Ain't no hood like Motherhood

Robyn Geiger can clearly remember the day she became a mum. When she looked down at her first-born son Bradley’s face, she thought from that moment they could show her 100 more babies and she would still be able to pick him out.

“I fell so in love with that little face.

“My second thought was, I must thank my Mother for having me. I was a second born child and I thought, wow, she went back and had me after having to go through this. I so wanted to thank her …. Funny isn’t it?”

After her first son Bradley, Robyn went on to have three more sons, Luke, Christopher and Joshua.

By the time her boys were 2,3,5 and 6 years-old she was on her own and it was a very difficult time. Robyn recalls she struggled financially to raise, educate and keep them in sport and music.

She had to work two jobs most of her life to make sure they had the same opportunities as other children.

“To tell the truth, my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is probably the only reason we all survived, I fell to my knees and prayed more times than you could imagine and always trusted that He would provide and protect us and He did.

“I did have stressful moments and I took medication when I needed to. But I have a saying- ‘every problem has a solution’. So, I always searched until I found one.”

Robyn believes Motherhood is the most complex job in the world, full of highs and lows from birth until forever.

“It is loving someone so much that you would die for them at any given moment. And then some days you could be like a bird and kick them out of the nest to fend for themselves,” she smiled.

“My sons are the best they stay in close contact with me, we chat nearly every day among ourselves and I still see them as my ‘boys’ even though they are grown married men with families of their own”.

Robyn’s mother Esme was an ex Nursing sister and taught her the mantra ‘that nothing is a drama unless it is a major drama’.

Robyn said unless we were at deaths door, she would just say ‘lie quietly’.

“It is a family joke now that we all say if someone alludes to being unwell. But I left home at 10 years of age and lived with my Grandmother and she was the one person in my life that taught and showed me unconditional love, she passed away, 36 years ago, I still miss her to this day”.

When it comes to her advice for Mums, Robyn said there is no rule book or handbook that will teach you how to be a good mother.

“Follow your own instincts, your own heart and have faith in your ability to be a good Mum. You will make mistakes, lots of them, but you will learn from them and get it right the next time. Be gentle with yourself and remember that every problem has a solution and that love conquers all.

“Discipline is very necessary and yes, your little darling will be the naughty one in class, or the bully in the playground, so, be realistic, be fair and teach them right from wrong,” she said.

In Her Words….

Q. Share a funny story since becoming a Mum?

I had one at school, one at Kindy and two at home, so every day I had to load up the van and do the school/kindy pickups. The little ones played in the tree and in the park while we waited. One day, I had them all in the van going home and someone said, where is Luke? I said he is in the back. They said, no he is not!!! I stopped the van and looked myself and he was not there. I turned around and drove back to the school and on the way saw this little boy running up the road, I had left him in the tree, and he saw me drive away and was running after me. It was terrible, I know, but we did laugh a lot after, and I then used to do a head count.

“Follow your own instincts, your own heart and have faith in your ability to be a good Mum. ”

Robyn and her four sons from left Luke, Bradley, Christopher and Joshua Geiger. Photo: Tony Martin

Robyn’s sons Bradley, Luke, Christopher and Joshua as boys.