The Quiet Seed That Became a Story and then Mama Jing

In June 2025, I returned to work after my second maternity leave.
This time, the transition felt… gentler.

Yes, part of that was the comfort of familiarity — the quiet confidence of “I’ve done this before.”
But deep down, I know it was also something else.

After my second son was born, I found myself helping my eldest navigate the complex emotional landscape of suddenly becoming a big brother. There were tears. There were long, honest conversations in the dark. There were moments when I could feel both his love and his confusion swelling in the same breath.

And one night, during a particularly raw and tender conversation, I realised something simple, yet profound:

There were no picture books on our shelf for this moment.

No stories that said:

“Yes, this is hard.”
“Yes, you still belong.”
“Yes, you are still deeply loved.”

So I began writing — not with a plan, but with a mother’s instinct to soothe, to witness, to honour.
Small, heartfelt stories based on lived experience.
Stories for little ones with big feelings.
Stories I wish had existed for us.

When Creativity Follows You Back to Work

What surprised me most was what happened next.

As I returned to work as a lawyer, the creativity that had been reignited during maternity leave didn’t fade into the background. It came with me — quietly, insistently — reshaping how I think, solve problems, and move through the world.

It made my mind feel more balanced.
My thinking more fluid.
My ability to hold complexity much stronger.

It felt like a re-integration — as though parts of my brain that had once lived in separate rooms were finally speaking to each other again.
Not just intellect or creativity.
Not just lawyer or mother or writer.
But a whole, unified self.

Creativity didn’t take me away from my intellect;
it anchored me back into it — with softness, curiosity, and far more capacity than I expected.

Motherhood Rearranges Us

I think many parents quietly experience this.
Motherhood rearranges us.
It breaks us open and, if we let it, invites something new to grow.

For me, that “something new” has been a different kind of creative clarity.
A gentler ambition.
A deeper purpose.

And one of those late-night seeds has now grown into my very first picture book — After the Little Baby Arrived.
A story for my eldest son.
A story for any child learning to find their place in a growing family.
A story for parents navigating the tenderness and turbulence of change.

And alongside it, Mama Jing Writes was born — a home for stories that help little hearts feel held, understood, and deeply loved.

Thank you for being here at the beginning of this new chapter.

💛
Jing / Mama Jing