Mama needs a helping hand.

Art by Gearman Gallery

Written in every pregnancy book and talked about amongst parenting classes and midwives visits...is the topic of asking for help..."Let family and friends help you as much as they can, you'll need it".

I've always found the subject a little offensive at times. Almost insinuative that at some stage you will struggle, you will not be able to cope and you will need the help of others. Like any other slightly stubborn and driven young mama, I find that asking for help is not a phrase I am familiar with.

Yet, I have found myself in a position I have dreaded. An energetic young toddler needs me, loads and loads of washing stare at me, meals to be cooked taunt me and a house to be cleaned before me. Yet, here I am with a pregnant body that exhausts me with sleep constantly calling for me.

I am in a position where I need the help, and oh man, am I willing to take it!

Last week, a dear friend of mine spent her Saturday helping me clean my house. If you had told me 9 months ago that this would be the case I would have scoffed at you! Yet, here I was, letting her scrub the oven and wipe down the windows as she insisted. She also bought with her the hugest pumpkin I have ever seen and bags of fresh, homegrown vegetables. Instead of feeling insulted, I felt ever so grateful and lucky. 

I have learnt over the last few weeks that asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it isn't admitting defeat. It is simply reaching out and accepting what is available to you, accepting the things that will make a tough time more pleasant and a struggling week a little easier. I hope that maybe one day I am in a position to do the same and to give back the help I've received, perhaps take a teeming toddler from a tired mamas hands for a few hours, or make an extra batch of lasagna for someones freezer.

After all, in this sometimes rough journey called Motherhood...Mamas need to look out for one another. 

I love this post I found recently on how to help a new mother. It gives 10 real, down-to-earth ways to help a new mama. What would you add to the list? And remember my 'rules for visiting a new mother' post? What would you change about the do's and dont's?

Did you accept help offered to you whilst pregnant or as a new mother? If you had your time over, would you have swallowed your pride and let the helping hand help?
Plenty of love,