The decision to have a baby is a very big one, let alone making this decision before turning 25! We talk to real women who turned into moms before hitting 25 to learn all about the blessings, the sleepless nights and, of course, a piece of advice for those about to embark on this journey.
“When you have children at a young age, the age gap is much smaller; you can do fun stuff together”. – Haidy Wafik
Befriend Thy Child
Being a young mom comes with its advantages. With a smaller age gap you can grow to become friends with them rather than just a parent. Haidy Wafik, the Cofounder of The Mommy Club tells us, “when you have children at a young age, the age gap is much smaller; you can do fun stuff together”.
Nada Moguib, Owner of Moguib Gallery agrees, “being a young mom helps me have the patience to be her friend; the process of sharing is much easier”, she tells. Makeup artist Asma Sherif even had that as her primary reason to have children before she hits 25, “the reason I wanted to be a young mom was to be closer to her and avoid that big age gap”, she says.
“I used to live for myself, doing whatever I felt like doing and not really planning my day, but now I have to plan everything properly.” – Nada Moguib
Energetic 20’s
Being a mother requires a lot of energy and patience. Fashion influencer Noha El Sherbiny strongly believes in this, “people want to live their lives in their 20’s but I think it’s better to live your life in your 30’s and 40’s”, she continues, “30’s is when you want to relax and get pampered, you’re more energetic in your 20’s so you can run around and do stuff with your kids”. Asma wants to have the energy to keep up with her children when they are having fun, “children are very energetic, beyond your imagination, so being a young mom will help you keep up and be able to play and run around with them. That really means the world to me”, she explains.
“Children are very energetic, beyond your imagination, so being a young mom will help you keep up and be able to play and run around with them. That really means the world to me” – Asma Sherif
The Challenges
Things can’t always be easy, especially when children are in question, Nada explains “I had two main challenges. First was managing my time. I used to live for myself, doing whatever I felt like doing and not really planning my day, but now I have to plan everything properly. The Second thing was setting my priorities and making the sacrifices that had to be made”, she tells.
Another challenge is having to give up on certain luxuries sometimes, “you have to give up on something that you might want to do alone, like traveling or going out. I made a rule that Fridays and Saturdays are only for family, so I’ve had to sacrifice work even if it’s something very important”, Noha recalls.
Can you have it all?
We can safely say that the majority of women dream about having it all; is that achievable? Haidy explains, “the first few months are very challenging, you hardly get any sleep, but then you start adjusting and things go back to normal, to a certain extent”. Noha agrees, “It’s all about time management, I do it all and I have two children”.
On the other hand Asma embraces the little imperfections, “I feel like you won’t be able to give everything 100%, you can do everything to a certain extent but not completely. There are some sacrifices you have to do”, she tells.
“It’s all about time management, I do it all and I have two children”. – Noha El Sherbiny
Advice
We’ve asked our favorite young mothers to give advice to those who plan on doing the same and having children before they reach 25.
“Enjoy every moment; don’t compare it to your old life” – Haidy Wafik
“Don’t take it as an obstacle to your future or your everyday life. It’s a new phase of your life, embrace it. It gets better, trust me. So tell yourself to wait until things get better. You will have a normal life and pursue your dreams!” – Nada Moguib
“Don’t think that your life stopped or that your life is over. Make your children part of your life, not the other way around” – Noha El Sherbiny
“Follow your gut feeling! People will tell you all sorts of things and give you a lot of advice, but it’s all based on their experience. So listen to everything, but at the end follow your heart and it won’t be wrong” – Asma Sherif
