Cherish your cherubs interview: Alex from Whoa Mumma!

Today I have the gorgeous Alex from Whoa Mumma! sharing how she cherishes her cherubs. As a mother to five she knows the challenges of raising a large family and I love how she keeps a sense of humour through the whole process. We both share a great love of awesome shoes and she runs one of the best facebook pages I have seen. Here is how Alex cherishes her cherubs....

1. Tell us about yourself as a mother
My name is Alex, I’m 35 and I have 5 children aged 12, 11, 5, 2 and 5 months.

 It’s funny, I remember when I was a teenager I swore that I was never going to have children or get married. The universe had other ideas though and my husband and I got together when I was 21 and we’ve been inseparable ever since. I had the first two early on in our relationship and swore that was it. Then as I was approaching 30 I guess I got clucky and decided to have Jazzy. She needed a friend so we had Jordan. Then we tried for one more boy and had Holly. 

I love having all these girls in my family.

2. What is your favourite part about being a mother? 
I love seeing them interact with each other. Those little moments when you catch them being kind or generous or just plain hilarious are priceless. 
I love being the crazy mother cheering her kids on at sports carnivals, bursting with pride when they achieve their goals. And of course, I am completely in love with squishy little babies.

3. Who inspires you as a mother? 
That’s a really interesting question. 

I think I’m inspired by women with large families who also have a life/ business outside of their family life. It’s something I’m trying to create for myself. There are a few bloggers that I follow who have 4+ kids and run businesses.
 It’s so easy to became absorbed in the day to day tasks of organizing everyone else’s lives that you sometimes forget that you need a hobby too.

4. Why do you think it is important to cherish your children?
You are your child’s universe for such a short period of time. It really does go by so fast! Sometimes it feels like they’ve grown up overnight. I want to create memories and relationships with my children that they (and I) will treasure for the rest of their lives.

5. What do you do to show your children you cherish them?
I try to spend time alone with each child, doing something that interests them.

 With my son, I’m the skate park/ theme park/Fast & The Furious car mum.
With my 12 year old, I’m the comic book convention/ film/ computer geek. The 5 year old is a fashionista and loves fashion/ drawing and crafts. The 2 year old and I love to spend our mornings at the beach. To the baby I’m just the lady with the boobs :)

6. What do you hope your children feel or learn from you cherishing them? 
I hope they feel that I love them as an individual. I want them to feel like they’ll always have that one person looking out for them, no matter what.

7. What is your favourite activity to do with your children and how does it help you to cherish them? 
I love it when we have to chance to all go away together as a family. It’s so busy throughout the school term with everyone’s activities that it’s not very often that we’re all together in the same place. 
My favourite memories are of family holidays we’ve taken together. We’ve been to Japan, Hawaii and New Zealand. Our last road trip was to Port Macquarie and it was so nice just to relax and enjoy each others company. 

I’d like our next family holiday with all 7 of us to be a road trip around Tasmania.

8. How do you make time for your children in your schedule? 

At the moment my kids are my schedule! 

When the older two were small I was working full time and going to university so they were at childcare and with grandma 5 days a week. I think I missed out on a lot of their childhood. With the younger girls I made the decision to stay at home.

The 2 year old goes to kindy one day a week so that is when I try to do things for myself. Naptime is internet time.

9. How does it make you feel as a mother when you know you are cherishing your children? 
Don’t get me wrong, 80% of the time I am the cranky, tired mum trying to get the kids to stop throwing their socks on the floor or trying to stop them from driving each other crazy. I am after all just one person and there are five of them. 
But that 20% of the time when I get it right, it is the best feeling in the world.

10. What advice would you give to other Mums about cherishing children?
My advice to mums? Stop beating yourself up about whether you’re doing a good job as a mother. Don’t worry about it. The best investment you can make in your children is spending quality time with them. 

Turn off the TV and talk them. Read books together. Go for walks together. Everyone just wants to feel that they are loved and that there is someone out there who thinks they are special. As a mum that’s your job.

Nothing you do for your children is ever wasted. 

They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and seldom offer thanks, 

but what we do for them is never wasted. 

 A mother holds her child's hand for a little while, but holds their hearts forever.

Thanks Alex. You can connect with Alex on her Blog, on Facebook and also on twitter. I hope these interviews are giving you some inspiration to cherish your cherubs a little more. Have a great weekend!