Thoughts of a Mum - Noha Youssef

2. What's the one thing you got from your mum and you'd like to pass on to your kid?

Her beautiful hair mmm, just kidding! Of course it has to be her kindness, my mum is one of the kindest women on earth, and the most forgiving too. I believe that is what our world is missing... Kindness, lots and lots of kindness.

3. Share with us a lesson that motherhood has taught you.
Patience and compromising. Before having Hassan I was the most impatient and nervous person you could ever meet. If I wanted something, I had to have it right away, if not I turned my life into my own nightmare, always thinking about it and feeling unsatisfied. But after giving birth I have learned to be more patient, and accept life as it is. Having to keep on functioning and taking care of a small baby with no sleep and having to gently deal with his continuous crying and sometimes screaming has surprisingly taught me to be calmer and that life is not any longer about me and only me.

4. What's your favorite part of being a mum?
That moment when Hassan wakes up suddenly crying, then he looks at me with very sleepy eyes and a beautiful smiles draws on his angelic face, holds my finger, then grabs my hand and put it behind his head, and then deeply fall back asleep. Even if that moment can disturb my sleeping pattern, it melts my heart knowing how safe and tranquil he feels when I am just around.

5. Recommend a survival kit to the new mums out there.
My advice to all the new mums to be, is please don’t panic, don’t go listening to those terrifying motherhood experiences, and how your life will tremendously change, your lifestyle will change only the way you want it to change, remember you are always in control of your life, not the other way around. Make lists, and try to follow and make your baby follow a daily routine, it’s very hard at the beginning but after a bit it will make your life way easier. Don’t be shy to ask for help, either from your mum, mother-in-law, sisters or even friends. Read a lot of books, and then make your own decisions on what suits you best and suits your lifestyle. Don’t let someone or something tell you what to do. Nothing is meant to be perfect, remember a happy baby is way important that a tidy house, just follow your instincts and enjoy that precious moment, and remember babies don’t bite... Well they do sometimes, but only when they are teething.

6. What's the oddest thing you've carried in your handbag as mum?
A plastic lunchbox with rice and molokhia.

7. Do you get in the way of your kid's fashion choices?
Well Hassan is now too young to understand clothes and fashion and decide on what he wants to wear; however he just loves to wear non-matching pairs of shoes. So for now I am enjoying being the only one who takes choices for his clothes, I love to dress him up and mix brands like Diesel, Armani Junior , D&G Junior with brands like Zara, Guess and Ralph Lauren. I don’t like kids to dress in cheesy baby clothes, yet I don’t like to over dress him in a sophisticated way, just a chic and comfortable to fit his young age, and very playful and naughty character.