18/10/2026
This is not my first rodeo at the pumpkin patch as a solo mum. 🎃🤍
But this year felt different.
If you’re newly single, navigating motherhood or fatherhood in a way you never imagined you would, these seasonal events can bring up feelings you weren’t expecting. You look around and see families everywhere, and sometimes it’s hard not to think about how you thought your own family would look.
And with Christmas creeping closer, those feelings can feel even bigger. The traditions, the family photos, Christmas morning… when things look different to how you once imagined, it can be a lot to navigate.
But I want you to know that it does get easier.
Not necessarily because you stop wishing things had been different, but because you start building a life that feels good in its own right. You find your feet, make new traditions, discover what works for you and your children, and realise that happiness can look different to how you once pictured it.
One day, you’ll find yourself at the pumpkin patch, making memories with your babies, and realise you’re not spending the whole time thinking about what’s missing. You’re just there, enjoying what you have. 🧡
And that feeling? It’s something I wish I could bottle up and give to every mum or dad who’s still in the thick of it.
So if this is your first autumn, your first Halloween or your first Christmas navigating it all on your own, please be gentle with yourself.
You don’t have to have it all figured out yet. You don’t have to love every minute. And you certainly don’t have to force yourself to be OK before you are.
Keep going. You’ll find your own way, create your own traditions and build a life that feels like yours again.
Your family is still a family. Your story is still unfolding. And there is so much happiness ahead of you. 🤍
