1. Please introduce yourself: Name, what do you do & how many children you have.
Hi, my name is Natalie Reeves Billing and I’m a children’s author and social entrepreneur. I’m a mother of three children, my step son Greg, 24, my daughter Ellie Rose, 7, and Nathaniel, 8.
2. How do you manage to juggle work and life balance as a mother?
Until lockdown, this aspect of my life was compartmentalised. Somehow, I imagined this created balance and clarity. I had a time and a space for everything, and never the twain shall meet. However, being at home with kids full time taught me about amalgamation. Embracing all aspects of my life in one chaotic, happy blob. Instead of squirreling around looking for quiet broom closets to live stream in, I decided to show my true life and all its noise and imperfections. Kids, dogs, glitches and all. Lockdown gave me the chance to truly look at my thinking and my triggers, and deal with them head on. Necessity will do that.
3. What top tips would you give to any working mum?
My big tip is preparation. Some days, I wake up and look at the time, and think of the myriad of tasks I still have to perform before the end of the day. I’m eager to get stuck right in, but that is always a mistake. Now, I make sure the kids have spent a bit of time with me, got all their questions out their system, (Mum, how many grains of sand are in this jar? Mum, do monsters have toenails?) and are happily engaged in an activity before getting stuck into my own work. It pays dividends in the end. Fewer interruptions, less clinginess for them and less guilt for me.
4. What do you love most about London?
Do you have a favourite spot with your children? I absolutely love the British Museum. So much space, so many destinations to visit. It’s like a world tour squeezed into a single day. When the weather’s good, there’s nothing like having a hotdog outside, while people chat and discuss the things they have seen. The kids loved visiting the wonderful array of vintage book stores along Great Russell street. Some even offer afternoon tea. What more could you ask for!
5. How do you define quality ‘me-time’?
Quality time for me is any time spent in happiness. That doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be alone. Some of my favourite activities (retro movie night, gardening) happen with the children in tow. I get so much joy from seeing them connect to new activities, and growing as people. But to find a content and peaceful Natalie, you need only look for me in the fields with my trusty metal detector. That is where I find true peace.
6. What is your favourite & least favourite thing about parenthood?
My favourite thing is watching how my children are forming their own personalities, interests, philosophies and opinions. It amazes me how quickly this happens, and how complex and advanced they are at such young ages. I can’t remember being quite so multi layered at that point in life. My least favourite part is the self-doubt. Questioning the path I have taken as a parent and whether it leads to well-balanced children. Do I tell them too much or too little? Do I lead by example? Am I prioritising the important things for their emotional growth. It always leads back to a positive affirmation. We are doing our best. We are leading with love, and that’s the most we can do.
7. Tell us something people don’t know about you.
I can talk to guinea pigs, no joke. I found this out at a very early age, when we kept them at home. I could summon them from their hutch. They would dart out all charged and full of excitement, and I would reward them with their favourite foods. My kids didn’t believe me, and thought it was just Mummy being silly again. I sure showed them recently, at ‘Pets at Home’…
8. Given we are all about embracing Motherhood, what advice would you give a first time Mum?
After Nathaniel, I suffered a terrible bout of postpartum depression. It lasted for a few months, but it seemed like forever. I felt trapped, terrified and anxious. My guilt crippled me. Surely this should be the happiest time of my life? But, I was isolating myself from others around me. I didn’t want them to see what a mess I was making of this. I fell prey to a phenomenon that I see quite often, and it’s extremely unproductive. The competitive parent syndrome. Those that tell us how wonderful it all is, how baby sleeps through the night, how breast feeding is a doddle, how they got their figures back in record time. And for some, this may be true. But some new mothers need compassion, understanding and an intuitive person to recognise the secret struggles within them, and we must learn to adjust accordingly. New mums need to know that it’s ok to not be ok. It’s ok to get it wrong, or mess up a nappy changes, or to not take to breast feeding at all. These are not the things that make us good mums. It is the love and care we provide, and the sacrifices we make. And honesty is key. Reaching out and admitting how we feel is so liberating. Failing that, write it all down on paper. It is the epitome of catharsis.
9. I’m a mum and……
a modern day superhero. Not the cape wearing type (only on Sundays) but the work wearied, child-delivering, food stained, house cleaning, veg growing, wound binding type. The best kind of superhero in the cosmos, and no one writes Marvel comics about us.
10. Finally, please let us know what you love most about Kensington Mums?
I love that there is a space for mums to shine, and be appreciated by those that tread the same path, go through the same adversities and revelations. It’s inspirational and much needed, and thank you for providing us with a place to share.
Read more inspiring interviews as part of our online motherhood exhibition and get in touch to share your story with us. We would love to hear from you.
