Local mum and blogger Hattie Harrison gets a few things off her chest about the pitfalls of parent pigeonholing
Hi, I’m Hattie Harrison, mum of three, wife to one and hero of none (yet). I’m one of a number of mums on Instagram who enjoy massively oversharing our everyday lives – our successes (poo in the potty – happy emoji) and celebrations (Prosecco boomerang); our failures (tantrum in a public arena – gritted teeth emoji) and our commiserations (Prosecco boomerang).
So, talk to me about what kind of parent you identify�as. Are you an arty-farty one? An almond milk latte one? A gym�bunny? A nightclub honey? A helicopter one? An attachment mum? A yes parent? A no parent? A
three-gym-bags-full parent? If you’re not sure who your tribe is, perhaps ask an opinionated onlooker (no shortage).
I believe that I’m a former member of the ‘boozy mum club’ (ask anyone unfortunate enough to be in lunging distance from me on the dance fl oor at Zee Bar), and I also believe that I’m a member of the ‘whinge about your family online’ club. We all know that it’s cheaper than therapy, but I’m beginning to worry that I’ll need some kind of family discount card in
the future.
The above, sometimes literal, labelling of ourselves and others (see: Instagram handles @slummy/yummy/chummy/plummy mummy) can be problematic. Surely we should feel able to move seamlessly from one parenting approach to another, without feeling like we’re letting others, and ourselves, down.
So, from now on, my parenting approach is to unashamedly�straddle across all of the aforementioned ‘mum stereotypes’. If you spot�me out and about, I may well be wearing active wear, or conversely, I might be�enjoying a glass of wine al fresco, but one thing’s for certain�- I’ll be doing me, so you go ahead and do you. (Mic drop.�And Prosecco boomerang.)
Hattie Harrison blogs at That Mum Blog. To find out more, visit www.thatmumblog.co.uk
