Hi! I’m Christina.
Welcome to my blog, Real Life Mama, an honest conversation with me, a mom and licensed mental health therapist, about the everyday issues that we all experience.
This is real life, mama, and it sure ain’t easy!
Here we will get real with each other as we openly talk about topics from motherhood and marriage, to friendship and mental health, and everything in between.
Adulting is tough, and you are not alone! You will find community as you learn and explore themes relevant to you and your daily life. And it is from this safety net that you can implement my tips and advice to make sure that your every day is a great day.
With my background as a licensed mental health clinician, I am just the person to help you be who you want to be.
But, who am I? Why should we be friends?
Well, here goes: I am an unconventional Cali girl (in other words, I am a brunette who can’t surf), who spent much of my young adult life in the South where I studied Professional Counseling and developed an affinity for bread pudding.
I am married to an amazing man from the UK, and I am a mom/mum to a sassy four-year-old girl and a fiery two-year-old boy.
I still am figuring out what my identity as a mom means, and I am relieved that others feel the same.
I used to be overly empathic, absorbing the feelings of those around me and always putting others’ needs ahead of mine, but with much effort I have grown into an assertive and self-caring woman who listens to my own wants and needs.
I am a licensed mental health therapist and a stay-at-home mom. Along with running this blog, I have been featured as a mental health expert in several large publications, and I have been a guest on Real Mamas Podcast and Pretty Okay Podcast! I also aspire to be a children’s book writer, using my professional and personal experience to create meaningful, empowering, educational, and entertaining stories for children and their adults.
I am trilingual in Spanish, English, and … English — British and American. And yes, they count as different languages!
I am a sugar fiend and a fan of exercise. I believe balance is the root of and the route to happiness, and just like you, I work daily toward achieving it.
I have not seen it all, and I have not experienced it all, but as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, and therapist, I have seen a lot. One commonality that I have come across — and the idea that inspired this blog — is how much we all need connection, community.
Psychology lesson for the day!
Abraham Maslow, a 20th century American psychologist, theorized that all human beings have basic, psychological, and self-fulfillment needs. You have probably heard of this idea: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It suggests that we have basic requirements that must be met for us to be capable of working towards happiness, that include the physiological needs of food, water, sleep, and shelter, as well as the safety needs of security and health. After these are tended to, all humans will search for psychological need fulfillment, which includes social belonging.
This is where Real Life Mama comes in!
Through reading my posts, you will feel connection and become a part of this community.
This is a space to cover real topics that we all can relate to. Through comments and messages, you can give your feedback, and you can connect with me and other moms out there who are also surviving and thriving this bizarre world of motherhood.
It’s our own “motherhood motherland”, if you will. And seeing as I am pretty much trained in not judging others and their story, this is the perfect place for you to be you, and me to be me.
Let’s let our hair down (or really, tie it back, because who really wants hair in their face?) and have unmasked conversations about what really matters.
