Fashionista and mother, Siya Ndube answers our mom questions

Being a mom is...the best role I have ever had to embody. I cry, I laugh, I act stupid, I play like a kid again and I unashamedly take pride in being only human.

The last time I gagged because of my kids was when they… decided to make selfmade smoothie, by chewing all the bits and spitting them into a cup and finally pouring water into it to make it less thick, and they tried to convince me it’s healthy.

The last time I cried as a mom was when… my child played “Anita from 101 Dalmations” extremely well, I never thought I’d be one of those moms who cried when they were proud, until it happened to me lols.

My advice to other moms would be… take it one day at a time, we’re all just winging it and we’re doing the best we can. You are doing enough and your enough is good enough for your children. No one “knows” what they’re doing really so just give yourself a break.

My Favourite part about being a mom… is watching them grow and become they’re own people. To watch them develop they’re own dreams, ideas and characters is fascinating to watch and it just never gets old, to watch them learn and to catch myself unlearning a few other things too, because as we grow we lose our “inner child” and children have the amazing ability to bring that child out again and that’s my favourite thing.

The biggest challenge is… motherhood generally, because there is no formula. Trying to find the perfect balance is a difficult thing to try navigate. So you don’t really know for certain if you’re doing a great job, good job or just messing it all up somehow.

My success as a parent is measured by… my children’s attitude towards life, work ethics, academics, I think.

The most important affirmation I say to my children is… “I love being your mom”, “I am so proud of who you are”, “You are loved”. Those are just the few I can think off at the top of my head, but we say more when we meditate with them.

The most important behaviour/attitude I mirror for my children is… showing love and affection, taking responsibility for my mistakes, being accountable, being kind, and exercising compassion.

My work-life balance as a working mom ….can be quite difficult to navigate, because I’m an entrepreneur and a freelance wardrobe stylists working in print and the television industry too, this means I don’t have set working hours and days, sometimes I can be working for weeks on end, coming home late and leaving before the sun comes up and in some months I can be homebound for weeks. And because my work life can be inconsistent I try to keep a few things consistent with them, like on certain weekends committing to having our time as girls, with no calls, messages, social media and any other external interruptions.

I hate it when other moms…. shame other moms. A lack of empathy and understanding towards other moms and dads baffles me, I’ve seen it more especially during the lockdown because of the remote working and home-schooling and how some parents are just not coping.

Parenting through a pandemic has been… I think as a family we have been coping well under the lockdown. My mother and sister moved in with us and that made the world of difference, to get the extra help made it a little less stressful, and it’s given me a chance to get to know my daughters again.I explained the importance of handwashing during the coronavirus pandemic to my children by making them understand what the coronavirus was, it wasn’t easy explaining it but there child-friendly ways out there that made it easier to explain and I’m sure the youngest still doesn’t quite get it but because her big sister does understand and she gets the importance of washing hands, sneezing and coughing into her elbow, she mimics her and that helps drive the message home for now so that works

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