parent opinion

"Are you a mummy journalist?" Constance Hall's candid interview on 60 Minutes.

As many new mothers can attest, having a baby completely turns your world upside down.

Emotionally and socially (not to mention financially), you’ll experience a whole lot of change in your baby’s first few months – and the change can feel overwhelming at times.

Constance Hall – author, businesswoman, blogger and mother of seven – understands this.

In fact, Hall understands this so much, she’s built a career out of it.

The candid writer covers just about everything on her blog, from having sex as a parent (“it’s that 3.5 minutes you get in between changing nappies and making food”) to feeling desperately over it (“I can’t breast feed him [Raja] anymore because he has chewed my nipples to the point of them bleeding).

Which is why her writing has made her such a well-known name. And while not everyone’s a fan of Hall, her latest topic of discussion is one countless mums can relate to: regaining your identity after having children.

Watch: Constance Hall chats to Mia Freedman on No Filter. Post continues after video.

Video via Mamamia

The Mamamia columnist appeared on 60 Minutes to talk about motherhood, what she will and won’t share online and just about everything else under the sun.

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What struck us most was how passionate she was when speaking about new mums struggling with their identity.

When asked whether or not she is a ‘mummy blogger’ Constance responds, “No. F*ck no, I’m not a mummy blogger. I’m not. Are you a mummy journalist?

“As soon as you become a mum, you just get typecast as just a mum, and it really takes over your whole life. And that’s what I’m trying to change,” she started.

“You can be a mum and be a legend. You can be a mum and you can travel.

“You can do this because your husband should be doing 50 per cent of the child-rearing, too.”

 

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Feeling like motherhood has completely consumed you in those first few months isn’t exactly uncommon, which is why it’s so important for new mothers to make time for themselves.

Constance, who is mum to Billie-Violet, Arlo-Love, twins Rumi and Snow – from her first marriage – and Raja, and stepkids Zeyke and Sunny with her husband Denim, went on to explain that motherhood – and life – isn’t as glamorous as some make it seem, which is why she likes to share the real, candid side of parenting on her blog.

She never pretends things are rosy when she’s upset. She speaks up when things are hard. And she talks about things some mothers feel they can’t even discuss with their close friends – something her followers commend her for.

 

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“I think people like me because life’s just not perfect. You know? It’s not happily ever after. It’s not meant to be.

“That’s what I do. I make people feel better about their lives because mine’s so crap.

“So everyone goes, ‘I love hanging out with Con, I feel like I can handle this now.'”

And while those in similar shoes might put up a front when it comes to the more sensitive aspects of their life, Constance admits she doesn’t really have a line about what she will and won’t post online – although she’s conscious that talking too much about certain topics can be overkill – even for her followers.

There comes a turning point for me, where if our relationship [with her husband, Denim] has been hard for more than a week or something. No one wants to keep hearing about me whinging about it.”

 

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So although it seems there are some things Constance will filter for her audience – for their own sake, not because a topic is taboo, we can only hope she keeps reinforcing the message: None of us a perfect, but we’re doing what we can.

“Relevance is overrated. We should all just be ourselves.”

For more from Constance Hall, you can follow her on FacebookInstagram, or her website. You can buy her book, Still A Queen, here.

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