July 2024

You are the gatekeeper, mama

When I first heard this phrase, it made me realise how much I control what comes in and what goes out of my home.

In our family, I'm the thermostat. I control the temperature, the atmosphere, the ambience, the grocery list, the washing schedule, the kids' schedules and pretty much everything else that involves our home life.

My husband is incredibly involved with our kiddos, but works long hours, so I'm the homemaker/homeschooler and I love it.

That means I can choose how much television my children watch, what kind of foods I put on the table, what kind of washing detergent we use and so on.

Do your research, but trust your instincts

I recently spoke with a new mama who was struggling with conflicting research about colic. It broke my heart because I heard the concern in her voice and her desire to do what was best for her baby.

I remember being a first-time mum and completing sleep training courses, joining motherhood Facebook groups and wanting validation from other mothers further down the track.

At the end of the day, I quit signing up for new courses and left those Facebook groups because at the end of the day, I realized they were doing more harm than good.

God created me to have the innate ability to know what is best for my child. You know what happened? My baby girl slept through the night eventually and I stopped stressing over it. I realized that I was worrying about what everyone else was doing rather than trusting my gut intuition.

So, the point of the story is, you are the gatekeeper of your home, mama. And you know your home and your babies best. Quiet the noise from social media, the news, other opinions and remember that you will make the best choice for your family. Do you know how I know?

Because you are here. You want to nourish your family, you want to do what's best for your babies. And that's enough.

From one fellow mama to another,

Jess x