Laura Mazza is an Australian blogger who runs The Mum on the Run after battling postnatal depression with her first child, Luca.
She began the blog three years ago after feeling isolated and began to connect with other mothers who might be going through a similar situation.
The blog has over 250K followers, a space jam packed with down-to-earth and reassuring posts that read like your best friend is telling you that it is all going to be okay and you are not crazy for having a rough day with the kids.
Her latest post went viral for a message that is not heard enough. Laura writes:
“People always say to me “I don’t know how you do it with 3. I can’t do it with 1” And I’ll always say, the first is your hardest. I had never been more shocked, more overwhelmed and more sleep deprived ever in my life. Yes, 3 is hard. But entering motherhood for the first time is like a tornado that swirls you in and spits you out. Those days are by far the hardest.”
“But what I do know is this; the days of feeling like you’ve been kicked up the vagina and hungover are few. You can hug your baby, he can sleep in your arms, you can have a routine or not and nothing bad will come of it. Some days you’ll shower, other days you’ll smell like an orangutan, picking fleas off your head. Some days you’ll feel blessed, other days you’ll hate yourself for struggling because all you wanted was a baby. But both are okay, neither makes you a bad mother.”
“Getting a babysitter, sleeping, passing your baby over to your partner like a football, or putting the baby down in her bed nice and safe while you take a minute – is ok. Your mental health matters. Your self care is still important. You’re still a person. You don’t have to exhaust yourself to be a good mother. You don’t have to lose yourself.”
“No one is cleaning their house every day. No one is having sex every day. No one has it all together. We are ALL losing our s***. Even Becky with the good hair.”
“I’ve had a c section that was hard work, a vaginal birth that was hard work. I’ve formula fed, breast fed, donor fed my babies – all of it hard work. All of it amazing, and yet my kids still swear at the wrong time and throw tantrums and eat off the floor. All 3. Don’t beat yourself up.”
“I’ve never fought more with my husband than ever. Two ships sailing in the night. But you meet again, I promise. So I don’t know how I do it with 3, and I don’t know how you do it with 1, but the fact is, we ARE doing it and doing it well.”
“You’re amazing. Through the tears, the s****y nappies, the first steps, you’re amazing. Don’t ever second guess it because those little turds, they never do. To them, you are a wonderful. To them, you are everything.”
When asked about what spurred her to write the post, Laura revealed it was a critic of all people.
“I actually wrote the post because someone had messaged me with something nasty, responding to a post I wrote about depression,” Laura told revealed to Bored Panda. “She then apologized after telling me she had a bad day. After talking to her I realized she was a first time mum with depression and was beating herself up so I kinda wrote it for her.”
“She reminded me of those early days and I think so many first time mums, and just mums in general, need to hear that’s it’s ok and that they are doing an amazing job.”
Laura is a social worker with a her masters in psychology with the goal of helping new mothers cope with life transitions.
She was caught off guard by how popular her post was, as it came from a place that is near and dear to her.
“Sometimes, I just write what flies off the tongue (or the fingers?) and I thought, ‘well if she sees it then that’s all that matters.’ I didn’t expect it to resonate with a lot of mums,” she shared.
So if you are a mother, father or care-taker reading this: you are doing a great job.