Interview With Surbhi Mahobia

Dealing with a pandemic right now is a particularly stressful experience for parents who must balance personal life, work, and raising children. This pandemic situation puts parents at a higher risk of experiencing distress and open to mental health issues. This week we bring you Surbhi’s experience during the pandemic as a mom of two.

Surbhi Mahobia is an HR professional turned full-time blogger. She loves reading but never thought that she has the caliber to write and chose writing as her profession. She is a published author, her board on Pinterest has been featured on their ‘Today’s Tab’ for daily inspiration and she has been featured on Social Samosa as well. She is a Mass Communication post graduate and lives with her husband and two beautiful children in Delhi-NCR. She works from home, but not to be confused with the ‘comfort of home’. After having kids, you are never comfortable ‘working’ with the craziness at home (if you know what it means). She blogs at ‘Pretty Mumma Says’ You can listen to her podcast on ‘Agla Station Motherhood’

Q. How have you been feeling lately during this pandemic?

It has been a roller-coaster, and I am sure I am not the only one who feels that way. Some days are hard, some days are particularly hard, and some days are not-so-hard. It was tough initially, but it’s been a while now, and we have adjusted to this new lifestyle. I am feeling good and happy that I am safe and my family is safe. The only thing amiss is the freedom of carefree movement outdoors.

Q. Has this Pandemic changed your interest in activities that you once enjoyed doing?

No, it hasn’t. On the contrary, I found more flexibility to do things that I love and do them more often. This time during the lockdown has been a perfect time to involve kids in all these activities. It gave me the opportunity to sense their interests and expose them to newer things, which otherwise wouldn’t have been possible during their regular school days.

With time and patience, they have developed an interest in doing similar things. I love reading and both of my kids have turned into book guzzlers. Art and painting are my escapades, but now we do it together and have a great time.

Q. Have you ever experienced an ‘attack’ of fear, anxiety, or panic during these difficult times? Share how you dealt with it.

There was a brief period last year when I felt that I was turning into an angry person. Cabin fever hit me and not being able to have access to a “normal life” made me anxious. Working from home, making kids study, managing household chores, etc. was very overwhelming. Being a person who enjoys solitude more than being surrounded by people, staying confined indoors 24/7 took a toll on my mental health.

I took the help of a therapist who helped me come out of my fears and anxiety. It was a brief stint and for what I was going through, I didn’t require a long series of sessions. Therapy help me at a much deeper level and after it was over, I felt like someone lifted a huge rock from my chest.

Q. During these uncertain times, the way we consume news and information from social media daily, what are some ways you use to take a break from it?  

Social media turned into mainstream media during the lockdown. Being a blogger and an Instagrammer, it’s hard to stay away from it. Not getting exposed to the news related to Coronavirus became impossible.

I consciously do the following to avoid constant exposure to pandemic related news:

1. Uninstalled news related apps from all the mobile devices and tablets.
2. Discontinued newspaper delivery at beginning of the lockdown.
3. Not discussing anything related to the virus, pandemic and lockdown with friends and family.

Having said all the above, I am most definitely not living under a rock! Jokes apart, social media is a bane and a boon at the same time. I reach out from time to time to get the right dosage of news and current affairs.

Q. Tell us about your dreams for the future. How much of that is closer to accomplishment and what feelings have you had recently about working towards those goals?

In future, I plan to scale up my podcast “Agla Station Motherhood” with regular content. I also plan to structure my website to make it more reader-friendly.

I am working on a stealth project related to my brand and without delving much into details, all I can tell is that it’s shaping up well. I am very excited and hopeful. 

Q. Describe how ‘supported’ you feel by others around you – your friends, family, or otherwise.

I am extremely blessed to have massive support from my family and friends. My husband is supportive of my every endeavor and pushes me to go beyond my limits. He is a very handy father and a lot of times he is more involved with our children than me.

I am extremely blessed to have massive support from my family and friends. My husband is supportive of my every endeavor and pushes me to go beyond my limits. He is a very handy father and a lot of times he is more involved with our children than me. Whenever I have bad mental health days, he always steps forward and does his best within his own capacity. Not a day goes by when he doesn’t make me feel that “we’re in this together”.

My mother and mother-in-law are my rock. I can rely on them 100%. My heart is nothing but full of gratitude.

Q. What was the most challenging moment in your blogging journey along with your parenting journey?

To decide between becoming an Instagrammer or a blogger has been “the” defining moment in my blogging journey. It’s hard to take a side when you enjoy doing both. I started as a blogger and Instagram came much later. I want to remain a blogger and that has been my priority from the beginning. I keep finding ways of incorporating my blogs in my social media apart from the standard “Link in bio” tagline/hashtag.

Q. Do you have a healthy blogging and life balance during these tough times? What does your regular routine look like?

Pandemic has taken a toll on my blogging. My capacity for creating content has drastically reduced due to constant distractions and my speed is no faster than a snail as of now. However, I try to publish at least 10 blogposts in a month on my website and a couple of posts and reels on my Instagram.

Pandemic has taken a toll on my blogging. My capacity for creating content has drastically reduced due to constant distractions and my speed is no faster than a snail as of now. However, I try to publish at least 10 blogposts in a month on my website and a couple of posts and reels on my Instagram.

“Shake yourself out the slumber” tops my latest to-do list!

Q. What new skills have you acquired during this pandemic? How much enjoyment do you get from these?  

Coaching small business owners on the optimum use of Pinterest for generating business is my latest acquired skill. I have been using it since years and felt like it’s the right time to start sharing my knowledge with people who need it. It’s amazing to see how much value you can add to small businesses looking for innovative ways to multiply their business.

Podcasting is another newly acquired skill and I am loving it!

Q. If you have to re-write your blogpost – How Motherhood Has Changed Me now, how would you share your journey after 4 years?  

Great question! A lot has changed in 4 years. Kids have grown up and have become slightly independent. They no more require constant attention, feeding every 2 hours, and change of diapers!

If I must rewrite this blog then it would only be filled with stories of pillow talks with kids, their sense of humor & jokes, their capability to learn and grasp things quickly, episodes of their long hugs with extra affection, their patience, and resilience.

Hope you liked reading the interview and Surbhi’s journey as much as we loved interviewing her. Do like, share and comment. 

Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for parenting content and tips. 

You can follow Surbhi Mahobia on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, ‘Pretty Mumma Says’ and read more of her work.