TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF YOURSELF, MUM

PARENTING

Kimberley Welman became mother to three children, including twins, within 19 months.

In the midst of the overwhelming early days, she started her Stay Strong Mummy blog to reach out to other mothers and encourage them to journey with her on the path back to fitness.

She became a social media star three years ago when her backyard workout videos showing her doing push-ups off prams and using her twins as weights went viral.

She has co-authored a book, gathered more than 56,000 Instagram followers and has built a tight online community of mothers who inevitably talk about more than fitness.

Kimberley’s social media posts also share her thoughts on motherhood and family life.

The fact she thinks she’s not really qualified to give parenting advice means her advice is probably well worth hearing. .......................

The One Thing:

I really thought about this and I think the thing I would say as a parent is to take that pressure off yourself. By trying to parent perfectly we put so much stress on ourselves. A parent’s energy flows to the whole family, it trickles down and your kids feel it too.

I’m still growing as a parent. We all grow into it – none of us have done it before until we’re in it. Just by loving them, you’re doing it perfectly. There’s no one right approach. Just grow with them and work out your technique as you go.

With social media particularly, it’s easy to get caught up in comparisons but, as parents, we need to run our own race. I’ve got three children and each child requires something a little different. You work it out with them.

That’s probably more than one thing but, as parents, we all need to do it: take the pressure off and just love our kids.

“JUST BY LOVING THEM, YOU’RE DOING IT PERFECTLY. THERE’S NO ONE RIGHT APPROACH. JUST GROW WITH THEM AND WORK OUT YOUR TECHNIQUE AS YOU GO.”