Our children’s rooms are colourful, fun and beachy...
Being lovers of the beach, there’s a holiday feel throughout our house including the children’s rooms and as they get older I want it to reflect their personalities and be filled with all the things they love.
I am so lucky that we have a nanny who comes everyday for a few hours during the week...
Eugene shoots his blog every morning and leaves by 5:30am. She helps me get the children organised, so that I can get off to work for a half day. She is amazing and holds our very busy family together. We don’t have family in Sydney, which makes it hard, but our nanny has become an extended part of our family.
My baby Spike isn’t sleeping much during the day, but he’s doing great at night...
He loves to be close to me and will sleep for hours on the bed in the day if I lay next to him. It’s quite beautiful and a massive indulgence, but this time is so precious. I’m just going with what works. We lay down as soon as Jet goes for his lunchtime sleep and he will feed and fall asleep, I love this part of the day.
I don’t have secrets to getting a child to sleep...
Structure and the familiarity of having their own things and sleeps in their beds (not always the pram) helps. Otherwise wrapping babies tightly when they are little or putting them in a sleeping bag as they get older. I always bathed my children with Jurlique bath oil when they were young, hoping it would calm them to sleep for hours. Also books and more books. Reading feeds their imaginations and hopefully sends them off to sleep and dream. At bedtime, I read Where Is The Green Sheep, We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, Spot, The Very Cranky Bear, The Hungry Caterpillar. I embellish them all and add my own spin. Jet and Spike seem to like it.
I want to teach our children to love with your whole heart, to be kind, to be gracious and to have fun...
My husband has such integrity and strength as a man. I want them to grow into men like he is. To treat women with respect and to be thoughtful of other people and to follow their hearts and be whatever they want to be. To work hard and be grateful and humble.
My favourite time of the day is when my boys wake up in the morning and when my husband comes home at night...
My husband and I have a wine together at night and talk about our days. It might be just 15 minutes some nights, before we bath and feed our boys, but it’s our little time together.
I try not to work on the days I am with my boys and do something special with them...
Also, once a week Jet and I will do something fun together in the morning, so he doesn’t feel like he’s lost his Mumma to baby Spike. Jet is at daycare three days a week. It’s a family daycare where there are only five children each day. The carer Rosie is the most beautiful woman and has helped develop Jet into a delicious, polite little boy that I am so proud of. I initially had a nanny three days a week when I went back to work at 6 months, and then he started daycare when he was about 18 months old. Jet will be going to a bigger daycare for a few days this year and still one day with Rosie. I cried when I had to tell her and it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make as a mother. Gosh, imagine when he goes to school! It made me realise that motherhood is such a journey of emotion. Everyday there is a new challenge, but I am so grateful I am a mother and get to experience all of this.
I love Celine, bassike, Scanlan & Theodore, sass & bide and J Brand jeans...
I used to be able to run blocks in heels, now I can barely walk in them. I’m definitely more casual now. I live in bassike T-shirts, The Upside tights and shorts, Vie Active and denim shorts. I have some old favourites from sass & bide which I live in. In summer, it’s a bikini under everything just in case there’s a chance of a swim. For children’s clothes, I love Country Road, printebebe, bassike, Gap Kids and Munster.
With my newborn son Spike, it’s a little harder to establish a routine...
He’s only 12 weeks old, so I’m going with the flow and also juggling his needs around those of Jet. Their signals are much clearer the second time around, or maybe I’m just more confident in reading them. When Spike is ready, I will implement the same routine I did with Jet if he needs it. I follow the Save Our Sleep routine by Tizzy Hall, but lots of friends also swear by Contented Little Baby by Gina Ford. I found it hard to adjust initially, but when I saw the change in Jet and that he needed structure and the familiarity of his bed, it just became my life. It’s such a personal thing and I think every mother has the right and freedom to choose what’s right for them. It worked for my family and I. Time will tell with Spike.
I love my sleep and need it...
With our first son Jet, my husband crashed my car because he was so tired and I honestly can’t remember much about that year other than being so in love with our baby that did not sleep. I would tell every mother this: sleep when your baby sleeps. Sleep with your baby or by the cot if you have to. It’s the only way I made it through along with exercise. Even on the days I had little to no sleep, I would do something outside: a run, a walk or a swim. I always felt so much better for it – both mentally and physically.
With our first son Jet, I didn’t follow a routine until he was about seven months old...
I thought routines were restrictive and not for someone like me. I like to do a hundred things a day and believed my baby would fit in with my life. After seven months of very little sleep, combined with being back at work, one of my best girlfriends who is an avid routine follower had her husband call me. She had been telling me for months to give a routine a go, but had had little luck convincing me. I finally decided to give it a go. I never looked back and to this day, we never miss Jet’s sleep times. I encourage all my friends to try a routine if it feels right for them.
Jet was a terrible sleeper...
He didn’t sleep through the night once until he was 12 months old. We were so tired for a year and I think it took me another year to recover. I haven’t done any sleep training, I’m not sure why I didn’t at the time. I think partly because I was too tired to do anything other than get through it. I could get him to sleep easily enough, but he just wouldn’t sleep for long periods through the night. The routine eventually paid off. Jet has his naps at the same time every day and then I make sure he is in bed at 7pm. I play music, read books and have quiet time before each sleep – this all helps.
I was lucky to have natural births with both my boys...
