Sure, Carrie Bickmore’s life seems glamorous.
But lately, she’s pulled the curtain back and given fans a glimpse of her less-than-ideal reality.
The TV and radio host returned to work on the Hit Network last week, with her and co-host Tommy Little broadcasting live from the comfort of her home less than three months after the birth of her daughter, Adelaide.
Carrie, who is also mum to Ollie, 11 and Evie, 3, has plenty of experience juggling motherhood with her high-profile jobs, but in a candid Instagram post with Adelaide, she shared that she’d had a horror first week back.
Writing that it “certainly packed a punch”, she said her household had been struck by the delightful trio of gastro, colds and nits.
That’s rough.
“Welcome back to work mummy!” she joked.
The admission inspired other mothers to share stories of their own weeks from hell to show Carrie she was far from alone.
“Been feeling all these vibes lately,” wrote one mum. “Study, sick kids, mosquito bite infections, nits!”
“3 Sick kids here since last Monday – went to work today for some me time,” said another.
One poor mum said her household was dealing with two ear infections, gastro and mild bronchitis, and another was having the MONTH from hell:
“I feel ya girl! First month back at work… gastro, bronchitis, sinusitis and NITS like three times in one month! Wtf! Snot, cough and itchy creepy crawlies. Oh and there’s a mouse in our bedroom. Worst time ever.”
Despite the chaos, Carrie left the kids with partner Chris Walker on Monday night to attend the Melbourne Fashion Festival’s opening night on Monday.
She told the Herald Sun life was hectic, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s chaos. I’ll be honest I think I thought, the third I know what I’m doing, it can’t be that hard. It is so hard,” she said.
“I posted on my Instagram the other day, we got to the two month mark and I was like ‘wow, I don’t know where those eight weeks went. I think we’ve turned the corner now’.”