Motherhood, while very rewarding, is also considerably challenging and much more difficult than it may seem from the outside. It is not only about giving love, affection and playtime to the little ones, but you also have to take care of them, meet their needs, give them quality food, monitor their sleeping routine, help them with their homework, educate them in good values, manage tantrums…
A challenge that becomes difficult depending on different family contexts, such as juggling the reconciliation of family and work life, caring for children with special needs or taking care of another dependent family member. Managing one’s professional career, household chores, friendships and relationships, as well as setting aside time to pursue hobbies, often become incomprehensible aspects.
It is precisely these challenges that reflect in an Instagram post @luciamipediatra, who has 880 thousand followers on the social network. Mother and pediatrician, author of 12 books and member of the UNICEF advisory board, Lucía reveals what is the most difficult thing about being a mother in her opinion, “after more than 16 years of motherhood and a few more as a pediatrician listening to thousands of women in consultation”.
“The real challenge of motherhood is not taking care of your baby and doing it well,” Lucía begins by saying, in a post with almost 23,000 likes. “The real difficulty is doing it without forgetting about yourself, your needs as a woman,” she says.
“Because before being a mother you were a woman, don’t forget, and you were a partner, and you were a friend, and you were a daughter… And you were a professional who tried to progress and learn in her work. You were, in short, a woman who enjoyed time with her friends, with her partner, and with herself alone,” the pediatrician’s story continues.
Lucía focuses on the weight of guilt in motherhood: “Continuing to be all of that without feeling guilty while you give part of your life to your child is what is truly difficult. But it’s not impossible. “It can be done,” she adds with the intention of encouraging all those who read her words. “It is possible and all women should not only keep it in mind but aspire to it.”
“Don’t forget that you do what you can at all times and that most of the time it is enough. Don’t punish yourself,” Lucía concludes. In addition to her own words, the comments section of the publication has become a forum where other mothers share their experiences of motherhood.
