How My Fears Become Irrelevant
About the past
I was born in Kiev, Ukraine, 33 years ago, to a mathematician father and a painter mother. Although I moved to Israel when I was 10, I don’t have many memories from Ukraine, and it feels like it was life in a parallel universe. Once in awhile some scents and voices bring some longing and yearning to the childhood and the family I had there. It’s a special feeling that makes me stop for a moment and feel like a child all over again. Since we moved to Israel I feel like I started a new life. My identity is not split into 2 halves: I can truly admit that I have no other country but Israel.
Who I am today
Well – nice to meet you, my name is Ira, I’m 33, from Tel Aviv. Mother of Alma, wife of Guy, and I have a diversity of things I’m interested in, and hobbies such photography, writing, jewelry design, social media, shopping and system design.
How I started my blog and what I’m writing about
I started my blog “Umami” www.umamiblog.com when I first became a mother, and the first posts were mostly about motherhood. As time passed, I started writing about more subjects that I like and I’m interested in, thus the blog became more versatile, covering more topics. You can find thoughts and insights about motherhood, fashion, lifestyle, design, cooking, travel, personal posts and many great visuals.
The meaning of the name
The origin of the name “Umami” is a word game: It means “mommy” with its meaning in both Hebrew and English, and the Russian translation for “mother’s”. It all came to one meaning, of a group of materials that gain the flavor and make food tastes better. It also represents other sides of my life, where I try to bring Umami to everything I do.
How my life changed since my daughter Alma was born
It’s a huge difference, bigger than I thought it would be before I became a mother.
This insight that suddenly there is a creature that’s part of you, you’re responsible for her and her life – it’s a definitive event. It took me some time to understand it; during the first months after the birth there were some hard moments that I looked at her and I rambled “wow, I really am her mother”.
Actually, parenthood is another maturation, this is how I see it. The first one occurs when we grow up, and the second one occurs when we have kids. Our priorities change, we find new forces, the level of emotions increases, and instead of being self-focused, self-centered, we show unconditional love, care, responsibility and happiness that we never thought existed.
What fears and worries I had before I became a mother, and how I see them now
The fears I had before I gave birth were very concrete: how are we going to manage it financially? will I lose the weight I gained during pregnancy? Will my legs (or should I say my new elephant legs) ever become normal again? How are we going to handle the fact that we will never be able to sleep until 11:00am during Saturdays?
And here is my condescending answer to those questions: “may those will be your only problems in life!”. “Well, except the elephant legs”.
In other words, I soon enough found my fears to be irrelevant. Money? We can handle it. Weight? You lose it. Sleeping late? Let it go. But I can definitely tell you that there are plenty more fears and concerns that come along with becoming a “parent”, but I’ll keep it to the next time 🙂
My message to future mothers
This is my message: The change will arrive and it will shock your world. It’s inevitable. Accept it with love and a smile. Surround yourself with a loving and supporting environment, don’t hesitate to ask for help and if you have an hour window – use it for sleeping, not dish washing. Don’t feel bad about comments you didn’t ask for that you get from your aunts and neighbors. Get used to it, everybody will have something to say about the choices you make as a parent. Don’t let it bother you. Listen to your new instincts, you will know what’s right. And one more thing about your hobbies besides baby business – it will return to you, faster than you can imagine. Being a mother is a wonderful thing, but it doesn’t mean you are about to lose your personality and forget about who you used to be. As soon as you get used to your new life as a parent, everything starts to balance and you find time to self expression besides diapers and baby style speaking. Mark my word.
Where I see myself in 5 years
I see myself happy and living with my family in a house with a garden, while fulfilling my dream of being a mother of 2 and an independent woman who does whatever she likes.
