What motherhood has taught me — Ronke Giwa

What is ‘Talk Mummy’?

Talk Mummy is a community of mothers, set up to support one another, learn and network. It is also a yearly event for all kinds of mothers, mothers-to-be, mothers with kids and new mothers, to come together, have fun, learn from experts and basically, just relax.

How did the idea for ‘Talk Mummy’ come about?

‘Talk Mummy’ is an idea that came to me after I had my baby in 2018. I had thought I was ready for any and everything that motherhood would throw at me; I had read books, blogs, followed Instagram pages that had to do with motherhood,  etc, but found out that after I had my baby, I still felt somewhat alone. I also had experiences specific to me which made motherhood so confusing at the time. I, however, found that my face would light up when I bumped into a fellow new mother and we would trade stories on how our babies were doing. I decided then that every mother, especially new mothers, need support particularly from fellow mother who can assure you that your baby wasn’t strange and tantrums and what-nots are normal.

Given your already established forum ‘Who’s that girl?’ How are you dealing with the added responsibility of running ‘Talk Mummy’?

I am the kind of person who loves to teach or help others in areas where I once struggled and later got some sort of breakthrough. While ‘Who’s That Girl’ is my inner teenage girl who found her way and is now trying to help other young girls, ‘Talk Mummy’ is the mother in me who once struggled or still struggles sometimes and now wants to help other mums. They both give me a lot of satisfaction and sense of purpose. Though the planning stage can be rough, I get so much joy when everything comes together and the participants give us feedback on how impactful the events have been to them.

This, being the second edition of ‘Talk Mummy’, what are you hoping to see this time around and how does it differ from the last edition?

The last edition was a self-funded trial run. I wasn’t sure if Ibadan women would be open to coming to an event to talk about motherhood; I guess you could say I was scared it would be a flop. It is hard to get Ibadan people to attend certain types of events, so I made it strictly by registration. We had almost 50 women in attendance, having invited notable panelists such as the only certified sleep training specialist in Nigeria, Temi Olajide, popularly known as Mummy Clinic. There were also talks on an array of interesting topics like breastfeeding, sex after delivery and live demonstration from a pediatric nurse who taught us how to perform CPR if one’s baby is choking. It was both fun and educative! We got such great responses from the women that we knew we had to do it again. This year’s is going to be bigger and better; we have included a mummy spa corner for the mothers to get massages, pedicures and other care services to help them relax and feel rejuvenated. To cap it all off, reputable panelists have been invited to talk about miscarriage, sex after delivery, a very popular topic, (laughs), getting your body back after having a baby, etc. This year, attendance will not be free, but the token fee of N1,000 promises so much more value worth even more! There will be games, networking, a yard sale, etc.

So, when and where is Talk Mummy taking place?

The Talk Mummy 2.0 event is happening on Saturday, 31st August, 2019 beside American Christian Academy, Jericho, Ibadan from 12 noon.

When are you planning ‘Talk Daddy’?

(Bursts into laughter) We need men to rise up to that challenge! Men struggle too and I don’t see why not! Why don’t we have more men mentoring boys (Who’s that boy, maybe?)? We should have an event or support group for men where they learn to be better husbands and fathers. We’re constantly telling girls and women to do better, but who is telling the boys and men the same? We can all do better; men can do a whole lot more when their wives have just had babies. However, they say they don’t know how they can help and the woman usually ends up doing everything despite just having had a baby.

What should we be expecting from Ronnie G in the future?

More events but also TV shows! While I am still very much on radio at Splash FM, I just finished recording season one of a TV talk show called ‘The chatroom Nigeria’ which promises meaningful conversation on topical issues. It can be only watched on Youtube for now.