T'was 6 days after Christmas

And all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a .... oh wait... nope, not even a mouse!

Well what an amazing 6 days have just gone by. As I sit here, having not long finished tonight's very very late dinner, watching a telly movie and catching up on my favourite blog 'Team O'Toole' I ponder over what has been a fabulous week.

Tonight we returned from a few days away with my brother and his partner and children, we were joined also by my youngest brother. I adore spending time with my brothers, we actually see quite a bit of one and other but there is something very special about spending quality time with siblings, there is always something to talk about and a common thread, there is love, laughter and in our family, quite a substantial amount of ribbing.

We were lucky enough to have spent the last few days in Torquay (or Jan Juc to be more precise) at my sister in laws mum and step dads caravan (Nanny and Bills Caraban according to Jaz, not that it's her Nanny, but it is Oscars Nanny and that's good enough for her). We BBQ'd almost every meal, Craig slept in his swag while the kids and I lolled around on fold out sofas, there was play time at the park, skating at the skate ramp, a return to surfing after 15 years, picnics on large grassed hills overlooking the surf and coffee at cake in the centre of town.

But I think my favourite memory from this lovely trip is that of Kayde the Sandmonster!!! After bumping and bruising his way through the last few days (my beautiful baby boy has a fat lip, grazed chin and several eggs on his head due to his overenthusiastic will to walk and his uncanny ability to fall on his head) we took Kayde for his first ever trip to the beach. After slathering the children in sunscream (Jaz's word for it not mine), making sure everone had a hat (this meant Kayde was wearing a hot pink Dora hat, several sizes too big and turned up so he could somewhat see) we hit the sand. The biggest kid, Ryan, dug a hole big enough to hide in, Go Rye!!! and Jaz and Oscar ran around and fought over digging implements. Kristy and Taj lolled in the sun, Kristy as always managing to look completely glamorous and Taj seeming completely uninterested in what was going on around him, content just to laze the day away.

While all this went on Kayde took one look at his surroundings and with all the exuberance of a child on Christmas morning (and don't we all know what that is like) he flung himself headlong into the sand, he crawled and rolled and played and grabbing handfuls of warm soft sand he ate with gusto! In only a few short minutes one could be forgiven for not recognising him as a baby and thinking perhaps they had come across a miniature sandmonster of some sort. He was unrecognisable and my only regret for the day was that I had left my camera behind!!! I so very much want the image of him covered head to toe in sand, mouth full and slobbery grin beaming etched forever in my memory.

Well after a few beautiful days in Torquay it was time to head home, we decided that instead of driving home we would catch the ferry which just topped a great trip off. Jaz was able to see that cars could indeed go on a boat without making it sink and she was held by her dad as they watched from the roof of the ferry as we cruised toward home, returning to a loungeroom floor scattered with the spoils of Christmas day - something I will blog about soon. For now I just wanted to share with you the joy of spending quality time with my family...

Now to head to bed, ready to tackle new years eve and the resolution that just must be made and blogged about.

Good night all.

Not doing anything really takes it out of you!

Today I did nothing. Well not nothing but nothing that I should actually have done. Wait... That's not exactly true either. Maybe it just felt like I achieved very little. I mean, I kept the kidlets safe and happy and reasonably healthy. I remembered to drop Jaz off at 'kindy' for which she was very thankful, singing the entire way there and telling me in no uncertain terms what she was going to be doing today. 'I'm going to kindy and gonna play with aaaallllll my fwiends' waves arms like a little old Italian woman yelling at her husband.

I spoke to the centre director about kinder programs, enrollment, next years plans, the possibility of transferring to their centre in Dromana on the chance we end up moving there (we might or we might not - we are definitely peninsula nomads that's for sure). We discussed health care cards, payments, medicines for the kids and then I remembered I had to go. Kayde was booked in to have his immunisations and I had to go....

Back in the car, Kayde was most unimpressed to be out of my arms and in the car seat, he started getting a bit of a cold late yesterday and was snotty and miserable, he wanted mummy cuddles and was intent on not being plied from mummy and put into the car seat. But in the car seat he was and he yelled and cried to make sure I knew how unhappy it made him...

