
We all know that karma is a bitch. But there’s a bigger bitch around who’s rarely spoken of but often makes her presence known – Mum Guilt.
Old lady Mum Guilt rocks up at the drop of a hat, rearing her ugly head everywhere.
Think you can do the school or daycare drop off untouched by her heavy hand? Think again. Your child picks that particular day to cry the house down as soon as they step through the front door, ensuring the rest of your day is full of concern. Particularly if, like me, you work from home so you TECHNICALLY don’t have to put them in (but goddamn it, don’t I deserve some semblance of a career and a teeny tiny break?).
If Mum Guilt was an actual real-life person, she’d look like The Trunchbull from the popular Roald Dahl kids’ book Matilda – all huge, hairy, scary, wielding heavy objects, scary footsteps and chin hairs.

She creeps up in the middle of the night, making you wonder whether you could and should be doing more for your little one, or making you stress about their routine and why they’re not sleeping so great.
She’s stomping on you in the early days, when you have a crying newborn and have next to no idea what to do, causing you to reach for ALL the baby books and try to follow them to the letter.
She’s making bitchy comments in your head on those days you just HAVE to put their favourite TV show on repeat just to get some peace and quiet for just a few minutes. Or when you decide to have another baby and you spend months worrying about how your first born will take it, whether you’re doing the right thing by them and if they’ll feel unloved despite your best efforts…