was such a massive event in Madrid. I remember my colleagues saying at the time that we’d remember that day forever because it was special to see the magic of it all and be a part of it.
Hosting the FIFA World Cup Draw in Qatar in 2022 with Idris Elba and then presenting the tournament for the host broadcaster beIN Sports was also amazing, particularly as a Muslim woman representing on that global stage. That felt like a a big deal.
Another time was hosting the UEFA Champions League draw with Messi and Ronaldo together, which, by then, was an unexpected surprise. I told my presenter we should do something special with them, he agreed and the chat went viral, which was special too.
The Olympics is also incredible on so many levels and I’ve been lucky enough to have worked on five now. It’s the absolute sporting elite and such a privilege to do.
What advice would you give to another parent trying to juggle being a parent and following their career dreams?
My advice would be that it’s all possible as long as you can balance the parenting side – whether that’s with support or whatever you need. If you can nail that part, then
you can motor through.
You really have to cultivate your relationship with your kids too so that they know they’re truly loved. You don’t want to look back in 5-10 years’ time and feel you didn’t do that part right, because you can’t go back and fix it.
So when I’ve had a busy week, I’ll make space for some real quality time with them, having fun and being silly with them. It’s not about grand gestures and spending lots of money on them, although of course, I do that from time to time as well, but the main thing is about valuing the time that we have
together. We love having movie nights when I’m not working, just the three of us sat on the sofa together. I think these are the times to really cherish.
I also think it’s really important to be easy on yourself too. To forgive yourself when you don’t get things quite right, and I’m probably not always great at that myself,
but I’m getting better at it and realising I’m only human: there’s only so much that I can do.
Your energy is really precious and it has to move in a millions directions every day – so many people need something from you. There are so many different elements you’re juggling all the time and you can’t get it all right. So, it’s really important to remind yourself of that.
And finally, just be proud of yourself, because it’s so hard to juggle all the things parents have to do, you have to really back yourself and tell yourself that you’re doing ok, and it’s all good. I’m a self-confessed super woman and I’m proud of it. You have to be as kind to yourself as you would be to your best friend.
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