"It's challenging, rewarding, stressful…it's just every emotion you could possibly think of, in one."
Becoming a single parent can be extremely overwhelming but can be very rewarding at the same time. How do you balance looking after your children and looking after yourself?
Steph and Chelsee chat to us about the realities of being single parents to their children, Caben and Coco.
Chelsee:Being a single mum is one of the hardest jobs in the world.
Stephanie:It's challenging, rewarding, stressful…It's just every emotion you could possibly think of, in one.
Chelsee:People always ask me how I'm doing it and honestly my reply every time is: I'm just winging it…and I get through it as well, because you've got to.
Stephanie:Because I didn't have that other person there to say "can you hold him for a second while I get in the shower?" Like what do you do? I was literally struggling around the house holding him. Put him in the bouncer, I've never washed so quick in my life. All by pulling stupid faces, trying to entertain him. Stop him from crying, so I'd be like "Ah! You're okay! Ah!" Dead quick, as fast as I could. Getting a wash. Constant tiredness, that's what it is, but it's worth every second.
Chelsee:Being a mum to Coco is super rewarding, but at the same time, I literally don't get a break. You've got to take it all on your own. When you say "no", you're the bad guy. There's no one you can maybe tell them to tell her "no" so then you're the good guy. Everything is a drama. Whatever I want her to do, she wants to do the opposite. I always have to remind myself that when she's saying no, she's just trying to get a reaction out of me and test me…and then I've just to breathe and think this is just a phase…I hope!
Stephanie:I think as well as looking after your children, you've really got to look after your own mental health too, and it's okay to ask for help because sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves by looking at what's portrayed on Instagram, thinking this is what we should be like and it's not. You know, we're all on our own journeys. We're all finding our own feet and all we can do is the best we can do.