After both births, I swam and then it was back to the soft sand track, my happy place. If time allows, I love yoga but I don’t get to do that often enough.
I work three days a week and around my children’s sleeps on the other days...
I work in my husband’s business Aquabumps and I’m lucky that I have flexibility. Both Spike and Jet have been in many a meeting when they were young. Spike has been to quite a few already. I look after the commercial side of the business and my husband the creative. I love it, and because we’re a small, growing business I came back to work straight away after Spike was born.
My diet didn’t change when I was pregnant or after...
At the end of each pregnancy I would eat less because there was no space in my tummy (Spike was a big baby). I am healthy, but I never deny myself anything. I would hate to watch what I ate. I make potions in the morning – vital greens and juices with breakfast. I do have a cup of tea and Tim Tam before bed every night (must be double coat).
Motherhood has taught me to be patient and to make sacrifices...
I’m also a very carefree, fly by the seat of my pants type of person, so being a mother has definitely made me more responsible. Also, to love unconditionally so big your heart hurts.
When I had Jet, I formed my own mother’s group...
They were girlfriends who I had worked with over the years in publishing (you know who you are KJ, Sal and Ann). We all had babies within a month of each other and they were my strength, my sounding board, my support, my everything for that first year with Jet. Just a few weeks ago, I met one of them for lunch. We have all had our second or soon to have, and I just burst into tears on the street in her arms. She held me and said nothing other than she understood. That’s all I needed at the time, to know I wasn’t alone. The beautiful thing about becoming a mother is that there is this respect and secret mother’s code. With a look or a helping hand with your pram or kind smile when your child is throwing a tantrum in a café, they let you know that they’ve been there and you’re not alone. It really fills my heart up. The bond I have with my Mumma’s from when Jet was born is one of the things I treasure most in my life. We will be connected by that forever.
The hardest part of being a mother is the sleep deprivation and second guessing yourself about the decisions you make...
I’m also a bit of a softie, so I find discipline and saying no hard. I know it’s for the best for who they become. The best part is the love your children give you. My son Jet calls me Mahi Mahi and when ever he sees me his little face lights up and he runs towards me for a hug. It melts my heart every time.
I exercised everyday when I was pregnant...
I am a nut case (just ask my husband). It’s my meditation. I was the crazy lady soft sand running on Bondi Beach every day at eight months pregnant (both times) and then swimming at Icebergs for the last month of my pregnancy. I would meet my girlfriend almost every day at the Icebergs gym and do the bike followed by a swim. I was eight days overdue with Spike and everyday, everyone at the gym would say “The baby hasn’t come yet? Get ready, we might have to deliver him right here at the Bergs”. I was never happier doing that little routine.
I’m most proud of my children and my marriage...
I never knew it could be this good. I’m really proud that I can work alongside my husband in his successful business and that we can grow it together. There’s nothing more fulfilling than working when it’s all for your little family.
If you’ve got a long list of New Years fitness resolutions, this profile will probably provide the motivation you need to actually keep them. Mother to two gorgeous boys, Jet and Spike, advertising manager Debbie Tan is the ultimate beachside beauty. It’s hard to believe she only gave birth to her second child three months ago. ”I head straight to beach in the mornings and will run with a girlfriend or walk on the days I’m too tired. It’s 30 minutes where I am Deb again – just me and the sea. It makes me so happy and sets me up for the day,” says Tan whose warm, positive energy has clearly rubbed off on her adorable little boys. When it comes to combating the dreaded sleep deprivation that comes with having a newborn, exercise is also her secret weapon (along with a nightly Tim Tam). ”With Jet, even on the days I had little to no sleep, I would do something outside: a run, a walk or a swim. I always felt so much better for it both mentally and physically.”
The Bondi-based Tan works alongside her husband, photographer Eugene Tan, the talented man behind Aquabumps, a website and daily email dedicated to beach life. “I’m really proud that I can work alongside my husband in his successful business and that we can grow it together. There’s nothing more fulfilling than working when it’s all for your little family,” she says.
Aquabumps was founded back in 1999 and now has a following of over 180,000 visitors a month. Together, the duo are taking it from strength to strength. She runs the commercial side of things, while he takes care of the creative. ”Eugene shoots his blog every morning and leaves by 5:30am. I am so lucky that we have a nanny who comes everyday for a few hours during the week and helps me get the children organised, so that I can get off to work for a half day. She is amazing and holds our very busy family together. We don’t have family in Sydney, which makes it hard, but our nanny has become an extended part of our family.”
While the stylish mother says she used to be able to run blocks in heels, these days she lives in a casual mix of bassike T-shirts, The Upside tights and shorts, Vie Active and denim shorts. “In summer, it’s a bikini under everything just in case there’s a chance of a swim,” she says. And given that the couple live minutes from Sydney’s Bondi Beach, that’s usually on the cards.
Debbie’s little list of loves:
Cups of tea.
Going to the beach on the weekends with my boys and my husband.
Hawaii. We go for a month every year and it’s my heart place. We stay right on the beach and you can hear the waves crashing morning, noon and right through the night.
Soft sand runs.
My friends.
Waking up to my children and my husband.
Swims in the sea.
Riding my bike.
French champagne.
Seeing my boys laughing and playing with their Dad - there’s nothing better than that.
Photography: Julie Adams Make-up: Sarina Zoe Words: Georgie Abay