Being a Mum comes with a lot of challenges, being someone with an “alternative” look comes with a lot of challenges. Combining the two? …yea.
You kinda know when you shave your head and dye half of it red that people might look at you a little funky. You know that they definitely will once you pair that with a short skirt, leather suspenders and big chunky boots… but that’s fine.
I don’t care that people look, or judge. I love the alternative look that I have, but I strongly believe that this contributed to a lot of my struggles whilst I was pregnant.
Being alternative and pregnant was hard.
Finding alternative maternity clothes was near on impossible, but on the rare occasion I found them- I could never afford them. How could I justify spending so much money on clothes that I was only going to wear briefly? I couldn’t. So instead I wore “normal” clothes, they were affordable and comfortable. But it sucked.
Everyday I’d have a Grinch-style meltdown, changing my outfit a hundred times, looking in the mirror and crying that I just didn’t feel like me. For months I looked in the mirror and resented the reflection staring back at me- I didn’t know who she was. She wasn’t me.
Now, I’m a Mum.
I’m a Mum covered in tattoos and piercings, who wears big chunky boots and listens to rock music. I’m a Mum who gets stared at every time she takes her son out for a walk as though it’s mind blowing that she is responsible for a child.
It’s funny really, I’m a lot of things. A lot of sometimes unexpected things, but also a lot of things that just make sense.
I am a woman. I am a tattoo artist. I am a mental health advocate. I am the Senior of a home for people unwell with their mental health. I’m a professional. I’m a daughter, a sister, a mother and a fiancé.
I’m an alternative Mum and a good person.
