By Casey Neill
A former Bachelor star is using a cheeky book to help kids stay sunsmart.
Tara Pavlovic-Shepherdson wrote The Adventures of Willy and his Sunburnt Bum after fighting many sunscreen battles.
The mum of two spent years working in childcare and as an in-home nanny.
“One of the main things I struggled with was getting sunscreen on the kids and keeping a hat on their heads,” she said.
“I always wished I had a book to read them.”
Tara held onto the idea for years, until appearances on reality TV shows The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise opened some doors and Willy hit bookstores.
Willy hates clothes and sunscreen in equal measure but still wants to play outside. He learns his lesson the hard way.
“Having him highly upset and emotional shows it does hurt if you don’t wear sunscreen, it does hurt when you don’t wear your hat,” she said.
Tara said the reception to Willy had been great.
“I’ve already got so many people who have reached out and said thank you, it helped their household make sun safety a really enjoyable experience,” she said.
“Paddy was very bad with his hat to start with.
“He’s only two and a half so he’s still very young in terms of understanding things.
“He’s still getting used to the sunscreen, but I always just read Willy and freshen up Willy’s message.
“It’s all about persistence, and incorporating the book into that persistence.”
Tara allows Paddy to help to apply his sunscreen. She said giving him some feeling of control can help to smooth the process.
“They’re feeling like they are responsible. Eventually, they will be responsible,” she said.
In terms of wearing a hat, Tara said repeatedly putting it back on your child’s head and sticking to ‘no hat, no play’ were key to getting them on board.
TARA thought she was going to nail motherhood, with years of experience in childcare under her belt.
“I thought I would really be great at being a mum,” she said.
“Turns out it’s very different to working in childcare.
“I love it. But it has been a wild transition.
“I think everyone with a child, though, feels this and feels this responsibility that just doesn’t go away.
“You just don’t get a rest from it.
“There’s just so much to think about always, your brain is always just ticking over.
“It’s literally the most amazing thing ever and it’s the best thing, and you just love your kids so much.
“But sometimes you’re just so tired.”
When we spoke, Paddy was almost two and a half and Edi-Rae had just turned one.
“They are so different. They couldn’t be more different,” she said.
“Paddy was always a terrible sleeper – still is a terrible sleeper.
“She’s an amazing sleeper.
“I actually was freaked out. I thought she was having infantile seizures because she wasn’t crying. She’s just staring at things and looking around.
“I took her to paediatrician. I was just so used to having an upset baby.
“She was just a content baby and he wasn’t.
“She’s been independent the whole time and he’s not. He’s always needed someone to be there with him at all times.
“You can give her a toy and she’ll sit there and play with it.”
Paddy was only 16 months old when Edi-Rae was born. Tara’s mental health suffered.
“I felt so guilty when I got PND (post-natal depression) because I had a healthy baby already and then I was pregnant with another one,” she said.
“People can’t fall pregnant and here I am, depressed with my current situation. I’m a terrible person, I’m so ungrateful.
“I ate so much crap. It was the only thing bringing me joy.
“I couldn’t even walk. I had SPD (symphysis pubis dysfunction). It kicked in for both kids so early on.”
Tara sought professional support to get her mental health back on track.
“I’ve been doing a lot of work on myself,” she said.
“I’m the biggest I’ve ever been but I don’t see a fat person staring back at me.
“I see a healthy strong person staring back at me.
“I always trained because I wanted to be skinny.
“No matter how thin I got, I still wasn’t healthy in the mind.
“I always still thought I was fat.
“Weight has always been so attached to self-worth.
“I always thought the skinnier I was, the more lovable I would be, and the more I would love myself.
“Two kids down the track I’ve never been more comfortable in my body.
“I had two knee injuries, two babies, a knee reconstruction, anxiety, and depression.
“My body’s been through a lot.
“A lot has gotten me to the size I am today, but it also led me to live a much healthier life afterwards.”
With therapy, Tara worked through the trauma she was masking with her unhealthy habits.
“I’m me again,” she said.
“I think everything happens for a reason.
“I think I had to hit rock bottom to be the person I am today.”
The person she is today is a mum of two fighting a battle many parents will be familiar with – teeth brushing. And it’s getting her creative juices flowing.
“Paddy will not brush his teeth, so that book has to happen ASAP,” she laughed.
“You’d think we were murdering him.”
The Adventures of Willy and his Sunburnt Bum is available from www.adventureswithtara.com.au.
