37| Michelle Patricia. Clare's Mum talks FIFO wife life, raising kids solo, her village, returning to work, the joys of being a grandparent and why millennials are struggling in parenthood.

Patty's please welcome Clare's Mum, Michelle; she is often referred to as MarMar on the podcast. Michelle has come to share her wisdom and experiences on raising two young kids mostly solo. Her husband Tony was FIFO, and as  marine engineer he would be at sea on large ships for 6 months at a time, where contact was limited to just a phone call when he reached port. Michelle fell pregnant with her son Jackson, where Tony was then away for the final 6 months of her pregnancy. Tony was home for Jackson’s birth, and then had to leave for sea again 11 weeks later, seeing his son next when he was 9 months old. Michelle talks about the fantastic village of friends she had around her, how they would all catch up and hang out together with the kids. Nothing fancy, no pressure or judgement, no sleep schedules, no organic meals, no store brought coffee's or wake windows to worry about. Michelle was a big believer in doing things together, talking on how they would all help each other, particularly once going back to work and were juggling school pick ups, drop offs and holidays. Michelle agrees that our generation seems to have it harder for many reasons with raising our kids, and feels so very blessed to be a grandma (MarMar); to be able to help and support her grandkids. She speaks on the unbelievable love that you feel for them, the joy in spoiling them, whilst also getting a full nights sleep! Clare, Chloe and Michelle have a deeply personal and very nostalgic chat, with so many pearls of wisdom for Mums of all ages. We do not touch on Michelle's cancer diagnosis, this is a battle she is still fighting and we are so very lucky to have her for every breath that we do. I Love You Mum! Thank you for everything you do for me, Love Clare Patricia. Xx