Happy Mother’s Day, mums.
This is the day we celebrate all the amazing mums in our lives – including ourselves.
It is also a chance, I think, to stop for a moment and think about just how crazy a ride motherhood really is. How lovely and scary and busy and wonderful and exhausting and frusterating and extatic and just really, really amazing.
To me, and I am sure to so many others, motherhood was something I wanted to deeply, something I knew had to be in the cards. And something I now, close to a decade into it, realise was the actual making of me – I am who I am today because I am a mum.
As much as there are times when I miss certain things about my pre-child life (mainly unbroken sleep and the ability to spend money on myself without feeling guilty) I would not want to go back to a time there was a me without my children. This is where I belong, where I was meant to be.
Motherhood is an epic journey for us all – no matter who we are. And we are all in it together, feeling these very same feelings. Just take a look at the below quotes where some very famous mums share their most memorable moments of new motherhood, from unconditional love to the realisation you can only control so much when it comes to how your kids turn out.
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1. Kate Middleton
“Personally, becoming a mother has been such a rewarding and wonderful experience. However, at times it has also been a huge challenge — even for me who has support at home that most mothers do not. Nothing can really prepare you for you the sheer overwhelming experience of what it means to become a mother. It is full of complex emotions of joy, exhaustion, love, and worry, all mixed together. Your fundamental identity changes overnight.” —A speech at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, March 2017
2. Nicole Kidman
“There’s nothing you love more. When that shift happens, and you [become a parent], it’s a cataclysmic change. Everything shifts. That depth of love is unfathomable and deeply painful and extraordinarily joyful.” –Tatler, November 2019
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3. Beyoncé
“I felt very maternal around eight months, and I thought I couldn’t become any more until I saw the baby. But it happened during my labor because I had a very strong connection with my child. I felt like when I was having contractions, I envisioned my child pushing through a very heavy door. And I imagined this tiny infant doing all the work, so I couldn’t think about my own pain …. We were talking. I know it sounds crazy, but I felt a communication.” —Vogue, March 2013
4. Holly Willoughby
“Being a mum is my greatest achievement and yet still my biggest daily challenge to get right. I have the best blueprint of how to be a mother from just being raised by the best mummy in the world… fill them with love… That’s what mine did.” –Instagram, March 2021
5. Kylie Jenner
“I think more about the future because of her. Every time I leave and I’m stressed about leaving her, I’m like, ‘I’m doing it for you.’ Everyone says you change completely when you become a mom, but I really feel the same, just better. So I don’t know what really has completely changed my world, besides her, of course. But I feel like it’s only gotten better. You’re less selfish — and I actually enjoy changing diapers. It’s really satisfying. To make her clean again. And I don’t know, the whole thing is really … it’s like such an amazing experience.”
6. Salma Hayek
“Pregnancy is all a blur now. But I remember the advice that my aunt gave me — my aunt who never had any babies. She spent some time with us when Valentina was not even 1 month old, and she said to me, ‘Put her to sleep yourself every night. Sing to her and cradle her in your arms and sit by her side — every night. Because one day, you won’t be able to carry her anymore, and it’s going to happen really fast.’” —American Baby, August 2008
7. Mila Kunis
“Children are f–king crazy. They’re also suicidal. Like, at the park, certain jungle gyms have an opening for older kids to jump out of. [Daughter Wyatt’s] 19 months; she can’t jump. She just walks off it as if she’s on a pirate ship. Another important thing to learn is that kids have a personality that has nothing to do with you. I have a really sweet daughter. She wants to hug all the other kids. I didn’t teach her to be sweet. It has nothing to do with me. I’ve realised you can control only so much.” —Glamour, July 2016
8. Kim Kardashian
“Having my daughter is my biggest achievement. All the things you used to do, you just don’t care about anymore. Your child becomes the #1 priority.” –Twitter, February 2015.
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9. Kristen Bell
“What I love the most is how much kids rightsize your problems. You don’t really care as much. They just make everything better. So all the things you used to worry about just sort of disintegrate.” —Us Weekly, April 2017
10. Emily Blunt
“After we got home from the hospital, I didn’t shower for a week, and then John [Krasinski] and I were like, ‘Let’s go out for dinner.’ I could last only about an hour because my boobs were exploding. When the milk first comes in, it’s like a tsunami. But we went, just to prove to ourselves that we could feel normal for a second.” —InStyle, November 2016
11. Gigi Hadid
“It’s all my favorite, even if it gets hard at times. You have so much patience and unconditional love that comes with motherhood. It’s just fun to watch her grow and learn every day. And she makes me so proud. It’s funny how even the smallest things are exciting.” —Harper’s Bazaar, June 2021
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12. Naomi Campbell
“She is the biggest blessing I could ever imagine. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done… I always knew that one day I would be a mother, but it’s the biggest joy I could ever imagine. I’m lucky to have her and I know that… My daughter comes first. Everything I do, I do for her – that’s it. It’s so completely selfless.” —Vogue, February 2022.