We arrived at the medical centre and stopped and chatted to everyone we passed, people ooohhed and ahhhed and we were told many times over just how gorgeous Kayde is and told by several people who know Jaz and Have not see Kayde since he was very new that Craig and I do babies very well, creating utterly gorgeous children. Well we certainly think so but it is even better when told by others so thank you :)

Kayde went in for his shots... Now when Jaz had her shots many moons ago, she never cried, she simply gave a glare that said in no uncertain terms 'if I wasn't so little I would absolutely snot you in the nose for doing that to me'. Kayde on the other hand, drops the bottom lip, gives a heart broken little look that says 'why oh why would you hurt a poor defenseless baby like that?' and proceeds to howl!!! Thank goodness he is such a booby boy, a quick suckle and the sobs subside and he smiles a big milky grin at me.

Time for my GP appointment, just a general check up, Kayde being snuggled by adoring women at the reception desk and check up complete it's time to go. Backing out of the car park I remember I was supposed to stop in at the travel agents while I was here and have a meeting about the wedding.  I lazily drive over the road and park at the travel agency. We wander in and have a productive chat about airfares, accommodation, wedding details and the like and then it really is time to head for home.

Back in the car and heading for home, by the time we get there I pop Kayde down for his afternoon nap and I fix a sandwich for lunch. I barely remember eating it, I was overcome with exhaustion and shut my eyes.... just for a moment - or two hours!!!!

Time to pick Jaz up from kindy, better run, lucky Kayde woke me up or may have gotten a call from 'kindy' now THAT would have been something to blog about....

So I went and picked Jaz up and as we pulled in the drive I realised Craig had actually beaten me home... to a home that had not had a thing done to it all day. Breakfast dishes lay where they had this morning, beds unmade, some curtains still drawn, and that is what I mean by not having done anything all day.

Today I did both nothing and sooo much!!! And now, I need to head to bed and recharge the batteries. I must say, I love the fact that when I told Craig I hadn't achieved anything much today and that I had fallen asleep, he said 'good, you needed it' then he promptly took the family late night shopping for nothing in particular, we had dinner while we were out so I not only didn't have to cook but didn't have any cleaning up to do either. So I have been able to continue doing nothing, until tomorrow when I will have to catch up on all the somethings that need doing...

Imagine That

I just love the age Jaz is at at the moment. Her imagination is working overtime. She chatters away to imaginary people on her pretend mobile, sometimes it's an Alien, other times it is some of her favourite people, she is often reporting to them what Mummy is doing and then tells them we will come visit or invites them over - usually telling them to bring their small person (for some reson she usually speaks to the grown up).

Jaz role plays wholeheartedly and some of the scenes I watch her play out just melt my heart and make me want to capture her 3 year old innocent perfection just as it is now to keep forever in a little jar so I can access it later when she is an all knowing, hormone charged teen. Just today I saw her lining up a whole lot of little leggo tyres, from what I could work out there was Mummy, Daddy, Kayde and Jaz and a few extras, possible Sash and Taz (our dogs, and yes I think I have mentioned before we have a dog named Taz and a daughter named Jaz - the weirdness is not lost on me). Anyway. The big tyre moved away from the others saying 'I love you very much but I have to go to work' then a smaller tyre (I was quite happy about this) said, 'oh it's ok, Mummys here, Daddy loves you very much but he had to go to work, he will be back very soon, but I am here' then an even littler tyre said 'see Kayde, Mummy is here and Daddy loves us and will be back soon, YAY'. This seemed so sweet to me as I am always telling Jaz that the reason Daddy goes to work is because he loves us and wants to take care of us and that he will be home soon to play. Looks like she has been taking this in.

Three is a wonderful age all round really, Jaz sings songs, tells stories, tells us she loves us very often and seems to understand what that means, she loves to help Mummy and Daddy and if Kayde cries she rushes to 'calm him'. She speaks with an adorable lisp when she is tired or excited and thinks up games to play with us, her brother, the dogs and her dolls. Sure she has tantrums (usually calmed by a cuddle) and she has learned to hit other children when they annoy her (something she doesn't do frequently thank goodness, particularly since we spoke to her about hitting not being very nice). She doesn't always do as she's told but then again neither do I and I'm not overly fond of her back chatting but we're working on that. Basically Jaz is one very cool little person who more than anything just makes me thankful to be her Mum each and every day.

