by Bonnie Paine, Studio Ambassador and member of 5 years

I am a registered nurse, working mum, wife of a guy called Tim, and we have two kids, Milla (3) and Charlie (22 months). My husband, Tim, has his own unique story, but in a nutshell, he is the captain for the Australian Men’s cricket team. Which is amazing, and he’s worked tirelessly since forever to achieve this dream- there are not many people prouder than I.

However, with this prestigious job title comes a demanding workload and travel schedule. The kids and I don’t travel a lot with him. Two toddlers on a plane and living out of a suitcase in a hotel room is not fun. This has meant the job of raising two young children and maintaining a career in nursing has fallen solely on me. “Me time” did not exist. I was (still am) lucky if I can go to the toilet or have a shower without them (I feel like mums, in general, can relate to that).

22 months ago, my son Charlie was born (my daughter Milla was 15 months old at the time). I was exhausted, suffering from postnatal depression, grieving the recent loss of my Dad, and Tim had just left on a 6-week cricket tour to Dubai. Not to sound dramatic, but it was the hardest time of my life. I remember googling “how to look after two-under-two as a solo parent”. I was in serious survival mode.

Fast forward a few months, one of my amazing work colleagues summed it up really well for me, she said: “you can’t keep pouring from an empty cup” – great advice for anyone. I had relied heavily on Pilates for my mental wellbeing pre-kids, so with that, I decided to make the effort to find the time to attend at least 1 reformer pilates class per week- a regular time that didn’t rely on Tim being home to watch the kids. Something seemingly small, however, it made a big positive impact.

It took a while to get my ducks in a row, but now I regularly attend 1-2 reformer pilates classes a week at either SoHo or Salamanca, work two days a week as an Aesthetic Nurse and the rest of my time is for my family. Balance is crucial. And it is so important to find some “me time” in your week,
outside of caring for others and working.

I have loved having Tim home for a prolonged period of time since COVID restrictions came into place and to have our family together. Due to his cricket schedule, it is very rare we would spend this long together at home. It has also allowed me to schedule an additional Studio class or go for a wine with a girlfriend without having to call a sitter. It’s my silver lining to the current pandemic.