Working and being a mum isn’t easy. Not at all. We get it. You take your maternity leave, then go back to work—only to feel like there’s absolutely, positively no way you can do it all.
You’re not alone. Almost every new mum (and plenty of the not-so-new ones) feel this way. Whether you feel like you’re not exactly making the grade at work or you’re feeling like a totally inadequate mum, you’re probably not giving yourself top marks when it comes to all of your jobs.
That’s how new mum Jessica O’Dowd felt too. Featured in a short film for Chicco’s #NeverStopGrowing campaign, O’Dowd got to see herself through the eyes of others.
After being told that she’s receiving an evaluation on how she’s doing as both a mum and an employee, O’Dowd was, well, understandably nervous.
Before seeing and hearing what everyone else thought about her, the mum was asked to talk about her performance. Like most of us would say, O’Dowd felt that she had too much to do and not enough time. Being spread too thin is completely common among parents. You have work, kids, your home—and then there’s your spouse or partner. Oh yeah, and what about time for yourself? Okay, so maybe that’s pushing it too far. Time for yourself. What’s that?
With all the pushes and pulls of daily life, it’s no wonder that O’Dowd didn’t rate herself highly. That said, her friends, family and co-workers did. Not one of them had a complaint or even anything remotely negative to say. Each person interviewed talked about how amazing O’Dowd is. One co-worker said, “I have no idea how you’re achieving so much in the same amount of hours I have in the day.” A friend said, “I know sometimes you think you are dropping the ball. But, you are amazing.”
It’s clear that even though this mum thinks she’s not at the top of her game—she is! So, take her self-criticism to heart. Instead of thinking that you’ve failed at one or a few parts of your life, realise that you can’t do it all. Beyond that, no one expects you to. Even though you can’t be everywhere and do everything at once, it’s likely that the people who mean the most to you think that you get an ‘A’ when it comes to being a mum!
