Mama bear – a lovable mum who can get scary when her ‘pups’ are in danger.
But we mamas bear so much more.

We bear our children for nine months inside us, carrying them closely under our heart.
We bear the pains of labour as we guide our children into our world.
We then bear the repercussions of carrying and birthing them. The pelvic problems, incontinence, haemorrhoids, fissures, aching breasts, stretch marks, mental challenges, back pain…
We bear our children when they cannot walk anymore…
but we also bear their tantrums when we tell them we cannot carry them all day.
We bear seeing them in pain, with a fever, a tooth on the go…
We bear the endless nights where we hold and rock them back to sleep.
We bear the aching joints and muscles from carrying them around all day, bending down or breastfeeding while standing and cooking.
We bear other people shaming us for how we do our parenting, we bear the judgement and the looks – and the notion that whatever we do, it will be wrong for someone.
We bear governments belittling motherhood and people seeing it as ‘just’ staying at home. We bear the judgement when we go back to work and ‘leave our children behind’.
We bear that motherhood is not seen as a job worth paying for or supporting mothers as they attempt to grow a human being inside and outside their bodies. We bear the ostracism we face from a society where children are an obstacle rather than valued members – and so are we by extension.
We bear the increasingly impossible ‘work-life-balance’ to make it right for everyone, leaving ourselves often behind in the process.
We bear other parents and children messing with ours at the playground.
We bear being the judge of so many situations – including with our children and others.

When you think you’re not doing enough as mother and just feel overwhelmed by it all (or, actually, aren’t enjoying it at the moment), remember that you are a fucking incredible mama bear – so let’s hear us ROAR!