Alice & Phanella of The Step Up Club  are huge champions of women. They believe that being a Mum can not only be brilliant for your career (something I totally concur with), it also makes you awesome.

I love this upbeat list from them.  A Mothers we really give ourselves the credit we deserve. It’s good to be reminded how great we and be given a virtual pat on the back

So without further ado here it is: ‘Why being a Mum Makes You Awesome’.

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• Change a nappy whilst blow drying your hair whilst eating breakfast whilst packing a book bag whilst buttoning your work shirt. You are a queen of kingdom multi-task.

• Theresa May’s got nothing on you. You are the ultimate negotiator. Brexit diplomacy is a breeze compared to a getting a tantruming three year old up off the supermarket floor without resorting to sweets (or at least not every time)

• You thought you’d seen it all. But that big thwack of love you felt when your baby arrived is a new mine of empathy and compassion for those who cross your career path.

• Mum jeans. Nuff said.

• Mum bun. ditto.

• You are now a networking ninja. From NCT via hospital ward via sing and sign via nursery induction day to school and beyond. Your awesome female network has just expanded a hundred fold.

• 8-year-old feet + school yard intel = one heck of a trainer wardrobe

• Motherhood can give your confidence a knock. It calls your identity into question into a myriad of ways. But the process of putting those bricks back into order will result in a stronger, surer of yourself woman. The journey is painful – we’ve been there. But believe us when we say there is a rainbow on the other side.

  

  Great advice from @thestepupclub insta

• Forget the insta husband. A five-year-old child is almost exactly the same height as a tripod.

• You’re gonna fail so many times in your Mum role that you’ll be forced to kick fear of failure to the kerb. Hello New resilient you.

• As Kirsty Young told us for our book, having kids forces you to be more strategic about your career choices. If you’re going to go out to work now, it had better be damn well worth it.

• NO. The mainstay of your mum vocab. Also useful to employ in work situations in the face of overwhelm, unreasonable demands and unpleasant bosses.

• Your public speaking debut in front of a class of fidgety six year olds on world book day will put you in good stead for all pitches, presentations, interviews or any other situation when you need to stand up in front of a critical audience.

• You can do things you never thought you could. You’ve created another human being and kept it safe and sound. You are amazing.

  

  Trus dat. These girls know what they are talking about.

• Previously restricted to a work wardrobe of neutrals, constant baby sick unwittingly expands your sartorial options. Bet you never knew you suited prints.

• That mum who leaned over in your first monkey music class to tell you how her one year old already knows his phonics taught you a valuable lesson. Never compare mainly because it’s all just hype.

• Your 5 a day is sorted thanks to leftover blended brocolli, sweet potato chips, mashed banana, et al. And is it just us who loves a sneaky Ella’s kitchen?

• We won’t deny that the process of achieving any type of work balance with a bevy of dependents in tow is complex even on the best of days. You’ll be forced to prioritise ruthlessly and it will be hard but you will work out what’s really important pretty quick. Clue: don’t discard the old you altogether. There’s always space in the diary for a Saturday night glass of wine with your girlfriends.

• The brilliance that is baby wipes.

• You can do so much more than you ever thought possible. Attach a car seat, collapse a buggy, whilst carrying two toddlers, a week’s load of shopping and managing your Mum on the phone asking about Christmas whilst mentally planning your (fledgling) business empire. You can do it. #YesYouCan.

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  ** I also really recommend reading their book too, it’s packed with great advice.. ‘Step Up; Confidence, success and your stellar career in 10 minutes a day’ available from Amazon. **