Another List

There are too many things I want to do, too much to remember and too many lists to make...

I have finished the Christmas shopping - except for a little something extra for Craig... maybe... if the budget allows... but I am finished the Christmas shopping so that list is pretty much checked off.

I really want to undertake some sort of Christmas activity or craft every day from now till Christmas. I am building that list as I go along. Gathering ideas from others, the telly, the Internet and my own wonderful imagination.

There are a heap of things on my 'to make' list. I need to finish Jaz's patchwork quilt, there's a dress I'd like to make her too. A Santa Sack for Kayde (better get a move on on that one!), there's also Kayde's blanket that he may be too big for by the time I finish crocheting it. I want to make him a little sun suit and while I am at it I wouldn't mind running up a few other bits and pieces too.

I have a bit of 'admin' to do. You know the stuff, call companies to update details, pay bills, course enrolment completion blah blah blah... Yeah bills, better get onto those, pretty sure it's been more than a month since I paid most of them so no doubt they need paying again...

I need to lose weight - there is a list of reasons - for my health, my fitness, my self esteem, to be a better Mum and to look decent on my wedding day. This list also has a list of things to do to lose weight,  my list for this includes undertaking regular activity, eating well, recording activity and food, thinking of fun ways to excersise that will fit in with all the other lists - sorry, I mean things that need doing. As a matter of fact, on this list I have included training to do the Mothers Day Classic next year, figure that might help me achieve some of the other things on the list, like lose weight. oh wait, was that the reason for the list or an item on the list? I'm confused.

You should see my housework list, so many things on there I can't even begin to list them!!! The house is actually its own little shrine to why I need my lists... and proof that not all items on my lists ever get checked off for long!

I have a list of ingredients I need to buy for the things I want to bake. Next on that one is a Red Velvet Cake Mmmmmmm

There's a list of promotional ideas for my business, I need to order business cards, print flyers and advertise. Then hopefully I'll have a list of clients and jobs to do.

There is a list of subjects I would like to blog about but I keep that list as a running monologue in my head - I really need to write those ones down, they always seem to evade me when it's time to start typing.

I have lists of story ideas, some for novels, others for TV shows, movies and even children's books I'd like to write.

There are lists of things I think of throughout the day that I want to Google and learn more about later - hence the reason my brain is a sponge for useless facts and information yet I can never seem to remember my times tables!!!

There are lists of crazy tripped out theories that might just be true - well, there's not really a list, they are just randomly thought of every now and then but maybe I SHOULD have a list for these theories, you just never know when one might be proved true.... Hmmmm

OMG!!! IS THERE A LIST OF THINGS TO DO FOR THE WEDDING!?!?!?! Arghhhh now THERE is a list!!! What's not to do for the wedding.... Arghhhhhh sooo much to do for the wedding. Thank goodness there is a list or I may run the risk of having my head implode trying to remember everything I need to do for the wedding.

And then there is the list on my blog. The list of lists. This blog. The truly scary thing? this isn't even a complete list. There are so many more lists to list but then, if I were to list all of my lists you might begin to think me a little bit crazy... mightn't you?

Milestones and Mayhem

We have reached a milestone.

Tonight will be our first 'conscious' attempt at Jaz going nappy free for night time. We have had 4 dry night nappies in a row so I think she can do it.

Last night or should I say late yesterday afternoon, Jaz fell asleep in the car on the way home from her creche concert, we popped her into bed without a nappy on thinking she would wake soon enough. The exhausted little poppet slept right through until she came in to us in the morning declaring that she was sleeping in her 'accident'. Poor thing seemed to be quite concerned. I told her that it was all ok, she had had a super big sleep and that's why the accident had happened. So tonight will be our first 'planned' nappy free night. I expect a few little mishaps along the way but the look of pride on her face when we told her we thought she could kick the nappies to the curb took any doubt away. So fingers crossed for a dry night :)

Yesterday was such a great day for so many reasons and clearly Jaz had a great day, so great she needed far more sleep than she usually would.

