Children are often sick, particularly in winter. When they can’t go to nursery, childcare gets challenging with parents needing to work. In Switzerland, it’s possible to hire an emergency nanny in these cases - but would I want my child to be with a stranger when they are feeling unwell? We need to find creative solutions and think out of the box in order to have workplaces where parents feel welcome and supported.

Despite many amazing opportunities in my career up until I became a mother, I felt like a failure on so many occasions. Learning about competing devotions and re-defining my values on my matrescence journey has helped me find clarity in what was truly important to me and take decisions that align with who I am in this season of my life.

A little update on what I’ve been up to in the past 6 months and why it’s been so silent on this blog.

I recently met another mom and we discussed about judgement of others. As parents, we are exposed to a lot of judgement because a lot of people have an opinion of how you “should” be parenting and raising your children. From the amount you work as a mom (the work hours of dads are never questioned), to the way your kid behaves in public to the things you let them do (or not do) - there will always be someone judging somewhere.

While recently reading a post on postpartum depression on Substack, I started reflecting on my own journey. The author explains “why unkind men, not hormones, are the leading cause of postpartum depression”. While I personally wouldn’t put the entire blame on men, I do agree that society in general is also playing an important role. But let me start from the beginning…

Motherhood is hard - the sleepless nights, fulfilling needs of tiny humans, toddler tantrums and opinionated little kids. There is so much joy to it, but at times, it feels like we are stuck in a hamster wheel, just functioning from one day to the next and not having the time to take a breath.

If you are a millenial like me, you grew up believing that you can have it all: the career, the family, the life you’ve always dreamed about. While in theory, this sounds great, once we become mothers, a lot of things change and it takes a lot of effort to not fall into the old patterns of the woman looking after the house and family while the man is going to work.

Going back to work after maternity leave is often emotional: the pull between leaving your child and going back to a job you left months ago is exhausting.

What is the ideal maternity leave? The answer to this question differs so much from one person to another, but also it can be so hard to predict. Usually you need to announce how long you want to stay at home with your child beforehand, while you are still pregnant and don’t know how life with a child will look like.

I grew up as a millenial in a relatively safe environment in one of the richest countries of Europe. While I did feel different at times from my peers during my childhood and teenager years, this was mostly related to the fact that my mother is from Singapore and therefore the biggest part of my family lives there. We did travel there regularly, but I didn’t get to see my family as much as I would’ve liked to and that did make me feel different - yet it’s also been a blessing to be exposed to another culture and to be able to call another place my home.