Helen Skelton's touching 'mum friends' tribute is SO true
“Mum mates are important. Choose wisely, choose widely.”
Any new mum knows the value of having a support network – health visitor, partner, family, friends.
But for BBC Countryfile presenter Helen Skelton, she found herself without her nearest and dearest in the early days of becoming a mum.
When her eldest son Ernie was just 3 months old, she and her rugby-playing hubby Richie Myler upped sticks to France for his job.
That’s when it came time for her to find some ‘mum friends’ – women going through exactly the same things as you, who can really relate to what you’re feeling, and most importantly, who won’t throw a single shade of judgement your way.
And, it would seem that now-mum-of-2 Helen’s found their support invaluable. So, she’s decided to pay tribute to them:
“I hadn’t read any baby books and I confess I didn’t go to antenatal classes,” Helen shared in a blog post. “I was winging the parenting thing.”
“Dearest family and school friends if you’re reading this please don’t be offended, you know in your hearts how much I love and need you but you’re sadly not next door so I haven’t been able to nip round for a break and a brew.
“I had to call on the Australian girl who I had only known for a few weeks when my baby hit his head on the patio floor and had a black eye. “Have I broken the baby?”
“I sobbed on the door step as she poured me a wine trying to hide her ‘I’ve been there’ smirk.
“I write this not because I want to brag about my gang but because I want to say thank you.
“Thank you girls for not judging me when my toddler screams and snatches a toy from yours. “Thank you for always arriving on my door with dips, crisps, cakes and fruit because it’s hard to shop with the babies in tow.
“Thank you most of all for not comparing our children, especially the ones who are the same age.
“Thank you for listening to my first world problems and non-dramas and thank you most of all for making some precious memories with us here in France.
“Mum mates are important. Choose wisely, choose widely.”
Here at MFM HQ, we couldn’t agree with Helen more. For us, at least, having fellow mums around really did help us get through those early days.
But, we also know that the concept of ‘mum friends’ isn’t for everyone, and doesn’t always last forever. Sometimes, you do find after your babies have hit a certain age, all you’ve really got in common is that… well, you’re all mums ???
It seems that Helen’s acknowledged that in her blog a bit, adding that she’d basically “borrowed” someone else’s best friends for the first few years of motherhood.
And that she'll soon need to make new mum friends, too, as she's moving back to Leeds in 2018...
Have your say
Do you have lots of mum friends – if so, how would you pay tribute to them? Perhaps you’ve just got your same-old friends, some of whom just happen to be mums?
If you’d like mum friends but don’t really seem to have any, don’t be afraid to get in touch and tell us (because some of team MFM have been there, too).
Join in the chat in the comments below, or head to Facebook
Images: Instagram/Helen Skelton
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