Being a mum in this day and age is difficult. We try so hard to be the best mums we can be, but it seldom seems to be enough. Many of us juggle work, childcare, housework and the “invisible workload” – the little things that every mum does that goes unnoticed. We live in a world where raising your voice to your child is frowned upon, but not discipling them is spoiling them. In our world, being a stay at home mom is wasting your potential while going back to work means you’re not present. You try to be certain of your parenting style, but everyone always has an opinion on what you’re doing wrong.
With so much pressure around mums in this day and age, it is no wonder that they tend to neglect themselves in the process of trying to be the perfect mum for their little ones.
In fact, to take a closer look at mums’ behaviours and habits, a survey was recently done to better understand mums in Singapore. The results provided many shocking and revelatory findings about how mums are sacrificing everything for their children, sometimes even compromising the quality of their diet.
Here are a few learnings from this survey:
Lesson #1: Mums sacrifice their own nutrition
The study reveals that 67 percent of mums are simply too tired to pay attention to their own nutrition intake and mealtimes.
Mums, we can’t even begin to tell you why this is so wrong. If you’re not taking in the right nutrition for your body, how are you supposed to have enough energy to run around with the little ones?
Lesson #2: Mums sacrifice me-time
Most of us know that self-care is essential for happiness. It has been proven to “reboot” your brain, enhance your relationships and even make you more productive. Singaporean mums seem to have forgotten this:
67% of them agreed that they have not had adequate sleep since they’ve given birth.
64% of them said they do not have time for self-care.
57% are not able to spend time with their partner.
52% of moms skip mealtimes.
In fact, the need for me-time is so desperate that three out of five mums have hidden from their children just to enjoy their favourite snack in peace. It is a sad statistic, but also all too familiar.
Lesson #3: Mums sacrifice family time
We’ve all heard of the famous line that goes, “The family that eats together, stays together.” But 73 percent of mums do not sit at the dining table for a full nutritious meal.
Why? you ask. Well, because 32% of them eat whatever they can throughout the day to avoid “wasting time” on a sit-down meal.
Lesson #4: Nutrition for mums is often unhealthy
As we grow older, we’re supposed to focus more on our health and start adopting healthier habits. For Singaporean mums however, quite the opposite has happened. 18% of mums admit to eating their child’s leftovers. While you may be cooking healthy meals for your child, let us remind you that this isn’t a good idea. Your diet should be balanced. As mums we abhor food waste, but don’t treat your body as the garbage disposal.
Lesson #5: Mums deserve better
With all these sacrifices, do mums actually realise how much they are giving up? The overwhelming answer is yes. 79% of mums yearn for a meal they can truly enjoy in peace. This just shows that mums indeed love being mothers, but they also miss the freedom of having time on their hands.
After gaining insights from this survey, we just want to share with mums that to be an excellent mother, you first need to make sure that you take care of yourself.
Your efforts do not go unseen. If we could write down what your child wants to tell you, it would be this: Thank you, mom. Thank you for all the sacrifices you’ve made to provide me with only the best in life. Thank you for putting my needs ahead of yours. Most of all, thank you for being the best mum I could ask for. You deserve nothing but the best, Mum!
