Real Mums – The Free Range Family

This feature is all about celebrating real mums. Mums are amazing and come in all shapes and sizes but sometimes we can feel alone, we can feel as though we are the only ones struggling to keep on top of things. I want to lift the lid on motherhood so we can all feel part of a sisterhood, to feel proud about our own achievements and know that we are doing the best we can!

Without further a do let me hand over to Claire!

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.

I am wife to my childhood sweetheart Nick and the ever grateful mummy to 5 gorgeous little ladies. We live in Somerset with our 3 dogs, 3 cats and little Gary the hamster. Our ponies live a short drive away but are still a massive part of our family life.

Describe a typical day in your life

My days start between 5.30 and 6 when I get up and get a bit of blog admin in before the tribe awake. Nick is often next to drag himself out of bed joining me for the first brew of the day. It doesn’t take long before Little Bean realises there is no longer anyone to snuggle up to in bed, resulting in the first demands for instantaneous breakfast!

Nick goes to work at about 8.15 and I am left to hold the fort with the 5 sprogs for company. We are usually done with chores and self care by about 9am, when we try and get some fresh air together. The dogs have normally made it perfectly clear that their need for exercise is greater than my need for caffeine by this point so they join us for a walk. By 10.30, Bean indicates in the usual toddler ragey way that she is ready to return to bed and we all breathe a sigh of relief before starting school work.

We work until 12.30 (or when ever Bean wakes) when I miraculously present a nutritious, homemade, meal (ok so it’s just sandwiches and a bit of fruit with a yoghurt and crisps- I am not super woman!!) and we all enjoy a bit of down time until 1.30.

School work is finished by 2.30 at the latest and we clear up and have a mad dash around the house, re-filling the washing machine etc.

The kids enjoy lots of clubs and afterschool activities, so late afternoons are filled with these and taking care of the ponies. We ride as much as we can but it’s not as regular as I would like!

Supper is at 6pm and bedtime starts at 7.30. The last of the mob are usually tucked in bed by 9.30 giving us a couple of hours to re-boot ready for the next episode of life in the crazy house.

What is the best thing about being a mum?

Having been adopted at birth I have always been in total wonderment at the similarities my girls have to myself and Nick. I know it’s a stupid and incomprehensible thing for most people, but for me, it is magical. They are a bit of me, nothing can ever change that and I will never get over the passion I have for watching them grow!

What have you found hardest about motherhood?

The judgement and advice of others has been my biggest challenge. I am a very headstrong woman and I am like a mamma bear when it comes to my girls. I wholeheartedly believe that my instincts are very rarely wrong but I have been way laid by the perceived wisdom of many well meaning people around me.

How has your body changed?

Whoa, where do I start??? I was 17 when I had my first baby, not even an adult. My body was beautiful. (Although, I never realised it at the time.)Youthful skin, nourished hair and an athletic physique are a thing of the past… In it’s place a stretched, deflated and saggy shell remains, but my heart and mind are 100 times what I had before. It’s not all bad!

Do you wear make-up? If so, what does your routine look like?

No make up here… I’d like to say it’s because I love the way God made me, but in all honesty it’s because I’m too lazy! I just don’t care enough. I occasionally use rose water as a toner and almond oil as a gentle moisturiser but generally speaking the only thing smeared on my skin is toddler snot, a splatter of baked beans and if I’m feeling especially indulgent a bit of nappy cream rubbed it my hands after I have finished changing her ladyship’s nappy!

What’s in your handbag? 

Handbag? What is this thing of which you speak? I take a basket everywhere I go stuffed to the brim with nappies, allergy friendly snacks for the small and all the usual baby paraphernalia I am unable to leave the house without! I do on occasion remember the location of my phone and purse and sling them in for good luck.

What is your relationship with housework?

I am a cupboard stasher through and through… so much so I now have storage boxes in most of our cupboards full of junk so it doesn’t jump out when you open the doors! We do however have a life plan for cleaning, which involves all of us participating daily. Everyone has their own laundry day when their bedding and towels are also washed. Other than that we just bumble along in our own merry little way. It works fine until we have unexpected guests and then I become a cupboard stuffing whirlwind again!

How do you relax?

A glass of wine, me, a ball of wool and a crochet hook. That is all I need. What I usually get is a hubby making ‘small talk’, a child wanting a piano lesson, a dog vomiting on the carpet or a migraine!

What’s the best parenting advice you have ever been given?

You are a woman; you have all the tools you need to raise a child perfectly. Just do what feels right.

For any new mums out there, what would you like to tell them?

Trust yourself. Believe in your ability to raise your child, you are the most experienced specialist in the wellbeing of your little person… After all you have known them the longest and you have loved them the most!

What makes you happy?

Just being with my hubby and girls has me grinning. We’re a mad bunch but we get on well and have so much fun. It’s not always easy but when we make space to just ‘be’ together it is the best thing in the world!

And finally, complete this sentence:

I am a great mum because….. I know I can only be who I am, I can only love like I do and use the knowledge I have, This is enough for today, anything more can wait for tomorrow.

You can find out more about Claire and her world over at her blog, The Free Range Family.

 She is also on Twitter so go say hi!

If you would like to take part in my Real Mums series then email me at katy@whatkatysaid.com. x