We started the day with Jaz's swimming lessons, the lesson was tantrum free and Jaz participated in every activity, she is really coming along and seems to really enjoy her one on one time with Mummy. It is such a shame the term has to end next week.

Over the past term we have made some new friends in our swimming class, with one Mum and daughter in particular we have really clicked with (we will call them Maybel and Pippa). So after the swimming lesson and our usual play with the other kids and parents in the little kids play pool the four of us headed to the cafe for a cuppa.

Maybel and I sat and chatted while our girls played and giggled. It really was lovely. It is not everyday as adults that you meet someone new and hit it off like you are long lost friends... And the girls??? Well on the way home Jaz declared Pippa as one of her new 'best friends' Awwwww. Not sure where she learnt the concept of best friends (I think there may be a song on Giggle and Hoot?) but it was just such a sweet thing to hear her say.

So, swimming lesson had, playdate over and we headed home to prepare for Jaz's creche Christmas Concert. Jaz had a bath and I got to making her a Christmas T-shirt to wear for her performance. I sewed on green buttons in the shape of a Christmas Tree and topped it off with yellow buttons for a star.
Bathed and dried, hair done and t-shirt on we headed for creche (AKA Kindy).

Over the past two to three weeks Craig and I have heard Jaz singing her little heart out, practicing and practicing her songs. She has insisted on teaching them to us and had us sing them with her over and over again. I took the video camera and my still camera (but probably should have realised that I cannot use two cameras while holding Kayde and negotiating a million trillion Christmas hyped little people...)

After negotiating a sea of red and green, enjoying a Christmassy afternoon tea and taking my seat in a teeny tiny chair (that I fully expected would give way when i sat on it but thankfully didn't) I watched my gorgeous princess walk out onto stage with her classmates and stand there in stunned silence.

I do not care that she did not sing, I don't even care that she didn't do the actions that she had insisted Craig and I do dozens of times a day, all I cared about was that despite looking quite shellshocked at the time she really did enjoy herself and after lots of persuasion she even met Santa!!!! Though she did try and convince me to go and meet him and get some bubbles for her I explained that if she wanted the bubbles she needed to say hello to Santa herself. She did - and I was very proud of her bravery...

Though I am not so sure how this works in with stranger danger awareness!!! Ummm, that's right sweety, be weary of strangers - unless they have bubbles or lollies or gifts, then I want you to go and make friends, hmmmmm

Anyway, back to Jaz - Songs finished, afternoon tea eaten and Santa met we piled back into the car and headed for home. It was shortly after 5pm when I looked in the rearview mirror to see that Jaz was sound asleep.

Sound asleep is how she remained untill after 6am this morning!!! Now THAT is a sign that she had a great day! Oh how I wish I could provide her with such stimulation, excitement and enjoyment every day!!! And how I really really wish I could have that much sleep!!!! Ahhhh sleep.

B.I.T. Back In Town

OK, so I just couldn't think of anything overly humorous to announce that I had finally gotten my stuff together enough to blog again...

I have been a little AWOL of late and I really don't have a reason for it other than life. Sometimes life gets in the way of, well, life... I'm sure you know what I am trying to say...

Nothing overly exciting has happened in the last month or so, I have been planning a wedding (mine and Craigs) to be held in Bali late next year, Craig has started a new, seemingly fabulous job, Kayde is crawling and Jaz can sing songs from beginning to end and is randomly coming out with some very interesting facts to share with me, some of which have included:

Aliens do not fit in our car, they have sooooooo many ears...

and

I like Dragons... Dragons live in the bush

And that's to name two from the last couple of days, there have been many many more.

I am almost certain I have heard Kayde say Mumumum on a few occasions and have definitely heard him say boob boob boob (the oo is like in book or look but boob). Hmmmm

We have picnicked in the pouring rain with our very special friends, I have shopped for bridesmaids dresses, caught up with countless fabulous people for coffee and play dates and even had a sewing date with one very important friend (we made santa sacks for the kids, she bought her sewing machine over and we played nannas all day) mind you I think we drank more coffee than we did sewing.

