Parenthood is by far the most challenging thing I have ever done, and continue to do. Not only do I have an audience almost every waking moment, I have an audience who are listening to, and watching everything I do, and the scary part is they’re learning from it. The saying ‘do what I say, not what I do‘ makes much more sense now that I am a mother. I can only hope I am giving them more good examples and not too many bad ones.

The thing is we are their role model, from our values and morals, our strengths, faults, quirks, opinions, the silly dances we do, how we cope with traffic, how we talk to our partners and how we treat ourselves, it is all on display. Learning to love myself has probably been the most important thing I have done as a mother because they are watching. Whether I like it or not, how I treat myself will directly affect they way they will treat themselves and how they will feel about themselves.

Parenting isn’t easy, it is complex and messy, but it has taught me so much about myself and the world. Even on my worst days I know I am striving to do my best. There is so much I want to show them, explore alongside them and teach them. There is also so much they teach me! Seeing the world through a child’s eyes is such a gift. Sometimes we just need to stop overthinking for a moment and allow ourselves to see what they see, to watch their faces light up with new experiences. If we don’t want them to grow up to be stressed out adults then we need to stop being so stressed out ourselves. We need to slow it down and remember the joy we get from the simple things. We need to enjoy the beauty amongst this chaos of parenting.

Motherhood has taught me the meaning of living in the moment and being at peace. Children don’t think about yesterday, and they don’t think about tomorrow. They just exist in the moment.

Jessalyn Gilsig

During the month of May there have been some very sweet, funny, and totally adorable mummy shots shared with us as part of our Mummy Shot Instagram Community. Natalie from the blog Memeandharri will also be featuring her favourites, you can see them on her Instgram page now @memeandharri.  If you want to be involved simply tag your Instagram photos with the tag #mummyshot. Without further ado here are my favourites from May;

 

These absolutely precious images were kindly shared on mummy shot by the following;

@verymuchsoblog. @myspecialkeirarose.     

@littlemuddyfootprints. @wellybootmummy.

If you are not already following these Instagram accounts pop on over and take a look, they are full of beautiful images.

You can follow me @macglanville.

and Natalie @memeandharri.

Mummy Shot is about celebrating childhood, and capturing gorgeous images without having to share your child’s full face on social media. Thank you to everyone who shares their images with us.

 

 

Mac xx