About four and a half months ago I discovered that this summer I would be taking on a new career - Motherhood! Yes, I, Shannon Butcher, am going to be bringing a new person into this world somewhere around the third week of July.
Although I felt almost an immediate physical change once I became mom-to-be, I was able to go about for the first three months or so keeping my little secret, well, a secret. It wasn't until mid-February when all of my cute stage dresses stopped zipping up that I decided that the secret (along with my belly button) was obviously coming out. That night was my first show where I publicly announced that Michael Shand and I were in fact performing as a trio. And the audience responded with such an excited and supportive round of applause. It was truly a lovely moment. I think my biggest surprise so far is how much hope and joy I see on people's faces when I tell them about my little one. I really didn't expect that.
For me personally this exciting news has brought up intense feelings of joy coupled with plenty of questions. Although women have been becoming mothers since beginning of the human race it still feels like such a wonderous mystery. I mean, I've never done this before! And truth be told for most of my life there haven't been that many female musicians out there parading around their baby bellies on stage. How would my singing self adjust to being a mommy self?
Upon further reflection I realized there are a number of fantastic women in our Canadian music community to whom I could pose this very question. Time to reach out to the ladies for stories and advice! Let me tell you, they have such fascinating insights that I can't help but share them with you. (And don't worry guys, I'll be sure to call upon some of my favourite musical dads to ask how fatherhood influences their music careers too.)
So stay tuned for some tales from the singing mamas.
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