Raising a child stands apart as one of life’s biggest responsibilities and greatest rewards. The chance to love, shape, guide, protect and nurture a growing human can, quite literally, be described as the role of a lifetime. A job so fulfilling yet so challenging. A role that is varied and glorious. A role that is communal – but often rests on the shoulders of one. A parent is one of a baby’s first instructors, chief medical officer, nutritionist, counsellor and activities director.
In this issue of KiwiParent, and in a nod to Mother’s Day on 8 May, we talk with three wahine about what motherhood means to them, and how the relationship with their own mother and mother figures has shaped and influenced their mothering to their own tamariki.
We also chat with Anxiety NZ about separation anxiety in slightly older children, something I’ve had to go through with my eldest boy recently. We hear from three amazing parents who have had a vastly different experience with their first baby compared to their second, and we find out how to care for your child if they develop COVID.