Bramleymums Blog

Happycamper
I’m a working mum of two – C. (5) and F. (1). By day I’m responsible for digital publishing strategy for an academic publisher; by night, for tea, homework, bedtime stories, vegetable garden and housework, in roughly that order of priority. I’m a school governor, founder of the Bramley Babes Babysitting Circle, co-organizer of Bramley Iron Mum and a member of St Mary’s Church, Eastrop, but sadly I seem to be best known locally for getting flooded out in July 2007, only three months after moving to the village. My main concerns (apart from heavy rain, naturally) are: balancing work and family life; camping with kids; squeezing spiritual and physical exercise into the day – especially in the run-up to Iron Mum; and trying to get nutritious, varied meals on the table every night in half an hour flat.

Melissa
I am a first time, stay at home Mum who is a wheelchair user and visually impaired. I will be posting on the ways I find of adapting to looking after my son Anthony, new issues that arise as he gets older and how I overcome them, useful websites and resources.

Philippa
I still find it strange to say I’m a mother of two – I don’t feel grown up enough to be a Mum, despite having children ten years later in life than my Mum did! We have 2 girls, R (3) and L (18 months), who are different in so many ways that it sometimes feels like I’m going through it all for the first time twice over. We moved to Bramley in August 2007, when L was only 5 weeks old – and actually our move date was 6 days before my due date, so perhaps it was a good job she was premature! I had to leave the job I’d gone back to between having children when we relocated and so until recently I’ve been a full time Mum which in lots of ways I have enjoyed but I have also found extremely challenging. It was a huge relief to meet so many great Mums in Bramley and be able to fill our days with coffee mornings, playgroups, trips to the park etc. I am currently doing an interim contract, working 3 days a week and I’m enjoying being back at work and using my brain again (or trying to!). I am a cloth nappy addict so more on that to come I’m sure!

Polly
I have two children; Rowan who is now 3 years old and full of life and so very inquisitive.  My 2^nd child Millie is now 1 years old but was 3 months premature so my experiences with her have been extremely challenging and very different to that with Rowan.  I love being a mum and although it fills me with joy it is also utterly exhausting!  I had two very different pregnancies; Rowan was 2 weeks late and although the birth didn’t go as planned I did enjoy the 9 months of pregnancy with him and I was very fit and well throughout.  Millie was a different matter from day one I was extremely ill, tired and obviously only carried her for 6 months and was completely shocked when she arrived so early.
 
We moved to Bramley in August 2006 from Reading and have found it to be a very warm and friendly village.  We have involved ourselves in as many local events as possible and I personally have found my local Bramley mums to be really friendly and have already got some really great friendships in the village.
 
I am now a full time mum but still dabble in work currently on a self-employed basis. 

Rachel
I’m a self-employed mother of a daughter, let’s call her ‘Coswise’, with a second daughter due in April. It took my husband and I a long time to decide we wanted children, hence we’ve been married almost fifteen years and Coswise is two and a half. Fortunately we didn’t have to use the plethora of fertility resources many of our friends have had to use, but life with baby has been a tremendous shock. In particular I felt, and continue to feel, the lack of a close family, and a lack of exposure to practical, day-by-day parenting prior to Coswise’s birth. Living in Bramley I have been very fortunate to find a great network of other mothers whose pragmatism, friendship, lack of competitiveness and enthusiasm I really enjoy.

In parenting terms I’m pretty hands-off, while my husband is very hands on. I try to be a non-sexist parent without driving myself mad. I know that often my unthought prejudice creeps in.  I have developed some firm beliefs about the value of children experiencing an extended peer group and that it can be unhealthy to closet ourselves in nuclear families. I believe that breast-feeding is usually damn hard to do, very much a learnt skill and important for a child’s lifetime health. That said I think we need to support each other as parents and not judge other parenting styles – hard to do when a three year old is standing on your daughter’s head while father looks passively on!  My daughter is teaching me the value of humility and I think we will probably learn to control our emotions together – she is already better at snapping out of a temper tantrum than I am!

I am also the local NCT rep and a ‘service user’ on the Maternity Services Liaison Committee of the North Hants Primary Care Trust. I will be posting news in both these capacities.

Tanya
I am a first time mum to Amber who was born in May 07. I would love another baby but that discussion is still ongoing with my other half – not sure who will win that one! I work full time and am lucky to have a crèche at work for Amber. I love being a mum, but it has turned my world upside down. Without the Bramley mums network I don’t think I would have had half as much fun and laughs and support as I have.

Trickcyclist

I am a 34 year-old married mother of two little boys, let’s call them Godfrey (3) and Siegfried (15 months) and be grateful those aren’t their real names. I am a doctor training in Psychiatry in the NHS and dealing with the challenges and benefits of working in a large state organisation. I have the privilege of working two and a half days a week for which I am extremely grateful. However, I have the usual dilemma of childcare, guilt and what to feed my children that’s quick and nutritious. I’m not temperamentally suited to full-time mummydom, so relish my time in the ‘real world’.

I first became interested in psychiatry when managing pregnant patients as a GP, and my interest in mental illness during pregnancy and after childbirth has only been increased by my extremely difficult labour and later post-natal depression. I am passionate about identifying mental health needs in mothers and their timely treatment.

I grew up in South Africa, moving here in 2004, although my parents are English. In addition to my boys, I have three grown-up step-daughters, a husband, two cats and three rabbits, so no real challenges there then.