Happy Mother’s Day to all our marvellous Venn Group Mums.
We salute how you have balanced work and parenting and risen to the challenges this year has thrown up. Many children have made guest appearances on calls and it has been lovely to meet them.
We had several babies born in lockdown and we asked these new mums how they are finding the adventure of parenthood.
“We always talk a lot about having a purpose in our lives and in particular our careers and one thing I have loved about being a new mum has been this completely natural sense of purpose to do everything in the best interests of him.
Lockdown has been a really interesting time to be both pregnant and a new mum! In a way I have relished the slower pace of life which has helped transition into new mum life. As the second lockdown came in, I became quite acutely aware of how little baby Alex was seeing of other babies so enrolling him into nursery earlier helped with that. There have been many positives too, for example, really taking the time to watch him grow and hit each milestone at his own pace and not at the pace society sets.”
Jen Brook
“To me, being a Mum means being a positive role model and a continuous cheerleader for every milestone they have. That, and to sleep with one eye open, always worry and feel guilty about something!! “
Jocy James
“I love waking up every day to his smiley face, I love that we have created this gorgeous boy and every day I get to watch him grow. It has been hard to not have family around, but it’s also been a little blessing for myself and my partner, we have bonded as a family and have settled peacefully into our new life as a three.”
Mollie Ling
“I love seeing my children’s different personalities develop, the bursting joy and pride you feel when your child succeeds.Having a new-born in the current circumstances has been challenging, to say the least. Home-schooling my 6 year old, whilst on maternity leave, wasn’t part of the plan. However, children force you to be present and live in the moment, which during the pandemic has made me focus on the good things that happen each day and not think too much about the future. I definitely would have felt a lot more miserable and anxious without them. I feel so lucky to have them in my life, giving me cuddles and making me smile and laugh each day.”
Laura de Ste Croix
“I’ve now got a new best friend for life and get to see him grow with his happy personality coming through even at 5 months! One positive of becoming a Mum during a pandemic is having Danny working from home. However, I haven’t seen my family in Ireland since Christmas 2019 so can’t wait for it all to be over so they can meet Teddy.”
Katie McCabe
“The hardest thing about being a new mum during the current circumstances is not being able to share the experience with my family and friends. Noah has changed so much in the past 2 months and it’s such a shame that they haven’t even met him yet. I love making Noah smile - he’s trying so hard to laugh but not quite there yet. It’s nice to finally be the funny one even if it’s only Noah that thinks it!“
Kelsey Neil
“I am responsible for growing these little boys hopefully in to great men!”
Charlie Clark
“There have been positives and negatives to being a new mum in the current circumstances. Alfie and I have had plenty of one-on-one bonding time and have enjoyed lots of fresh air and walks, however even when you have been woken every hour of the night, changed their outfit 4 times by lunch or just generally had a tough day, when they smile or giggle it seems to reset everything and make it all seem ok again.”
Felicity Underwood