Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Maternity leave

The theme for the gallery this week is 'Friendship'. I couldn't decide what to do so here I go...

This time last year I was on maternity leave…

Since the sun has started shining and the days have got longer, I find myself thinking back to last year so much. I miss it so much! There are many reasons why I miss it including:

1. Not having to get up for work

2. Not having to get up and get ready for work

3. Not having to get up for work, get ready for work and get Thomas ready for nursery

4. Planning days around where to walk to, where to have coffee, which cake to try…

There are, however, two main reasons I miss it.

I found myself a great group of first time mothers to share the whole experience with. We met through yoga, breastfeeding workshops, NCT, the internet, and came together and spent one summer experiencing the world as new mothers. There was always someone to listen, someone to care, and someone to moan to. We came from all walks of life but none of that mattered because we were all learning the same thing, how to be parents. Pregnancy, labour and birth became a distant memory as the summer months approached (an added bonus from having Christmas babies!). We spent our days in the sunshine, or in the rain, pushing our prams around Glasgow’s Southside, from one park to the next. We learnt about each other as well as about motherhood and our friendships grew.

Come September I went back to work. Thomas thrived at nursery but I was only part-time to begin with so I still got to meet up with my mummy friends. Then they all started going back to work, one by one our days off altered, less people were around, and the group got smaller. Now we only catch up occasionally – like this weekend at the Southside festival in Queens Park. We laughed, we chatted and we reminisced about last summer. These women will always be part of my heart, because they shared a huge part of my life, my journey to becoming a mother. Learning that it was OK to sometimes make mistakes, to sometimes feel sad, to sometimes be so happy your heart could burst. I am proud and privileged to call them my friends.

Secondly – Thomas. I miss him. I miss the dynamics of me and him against the world. He is my friend.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The world from my arm - self-portrait

I've decided to join in with The Gallery, hosted by Tara @ Sticky Fingers. This week: self-portrait...

I take a lot of photos. A LOT of photos some would say! I'm very aware that I'm not in many of them and I also know how much I like to look back on my family photos and see how my mum looked when she was younger, so I try really hard to make sure I'm in at least a few photos of my own. So here goes:

Me with my new (bad) hair cut/colour. The view of me often seen when my camera is with me:

The, often taken, me and Thomas shots:





The family shots:




And then the photos which make me look terrible, but capture a moment and therefore can't get deleted...




Hopefully, there will be enough for photos for me to look back on in years to come and say "my hair! WHAT was I thinking?!".

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...