The Mama Circle

For many of us, that’s exactly what we expected. We’d share the load, support each other, and figure parenting out together. So why does it so often stop feeling like a team? In this episode, I explore why the idea of 50/50 parenting might actually be setting us up for frustration. We talk about the difference between sharing tasks and sharing responsibility, why life can never be split perfectly...

Have you become the shouty mum you always said you'd never be? This week, I'm talking about something so many mums experience but so few feel able to admit: anger. I explore why mum rage is rarely just about the moment itself, what might be sitting underneath it, and how the realities of modern motherhood can leave us carrying more than any one person was ever meant to. I also talk about t...

Some children sleep. Some don't. Some children happily walk beside you. Others seem determined to test every boundary they can find. In this episode, I'm talking about something we don't say out loud very often: some children are simply harder to parent than others. Not because they're bad. Not because we'd swap them. And not because we love them any less. I'm exploring temperament, comparison, st...

Everyone seems to want a 90s mum summer right now. Less screens. More outside play. Slower days. Simpler memories. And honestly? I want that too. But it's not 1995 anymore. In this episode, I'm talking about nostalgia, technology, childhood memories, social media, summer pressure, and why modern mothers are trying to recreate the feeling of 90s childhoods inside a completely different world. Maybe...

We're sleeping. We're resting. We're trying to slow down. And yet so many of us are still exhausted. In this episode, I'm talking about the difference between being tired and being depleted, and why modern motherhood often gives us fragments of rest without the kind of recovery we actually need. From brain fog and burnout to the pressure to keep functioning through everything, we&#...

Raising a child between cultures is beautiful, but it’s also more emotional and complicated than people often realise. In this episode, Nat talks honestly about raising her mixed heritage son in Germany, the small cultural moments she never expected to grieve, and the pressure of trying to pass on language, traditions and identity when you live far from home. From nursery rhymes and bonfire night...

It has been a BIG week (or two), and sometimes you need to be given permission to take a break. 🫂 Join a loving community of mums in IT'S A LOT – free for 30 days. We talk about this kind of stuff in It's A Lot. So, if you’re feeling shaky having brought your new baby home, in the trenches of toddlerhood or just need a place to share the joys of being a mama with people who get it, this i...

Starting over after a breakup with kids isn’t just heartbreak. It’s boxes everywhere. Admin. Bills. Furniture. Childcare. Internet that still doesn’t work. Trying to build stability for your child while your entire life is being rebuilt around them. In this episode, I’m talking honestly about the practical and emotional reality of separating with children, moving into my new apartment, rebuilding...

Separation with kids changes your finances overnight. In this episode, we’re talking about money after a breakup, and what child maintenance actually covers, and what it doesn’t. Because this is where a lot of the confusion and conflict starts. We cover: what child maintenance is really for why it often doesn’t stretch as far as expected the hidden financial load many mums are already carrying why...

Breaking up is hard. Breaking up when you have children is something else entirely. Because you don’t just leave. You don’t get distance. And you don’t get the space most people rely on to actually process what’s happening. In this episode, I’m talking about the reality of separating when you have kids. The emotional weight, the practical reality, and the parts that nobody really prepares you for....

We spend months preparing for birth - the hospital bag, the antenatal classes, the birth plan. But almost no one prepares us for what comes after. Becoming a mother! In this episode, Nat explores the gap between preparing for a baby and actually becoming a mother, and why so many women feel caught off guard by how much changes. This is a conversation about motherhood as a transition, not a moment,...

This episode explores a moment many mums experience but rarely talk about, the realisation that in certain moments, you are completely on your own. After a chaotic IKEA run, Nat found herself overwhelmed, stuck, and unable to see a solution. What followed was a deeper recognition of something many mothers feel, the gap between having support and actually being able to access it. If you’ve ever tho...

Motherhood can feel overwhelming, even when nothing is “wrong”. In this episode, I talk about why motherhood can feel so hard, especially when you’re juggling sleep deprivation, financial pressure, relationship strain, and the mental load all at once. I share two personal moments where everything felt like too much, and what I realised looking back. This episode is for you if you’ve ever thought:...

