Jacinda Ardern says politics itself was the lowlight of her 2018.
Speaking to RadioLIVE on Friday, the Prime Minister said much of what goes on is a "distraction" from what she signed up for.
Hosts Mike Puru and Carly Flynn asked her what the lowlight of the year was.
"It's gonna sound a little bit funny, but politics," she replied. "When you do this job there's the things you get elected to do, the big challenges - then there's things that kind of happen around the periphery. It's part of the job, but they can be a bit of a distraction."
Her highlight won't come as a surprise to anyone that's been following the news however.
"Little baby Neve. Absolutely. Politics comes and goes. Unfortunately, we do get ousted eventually - but I'll always be a mum."
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Ms Ardern gave birth to Neve in June, making headlines worldwide. She said her personal goal for 2019 was to find a better balance between her huge responsibilities.
"I'd like to find a bit of a rhythm with being a mum, because [it takes] a while for baby to get a bit of routine. Now that she's really done that, I need to try and build a bit of a routine as well - trying to do that, and also do my job."
She said the biggest thing being a working mum has taught her is that solo parents have it much, much tougher than she realised.
"So far we've done it because we've got my mum and [partner Clarke Gayford's] mum, who have helped us a lot. That's really how we've managed it so far.
"But in all of this, my big question is, how do sole parents do it? I just, I don't understand how people do it on their own. That's been a big lesson for me."
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