Mel Waring: 'I may have been a happy face in photos but that was far from what I was experiencing.’

She’s the former cricket WAG whose marriage publicly ended when her partner of nine years was photographed with another woman.

 But now Mel Waring, whose blog Life of Lyons has won the support and admiration of many parents online, has become an Ambassador for us at Practical Parenting and has revealed that she is slowly picking up the pieces of her life eight months after she discovered her relationship had ended and Australian cricket star Nathan had a new girlfriend, 26-year-old Emma McCarthy.

 ‘The blog started as a bit of therapy for myself, then as time went on I was contacted by so many men and woman who were in similar situations,’ reveals Mel exclusively to Practical Parenting. ‘They would share their heartbreaking stories with me and it gave me the strength to share more of mine and let people see that I may have been a happy face in photos yet that was sometimes far from what I was experiencing on the inside.’

 She adds, ‘Readers have been incredible, I get lots of messages of support, emails of people's stories and encouraging words to keep me going. Heartbreak is universal and I think people need to know they are not alone.’

Mel was blindsided when photos of Nathan and Emma kissing in a car appeared online back in December and started the blog as a way to work through her feelings following the very public breakdown of her relationship with the father of her kids.

The mum of Harper, four, and Milla, three, said that at first she was unsure if she should be so honest in her blog posts about her feelings about the end of her relationship with their dad. But she soon realised that she needed to set the record straight for them as they got older.

 ‘One day my children will grow up and be curious about what's out there on the internet about Nathan and I,’ she explains. ‘If I had my way there would be nothing to see but unfortunately that’s not the case for us. Because of that I want them to be able to read how they and myself got through this chapter and how lucky we are to have each other. I don’t censor anything because that would be unfair to them and me, the truth will always come out so honesty is the best policy in my book.’ 

And she reveals there have been some very positive upsides to this honesty. ‘These things in life make up who we are as people and it’s how we overcome them that defines us,’ she admits. ‘They (her children) will continue to do amazing things and have incredible experiences whether with or without Nathan and they are lucky regardless.’

And the former-WAG has some words of wisdom for women who are in a similar position. ‘Be kind to yourself, cry, feel every emotion you need to because it's ok. See a positive in every day and be thankful for it. Small achievements are worth celebrating, even if it is dinner and the kids are in bed at a normal hour.’

 And in a typically humble way, the 30-year-old who met Nathan at a nightclub in Canberra, says she is very proud of herself following the heartbreaking split she endured. ‘Without a doubt I can say I go above and beyond for my children and I'm proud of the mother, and at the moment, father I am for them.’

Follow Mel

Website: lifeoflyons.blog Instagram: @mel_waring