Most of us expect that going back to work will make things easier, but for many mums, it doesn’t. Costs increase. Illness increases. The mental load expands. And suddenly, you’re holding a job, a household, and a child at the same time. In this episode, I’m unpacking why going back to work often feels harder than expected, and the structural tension behind it. Because the issue isn’t your ambition...

Living together after a breakup is one of the least talked about stages of separation. You’re not fully together. You’re not fully apart. And you’re not fully independent. From the outside, everything can look the same. Same house. Same routines. Same family structure. But internally, everything has shifted. In this episode, I’m naming what actually happens in that in-between space: The emotional...

Today, I’m talking about something that feels deeply uncomfortable for a lot of us, needing help when the numbers stop adding up. Through the lens of motherhood, separation, and navigating finances, I share what it’s been like to realise that I can’t actually do this alone. Not because I’ve done something wrong, but because the reality of modern motherhood often doesn’t add up financially. I talk...

In this episode, I’m sharing the idea that sits underneath so much of this podcast: the motherhood debt. It’s the hidden cost of becoming a mother, not just financially, but emotionally, relationally, mentally and practically too. I talk about the moment I realised I felt like I was drowning, why so many mums end up blaming themselves, and what I started to notice in conversations with other women...

In this episode, Natalie reflects on how expectations around Mother’s Day can quietly shift after children arrive. What was once about celebrating your own mum can suddenly become multi-generational, bringing different traditions, assumptions, and sometimes tension about how the day should be spent. Natalie also explores a deeper question: do mothers actually need one day of appreciation, or somet...

You’re told to stay calm. Keep explaining. Offer choices. Negotiate gently. But what happens when you’ve repeated yourself ten times and nothing changes? In this episode of The Mama Circle Podcast , Nat shares a shift she’s been experimenting with during the toddler years: stepping away from endless negotiation and allowing safe, natural consequences to do the teaching instead with FAFO (F*ck Arou...

When we fall in love, we don’t sit down and map out how we’d separate. We assume love will carry us. But love is not a custody plan. In this episode, I talk about something that might feel uncomfortable at first: what if we treated parenting like the structural commitment it is? What if we had the hard conversations about childcare, money, mobility and decision-making before resentment, betrayal o...

This week, I’m recording from my bed, feeling that familiar end-of-day heaviness where you’ve done a lot but couldn’t neatly list what it was. Life doesn’t feel chaotic. It just doesn’t feel spacious either. In this episode, I talk about what a maintenance season actually looks like in motherhood, especially after separation, when logistics increase and capacity doesn’t. Waking at 5am when it work...

This week I’m responding to a Reddit thread titled: “How the heck are we all okay with this scam?” The post describes what so many families are living: • Dual income just to stay afloat • Hyper-scheduled days • Childcare costs exploding • Zero margin • No real time with your own children And the question underneath it all: Is this just what family life is now? In this episode, I’m not fixing it. I...

Why does one parent end up carrying the routines, the logistics, the emotional regulation, while the other gets to be the fun one? In this episode, I’m talking about the dynamic so many families fall into quietly, the default parent and the fun parent. It’s not usually chosen. It forms over time, shaped by outdated structures that no longer fit modern motherhood. Often, one parent holds the weekda...

This episode explores why so many mothers feel like they’re parenting without a village, even when they’re surrounded by people who care. I break down the five different kinds of support mothers actually need, and why expecting them all from the same people creates disappointment, resentment, and exhaustion. When we understand that the village isn’t one thing, it becomes easier to stop blaming our...

One year into The Mama Circle Podcast, I’m revisiting one of the most listened-to episodes and checking in with myself. In episode two, I shared what I wanted my motherhood to feel like. Ease. Fun. Flow. A sense that my child would naturally fit into my life. A year later, a lot has changed. My son is older. I’m working. My relationship has ended. And my assumptions about how motherhood would feel...