Introducing #MummyFriday – a support network

It’s taken me a long while to get my head around what it means to be a mum for me. When I was pregnant and in that first year of parenthood, I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to share on social and here on the blog. Although I’d share the odd post here and there, I felt like it was more important for me to focus on taking everything in in “real life” and concentrating on what it all actually meant. Plus figuring it all out!

Our little one didn’t sleep through till about 14 months old and even now at 18 months, she doesn’t do a full night without ending up in our bed. So a lot of the struggle was with exhaustion and not actually having the energy to focus on my blog, my work and anything other than being there for her. 

#MummyFriday

But now I’m in a better place, I generally get a bit more sleep and I’ve got way more energy to focus on my work and my blog. I’ve also established a great group of friends, including some fab mummy friends and even some mummy blogger friends! Meeting amazing women who are managing the job of parenting, as well as their career is so bloody inspiring and I’ve found there’s a great support network out there, if you just look for it in the right places.

So I decided that as my daughter was naturally more inquisitive and kept photo-bombing my instagram stories, that why not incorporate her too and open up and tell you all a bit more about me as a mum…I’m still me after all, I just have another best mate who’s about 2 foot tall!

So I started #MummyFriday…

I found that on instagram particularly, you get to sneak peak in on the lives of others and naturally you compare yourself, you get advice and it can either make you feel really good or really crappy.

My instagram account focuses on the things I like to blog about – food, travel and now our home renovation. As I was starting to incorporate family into that a bit more, I was connecting with other mums and mums-to-be. I loved this, as I instantly felt a support and that I too could support others.

So I decided to dedicate Friday on my instagram account, to connecting with other mums and basically trying to help each other through the day.

mummyfriday instagram hollygoeslightly

Why Friday?

Well in my experience, lots of working mums either take Fridays off to be with their kids or work from home on a Friday if their kids are a bit older. I myself juggle the need to entertain my ever-energetic daughter, with moments of trying to get some work done (usually during her nap time) and trying to stay connected with the world and maybe even have a bit of time for me! (WTF!). I realised there were lots of other women doing the same and sometimes, it’s just nice to get an insight into their world, feel like you’re not alone in this joyous battle and maybe get some inspiration.

So #MummyFriday is about connecting, supporting and helping each other through that long end of week day. That day before it’s the weekend and you can legitimately take a breather and hopefully have the help of your partner, significant other, family or friends. It’s the last day of the week where you’ve got to be a mum and a boss…a mumboss!

And I love it – I always tag other mamas in my #MummyFriday posts – to see what they’re up to, to offer support if I can and to share our funny, often un-glamorous stories of motherhood.

mummyfriday instagram interaction hollygoeslightly

Join in?

So if you’re a mama, mummy, mother or mum – get involved! I use #MummyFriday across Instagram, twitter and facebook, but most of the action happens on Insta. You don’t have to have a point to your post, or you can have a huge rant…whatever you fancy! No judgement here!

Are you a mama or mama-to-be? How are you finding the journey so far?