The Mum Diaries: Lizzie Renkert
"Luella, 5, is a beautiful, sensitive and kind little girl. She’s painfully shy and terrified of doing anything in front of a crowd. Her favourite place to be is at home with her family and she adores any animal she comes into contact with. She’s a talented little artist and she wants to be a vet and an artist when she grows up.
Maxie, 3, is joyous. His smile and outgoing personality is the best thing ever. I just want to cuddle and kiss him all the time and tell him how delicious he is, to which he replies, “I’m not delicious. I’m Maxie.”
They adore each other, but also fight like cat and dog."
"The pure love I feel for Luella and Max is like nothing I could have imagined. I know it sounds clichè, but being mum to these beautiful creatures is the best thing that has ever happened to me."
Lizzie and her sister are the brains and the beauties behind the luxurious and versatile clothing line, We Are Kindred (as if being a mother of two wasn't enough hard work!) We talked to Lizzie about how she felt she was balancing her work and home life.
"Some days I feel as though I have everything under control. Other days, the house is a mess and I haven’t got through my inbox. The juggle is relentless, but I feel very fortunate that I’m my own boss now and because I can arrange my hours to suit my family, I’m managing to do both pretty well (most of the time)."
We asked Lizzie what she has found most challenging about motherhood?
"Before I became a mum, I didn’t appreciate enough just how great having time to yourself is. I now have none.
And one of the biggest challenges is the unpredictability of motherhood - it doesn’t matter how organised I am, if my three-year-old decides he needs to change tops four times before kindy and the Paw Patrol top he has to wear is wet in the wash, there is no way we can leave the house without a mega tantrum. I was a habitually late person before I became a mum and now it’s just ridiculous! "
Lizzie's advice for new mums?
"Enjoy each and every moment. You will be tired and your body won’t be the same, but it’s a magical time and it goes really fast."
If anyone was ever wondering what the schedule of super woman looked like, here you go:
"I get up at 4.30am so that I can exercise from 5-6am (my husband is a builder so leaves the house early) - this is the one hour of the day that I have to myself. I then get the kids ready for school and kindy, do the requisite rushed drop-offs, then drive into the city to the Kindred studio. I work there until about 5pm, then do the kindy pick-up, dinner, bath time, stories, clean the house and log back on to work at about 9pm. It’s crazy busy, but I love it (most of the time).
As an early Mother's Day gift we sent Lizzie 'Peony' from The Candle Library's New Classics range!
"I absolutely adore peonies. My birthday is in November which is Peony season. Your peony candle from the New Classics range is gorgeous and it’s strong enough to make a large room smell heavenly."
I think we picked right scent for Lizzie as she adores florals. If she could have any scent captured in a candle?
"Jasmine, gardenias and roses (Tubor, David Austen and Peonies) are my all-time favourite scents and always make me happy."
This isn't the first time Lizzie Renkert has been invited to The Candle Library blog, a year ago we did a feature on her business We are Kindred. Click here to read the blog.
