Former beauty queen Raelene Rorke answers our mom questions

She might be on another continent busy with raising a family and running her businesses, but our former Miss SA made some time to answer a few of our mom questions.

Being a mom is …. is a fun adventure! …especially when your children start showing their personality and becoming their own people. Its fun to watch it unfold – I am always pleasantly surprised when I learn some thing new about any of my kids.

The last time I gagged because of my kid was when he/she … was sick and had diarrhea – as they get older it gets tougher to deal with poo – I used to be able to deal with it but something happens as they get older – my tolerance decreases.

The last time I cried was when my child… Quinn, my two-year-old, held onto my dress asking me to help her with something, but I couldn’t because I had to see to my newborn baby at the exact same time. I was filled with such sadness and feelings of helplessness. It didn’t help that my postpartum hormones were flying all over the place. I sobbed and sobbed – questioning my ability to be a mother to three children.

My advice to other moms would be… trust yourself and there is no such thing as “perfect mothering” – you are allowed to be tired, feel annoyed and want a break – there is nothing wrong with you. Be patient with yourself and it teaches your children to be the same with you.

My favourite part about being a mom is… watching them become their own people – it truly fascinates me! I love learning about how different each of my kids are and being curious about their thoughts and ideas.

The biggest challenge is… finding one-on-one time with each of them in a consistent manner. At the moment it is hard finding concentrated time to be with each of them while I have a very small baby, however, when I do I cherish it so much and I can that they do too.

My biggest mom guilt is when… I don’t share at least one meal with them or if I don’t tuck them into bed. It used to be not bathing them – but I’m over that now. I mostly feeling guilty if I’m not home for dinner and bedtime – because its such a good chatting, connect time and check in on where their minds and hearts are.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.