Zoe Marshall surprised husband Benji by arriving with 1-year-old son Fox to watch him play for the Kiwis in his comeback test against Tonga at Mt Smart.
The radio presenter and blogger admits she often finds it hard when Benji is travelling with his NRL team Wests Tigers, and havinghim train away in NZ with the Kiwis was also tough. "The way he loves you @benji6marshall all I can say is thank the heavens you're home. Solo parenting is tough. Shout out to my mum and all the mums and dads and carers that do it on their own. It's almost impossible and you are heroes," Marshall wrote on social media.
She shared the couple's fertility struggles as they tried for a baby, garnering a grateful following for her honesty. Now, she is showing the same brutal honesty about the joy and difficulty of motherhood.
Weeks after having Fox early last year, she spoke of exhaustion and isolation. She said there were so many joyful times, but she also needed to be honest about how tough it could be.
"As glorious as having a little miracle is, we need to acknowledge the transition into parenthood and how challenging that can be," she wrote.
A few weeks ago she posted to Facebook: "When the days are long. And I've been bitten, slapped, eye lids gripped with little nails and pulled. Been wrestling a 12-kilo man-baby into the pram, car seat, bed. Watching him smack himself in the head multiple times a day. I look at photos like this when he's gone to bed and bloody miss him. I am struggling. I'm tired. I'm depleted. But I am trying. I am also learning. To be way more patient, to be tougher with him. To set boundaries, but also to empathise and encourage. He's so frustrated at the moment. And so am I. I guess we are figuring it all out together."
In a time when influencers are on the wane after controversies around fake lives and hidden endorsements, Marshall's authenticity is the key to her success.
Last week she also did a shout-out for watching evenly gender-balanced sport. Keep keeping it real, Zoe.
