Raising Maisie May

In life we all face difficult times, some trivial and some tragic. Some problems are quickly solved and gone while others take time and can leave a lasting mark. There are some things that we have no control over and many more that we have no way to change. However, in all situations we do have a choice in how we react. There is no right or wrong way to deal with difficult challenges, everyone feels in different ways and everyone heals in different ways. All you can do is find a way that works for you. Going through those four weeks of chemo was a great distraction from what lay ahead of us. I made myself become obsessive over cleaning, enjoy and embrace every smile that Maisie made and focus on getting through each day one day at a time. Maisie made this possible for me because she handled her chemo so well. I could count on one hand the number of times she vomited, had a temperature or had unplanned hospital visits. Most days she managed to keep the colour in her face, she held

"Comparison is the thief of joy" - Theodore Roosevelt. Comparing myself to others is something I struggle with almost on a daily basis. I always have done. But the most recent comparison and the one that has made me loose some perspective is my role as a mother, and I know I will not be alone in saying that. Since Maisie was born I found myself struggling to adjust to motherhood. Although she did have good days, she has mostly been irritable, crying sore a lot of the time with no definitive reason and generally unsettled. I always compared myself to other mothers who managed to go to coffee shops when their babies were days old, who went away on weekend breaks when their babies were a matter of weeks, those who were able to wear a full face of make-up and look so glamorous all the time whenever I struggled to wash my face most days and barely made it outside the front door. I always felt like I was doing something wrong, that I was a bad mother and that I was missing out