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Alana: On Being A Stepmum
Meet Alana, stepmum to Sophie, Maddy and mum to Claudia, a woman of unconditional love, who raised two girls full-time as her own before birthing her newest daughter Claudia.
Q: Can you tell us a little about what it’s like being a stepmum and mum to three girls?
“ I raised the two girls (my stepdaughters) since they were four and six, so they don’t remember a time I wasn’t part of their lives, so I have always felt privileged to be an extra mum to them. Now watching them with Claudia, it’s so special, they are so much older than her but they play with her, we’re all so close and their bond is so special, it makes me cry.”
“I honestly have loved them the way I would love any child. I thought when I had my baby, Claudia, that I would feel differently, because you go through birth and pregnancy but honestly it’s the same love.”
Q: Has there been any challenges since becoming a mum to a new baby?
“Coming from a perfectionist, a-type personality, nothing is more humbling than having a child that will not do what you think she’s going to do, that’s been my experience with Claudia. Everything I thought I would have and do and be she has completely shattered, in the most amazing way, because now I am a lot more relaxed.”
Q: What advice would you give other mums just starting their motherhood journey?
“Be kind to yourself. Reading books is great but your child is unique and they aren’t always going to do what the books say they’re going to do.”
Q: What does Mother’s Day mean to you?
“I think Mother’s Day is important to celebrate for stepmums as well as mums. I have raised my girls like they have been mine for a long, long time but often there is no place for stepmums to feel acknowledged too. I am the full-time mother figure to them, now I am mum to a biological child too, I have to say, we work really damn hard, it’s the hardest job I have ever had so I think we deserve all the things.”
