In her new song 'Tiny Days', folk songwriter Mel Parsons gets real about the highs and lows of parenting for the first time.
"It's the hardest thing I've ever done, hands down, and I'm sure it's the hardest thing I'll ever do," she tells Jesse Mulligan.
Musician Mel Parsons with one of her children Photo: Mel Parsons / Facebook
Parsons says part of the reason she hasn't brought her family life into her music before is the stigma, "perceived or real", towards working mothers, she says.
"I have kids so that's always asked about [in interviews]... I like talking about it as long as it's asked of everyone. I feel like often you don't hear dads get asked about how they manage touring and being a musician."
She feels grateful and lucky for her four children but it's also very hard.
"People say 'wow, you're doing amazing, look at you!' and I've definitely had times on the low point of the roller coaster where I felt like screaming out 'I'm not doing great, please help me, I'm struggling!"
Before becoming a parent, Parsons remembers feeling "a bit smug" about what she'd be able to pull off.
"Obviously ill be able to carry on and do everything and have really happy children all the time and be a great parent'... and whoa, that hasn't been the case."
Parsons says that in a previous life, she'd have had "super FOMO" about losing the ability to travel but now, with four children, she accepts her mostly home-based existence.
"I'm sort of learning just to be in it and mostly accept it's a beautiful time."
Mel Parsons plays in Auckland on 19 May, Christchurch on 20 May and Wellington on 28 May.
