When I became a mother it was an overwhelming experience for me. I went from being in an adult environment at work - to being at home with my baby all day. This was quite an adjustment and I struggled with it initially. I felt isloated and alone but was not sure this was something I was supposed to admit, or say out loud, so I kept my feelings to myself.

Motherhood was a shock to my system; my professional relationships and interactions with other adults at work were gone and I did not know how to integrate with parents in my area. My husband was at work all day, I lived 40 miles away from my family and none of my friends had babies yet, so I felt very alone. I had no one to talk to, other than my new baby and he was not exactly full of conversation!

Then I came across parenting website www.mumstown.ie and things changed. As well as nationwide online chat, Mumstown.ie hosted parent & baby/toddler events in shopping centres and other venues, close to where I lived. These events were open to any parents who wanted to come along. The Marshes is one of these shopping centres where parents are invited with their babies/toddlers/children, on the 1st Thursday morning of every month.

Mums, Dads, babies, toddlers and even some Grannies, now meet at the Bagel Bar in the Marshes, upstairs, from 10-12 o’clock and are treated to free bagel bites & crepes, demostrations & gifts; while we chat over tea & coffee and swap parenting tales!

At first I went along to these events tentatively, feeling nervous. However, soon I was in the thick of it; chatting with other parents and really enjoying the adult conversation and interaction between the little ones. I discovered some are stay at home parents, some are juggling work and home life balance but we all share similar challenges and worries. We each face struggles and by talking about and sharing our experiences, we can feel better and more confident about how we were getting on as parents.

From all this, I started to write down my experiences and soon, found myself writing for some national newspapers. Having been made redundant from my job after my baby was born, this gave me a new lease of life and luckly for me, my work was all about my baby. This was the perfect solution for me, not only could I talk about my baby all day but I got to write about him too!

Now as a mum of three, having researched and written many articles on parenting, I have come to realise that many of us struggle to adjust to parenthood at first and that’s actually normal! It is ok not to be great at everything right away. It takes time to get the hang of it and we should not be so hard on ourselves! If we need help it is there, we just need to ask for it.

Therefore, I like to write about the steps we can take to ease certain situations, from feeding to teethting to baby’s first bed. By talking with lots of mums and dads to get tips and advice, I put it all together to form constructive information for parents.

A lot of the information I use comes from the generous parents who share their experiences on the Mumstown.ie site and at the Mumstown events which run regularly, such as the one at the Marshes on the 1st Thursday morning of each month.