As part of an event organized by Polysporin, our editor-in-chief had the chance to ask a few questions to Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc who is as friendly in person as on TV!
Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc, you have been a mother for two and a half years: is this a revelation?Oh! yes! Revelation is really the right word! It reveals many things about who we are, little character traits that we did not know. Nice surprises, and sometimes small limits too.
Why don't you tell us about these little surprises?First, it must be said that with us, Margot was very, very, very desired, eagerly awaited: it's our little miracle baby! When she finally arrived – a big “finally” – we were so happy. One of the great surprises is discovering who we are as a parent: what we want to be and what we really are. It's good to see that we follow our guidelines.
I also find that I am much more patient than I thought I was. In fact, I should say that I am “newly” patient, because I was not before!
Are you the same woman as before themotherhood?I must say yes. Yes, the same woman, but with much more love: to give and to receive. I am the same woman with more patience, with more fatigue, with more questions. It sure changed my life: it changed my schedule, my vision of life, my way of being careful… It changed a lot of things, but I was who I was, and I am. again.
Do you have any advice for a future mother?Trust yourself. We are made to have babies: it will come naturally. You have to have confidence. You are the mother of that child, you are the specialist for that child. Communication, the bond between a child and his mother, a child and his father, is incredible.
As for the disappointments, the less beautiful sides of motherhood, have there been any?There have been little nights, well sure! I would like to say that the feeling of freedom is a little hampered; but as I had it late, my Margot, all the need for freedom that I had before, I had filled it elsewhere. It is certain that we discover a new guilt of mother that we did not know existed or that we judged a little before. Judgment, huh?
Hélène working with her daughter Margot at the event organized by Polysporin
Judgment is indeed very, very strong. Did it strike you?Amazing! At my house too. At the others. When you have a child, you are always faced with the gaze of others, and when you go on TV, you feel even moreother people's eyes, sometimes! Me, I tend to be a very relaxed mother, I am not anxious by nature. At the park, for example, if my daughter plays and falls, or if she eats sand, it has never been a tragedy. She eats sand, well she eats sand! She will discover for herself that it is not good, not pleasant, and she will stop eating it, it is as simple as that! But not in the eyes of other mothers… “Oh! my God! Your daughter just fell! “I find it normal for her to fall. As she falls, she learns to get up.
Literally and figuratively, if I understand correctly?Exactly. Me, I tend to say to my daughter – apart from “I love you” a hundred thousand times a day – I tend to tell her: “You are capable! But for her to be able, she has to try, and that means falling, scratching her knee… We've all been there and there's something that tells me that we have to I let her be on her own.
Speaking of sores, has Margot ever hurt herself badly?
Well yes: she runs, she falls. She had two big sores that were bleeding on her knees, both knees at the same time. No matter how much I say that she has to fall, that she hurts herself, I have to admit that my little mother's heart sank very hard when it happened! But I stayed calm: I don't want to scare him. I want her to understand that when you hurt yourself, you have the right to cry. We let ourselves be comforted, we stick together, we clean the sore and we put on the magic Polysporin – the Poly to go, which creates a little feeling of freshness and does a lot of good – but that won't stop us from playing, for example! It will not scare us for the rest of things. My mother was a nurse, and Polysporin, I always had in my house. Today, I have it in all my bags, and I use it every day. For Margot, but also for me, or for another child at the park. It allows you to continue playing. It allows you to put a little attention on the sore, but above all it allows you to show that it is not more serious than that.
Let's get to the serious questions (Um! Um!) now: how many pictures have you had of Margot since she was born?Since she is born?! Aaah! Many! At least a thousand something, I don't count them.
Camera or iPhone?iPhone. Camera when we go on vacation, to have beautiful photos. If not iPhone, and I send this to my mother, to my father.
Tech Mom?
No, not Tech Mom. Mom photo, yes, but I don't have a Facebook account. I go on Twitter a bit. (Editor's note You can follow Hélène on Twitter at @helenebleclerc)
Do you shoot videos too?Yes! I love that child so much! Sometimes I watch videos from when she was born, when she was a baby – we get along, these are no punch videos there! I watch my little videos, and sometimes I shed a tear. I say to my boyfriend: “Look how she grew up! Shelooks alike again! I'm into it these days.
When you go out with your daughter, do people respect your privacy?Oh! Yes! Everyone is nice and I really appreciate it!
But if they need Polysporin, they can come and rummage through your bag, right?Let them come! Let them come in droves!
Thank you very much, Helen!
