When you’re in the depths of parenting, it’s often sink or swim. And it’s not always a pretty sight. Former Olympic swimmer Libby Trickett proves this quite poignantly in a recent photo she shared on Instagram.
In the photo, Libby sits cross-legged in bed with newborn, Bronte in her lap, while fixing nearly-two-year-old Edwina’s hair. With messy hair and a make-up free face, a multi-tasking Libby is #allofusmums.
The lighting is poor, there’s laundry on the floor and only one of the three people in the picture is actually looking (okay, glaring) at the camera.
The photo is raw, real and what motherhood really is all about. And wanna know the best part about it? The photo was taken by Libby’s four-year-old daughter, Poppy. Because who hasn’t given their child their phone in an attempt to entertain them?
‘Shot captured by my four-year-old’
Libby writes,
It’s funny, she takes photos like these all the time. More often than not, I scroll and delete because let’s be honest, she’s not all about capturing the flattering angles. But this one I looked beyond what I normally hope to see in a ‘nice’ picture of me and the girls.
I saw an image that I know I’ll miss in the future.
There’s not many more days that Bronte will continue to fit in my lap. It won’t be long before Eddie will want to do her own hair (if I’m honest, she’s so stubborn she would do her own hair now if she could!).
Sure there’s constantly laundry that needs to be folded and someone is generally crying about something. There are broken bones and snotty noses and new challenges that will come in our future but I know, one day, I will miss these moments and I’m so glad Poppy captured it.”
Libby’s message hits home with a lot of mums. It reminds us to take the picture. Get in the photo. Capture these moments.
No matter how messy the house is, how tired we look or how many stains are on our t-shirts, we need to capture these moments. These unflattering moments with our babies on our laps, our underwear on display, our eyes focused on our kids.
Sure, most of them won’t see the light of social media, but they will forever serve as a reminder of just how little our babies were and just how amazing we were at being their mums.
