Motherhood tricks

Parenting tricks by Marissa Anastasi: Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff. Lean into your support system. You can’t do everything, so don’t try. If someone offers to help with housework, cooking, errands – TAKE IT! You are not a failure for asking for help. Self-care is important. You can’t be the best Mom you can be if your own gas tank is empty. Accept help and make sure you take care of yourself too!

There’s no shortage of advice available to new moms. Between best-selling parenting books, well-meaning family and friends, and even strangers on the street, there’s plenty of advice to consider. Just sifting through the sheer amount of information that comes your way can be a daunting task—how do you know whose advice to take and whose to (respectfully) disregard? Because we’re of the mindset that honest parenting advice from real moms is one of the best resources out there, we asked the smart, insightful mothers and experts in the area of parenting to share their words of wisdom. Their comments had us nodding in agreement, laughing out loud, and looking for a pen and paper to jot down notes.

Listen. Yeah, yeah, everyone says to listen. But you need to REALLY listen. Listen to the point that you can ask intelligent questions. Listen to the point that you know when your daughter has a certain smile on her face that she has a crush on a boy and you can discern from your conversations with her just who that boy is. Listen to what your child says and ask questions ON THEIR LEVEL, not “parental” questions. A question on their level would be, “What is the name of Seether’s new song again? I keep forgetting.” A parental question would be, “That boy in that band dresses all in black and wears eyeliner, you need to find someone else to like.” Read more info at Motherhood advices.

I remember hearing a person with their fumbly toddler, who was wandering – trying to explore and was constantly being told ‘no,’ ‘not in there,’ ‘no don’t touch that,’ and ‘no stop that.’ It was then I knew I would dread being that parent. I treat my little boy with the respect and manners to which I expect him to treat me, and others. Of course daily he tests my limits, but I’m always looking for a new way to suppress the “no” Mom that sometimes feels she could take over at any moment.

Since Kenny was born, I had been a stay at home mummy until Isabella was 4 which is when I started teaching younger kids. I done that for 2 years but after my 3rd pregnancy, I never went back and decided to become a stay at home mummy once again. Now my youngest is 5 and 6, I decided I could maybe begin something new again. And so, in Late November 2018, I opened the doors to a kid’s concept store in Larnaca town centre. It’s difficult combining family and work, and sometimes the guilt is immense, but I have a lot of support from my husband when it comes to the children. Discover a few more details at www.marissaanastasi.com.