Mother-Friendly

Maybe it’s the spirit of tough love tacitly encouraged by the BFHI. Maybe it’s the health system still recovering from the damage wrought by COVID-19. In this story, I saw a little bit of my own lonely, isolated moments of motherhood reflected. A combination of a system that assumes there is a singular way to teach mothers to feed their children, and a society that expects so much of mothers and asks that we bear the burden of tasks in private, in silence. … Read More Mother-Friendly

January 31, 2023 Rumbi Goredema GörgensLeave a comment

Odd Futures and Possible Worlds

We deal in possible worlds, yes. But not to the complete exclusion of present worlds. What’s the point of forecasting a perfect future for mothers if you don’t acknowledge current imperfections?… Read More Odd Futures and Possible Worlds

August 3, 2022August 3, 2022 Rumbi Goredema GörgensLeave a comment

Pro-Choice

A good mother, I think, can only be made when her life, her health and the enormous responsibility placed on her person is acknowledged. A good mother, with her life respected, her journey supported, and the freedom to choose motherhood every day.… Read More Pro-Choice

June 28, 2022June 29, 2022 Rumbi Goredema GörgensLeave a comment

The Long View

My six-year-old, Sam, wants to know if it’s hard being a grown-up. Or rather, being a parent. He says being a kid is hard, with respect to having to do what your parents say. So, I imagine that he wonders about my end of this raw deal.… Read More The Long View

November 16, 2021 Rumbi Goredema GörgensLeave a comment

There is no answer, but my children are the answer

You are not an accident where no one thought it through The world has stood against us, made us mean to fight for you And when we chose your name we knew you’d fight the power too Brandi Carlile, ‘The Mother’ In late 2014, I was six months pregnant and watching in horror as a… Read More There is no answer, but my children are the answer

June 1, 2020June 1, 2020 Rumbi Goredema GörgensLeave a comment

Work/Life

A few weeks into the ‘new normal’, disaster struck: my husband and I had conference calls scheduled at the same time, and no child care. I found myself in our garden, playing as quietly as possible with my kids, and listening in to my meeting on my earphones. I wasn’t alone. Many of my colleagues… Read More Work/Life

May 28, 2020May 28, 2020 Rumbi Goredema GörgensLeave a comment

Bigger than my body

They are so big. They forgive me all of it, cuddling up to me and squishing their little faces right up against mine.… Read More Bigger than my body

May 14, 2020 Rumbi Goredema GörgensLeave a comment

Crazy Like a Mother

Motherhood is hard. Make no mistake; this is a truth universally acknowledged amongst mothers of all stripes. Regardless of the philosophies of motherhood to which you subscribe, or the mama-circles in which you move, no other mother will question the enormity of the task to which you have committed. As feminist author Jessica Valenti puts… Read More Crazy Like a Mother

January 3, 2018 Rumbi Goredema GörgensLeave a comment

All I Want for Father’s Day

Father’s Day is coming up in two weeks. You’ll be forgiven if you didn’t know that (though, perhaps not by your dad). It’s not exactly a deafening silence, but there is a distinct mutedness surrounding Father’s Day. The barrage of marketing and schmaltz and endless florals and pastels that accompanies the run-up to Mother’s Day is… Read More All I Want for Father’s Day

June 4, 2017December 11, 2017 Rumbi Goredema GörgensLeave a comment

Things I Want to Tell My Son in this age when #MenAreTrash

Know that you are of woman born. You come from a long line of incredible, ferocious, extraordinary women. You carry all of their legacies and stories with you wherever you go. Honour that in every encounter with women throughout your life. The world will tell you it is okay to forget that you are of women;… Read More Things I Want to Tell My Son in this age when #MenAreTrash

May 15, 2017December 11, 2017 Rumbi Goredema GörgensLeave a comment

Rumbi Writes

Missives and Musings from the Middle of the Margins

Tag: mamahood