Just tonight while setting up the Christmas Tree (named the Santa tree by Jaz, despite me telling her all about the baby Jesus and the meaning of Christmas she is very Santa obsessed at the minute and it is not about the gifts, she doesn't remember getting gifts, I think it is all the songs he is in)
Anyway, just tonight while decorating the tree I asked Jaz what she would like for Santa to bring her for Christmas, her answer?

Pins mummy, pins so I can stick things just like you. Just the other day I was sandwiching my first attempt at a patchwork quilt. A cot sized, snugly, chenille backed quilt for Jaz. I was busy pinning it together when Jaz asked if she could help so I got her to sit with me and hand me the pins as I needed them. She seemed to really enjoy watching me sew - although at the time I really didn't think much of it. But it made my day to realise that she must have thought that was special her and I time and after striving to be the best Mum I can be I love realising that she can really enjoy something I felt bad for doing when I should have been playing with her or reading or singing etc etc etc. It turns out she just enjoyed helping mummy.

OK, so it would appear i am back with a vengeance and cannot stop the words spewing forth from my finger tips and out onto the keyboard.

My resolution for this blog is not to try and make it fabulous like so many of the other blogs I read but to simply blog. Do not fail to blog because I cannot think of something witty or wise to say - just blog.

A couple of quick shout outs before I go:
I am so very happy to have Team O'Toole back online - Salamander we have missed you
Be a fun mum - I am loving many of the Christmas activities, will be trying many of them so keep them coming

Wishing everyone a fabulous, safe and happy festive season - no matter what it means to you and your family, stay safe, be happy and enjoy each others company xoxoxoxo

The lazy way to look like a domestic goddess

I never have been and probably never will be a real Domestic Godess, but living my dream of being a stay at home Mum has left me feeling that a big part of my role should be maintaining the home.

My gorgeous Fiance works very hard to support us financially and I really do appreciate it. As such I like for him to come home and be able to spend quality time with the kids, something he loves doing too, rather than feeling like he needs to help me clean the house. I also like for people to feel comfortable to sit and have a cuppa when they visit, not feel like they cannot get out of here quickly enough.

It's just that there are some days, ok, a LOT of days, that fly by without me having done anything at all around the house. I mean I have done stuff, but that's just it, stuff... The 'stuff' that needs doing but doesn't make any difference to the appearance of the home. In fact some of this 'stuff' makes more mess than it gets rid of. Making Breakfast, lunch and snacks for hungry little tummies, creating works of art out of scraps, painting pretty pictures and generally just having fun... Delightful, messy, fun.

And then there are days where we really don't do anything. Exhausted from several night feeds, children waking through the night with nightmares and dogs crying through thunderstorms are just a few examples. On these days all I do is vegetate and watch the mess pile up around me.

It is on these days where the guilt creeps in, where I know I should be doing more, where I think... I have done NOTHING today and it shows!!! And it is ALWAYS these days when I unexpectedly get visitors. Well it doesn't have to be a nightmare...

Whether you just want your partner to think you have been busy working around the home all day, the mother in Law is due to drop in for a quick visit or you have had a call from a friend who is on their way over for a cuppa - lets face it... No one wants to appear lazy!

Here is how to appear (on the surface) to be a Domestic Goddess with minimal effort and limited time.

1. First you will need to gather a few things. Having gone to Enjo parties, most of us know that clean does not have a smell HOWEVER smelly cleaning things are your weapon of choice for this mission. Make sure you have some great smelling cleaners on hand at all times. I like to use a cleaning caddy, they are a few dollars from supermarkets and hardware stores, containing all my cleaning tools so that they are with me as I undertake the following steps, it beats running backward and forward from a laundry or kitchen cupboard, saves time and makes you feel so much more organised.  You will also need a laundry basket (the bigger the better), some bleach toilet cleaner, a quality air freshener, whatever cleaning sprays you usually use and about a half an hour.

2. Grab an empty laundry basket (oh that's right, you haven't done the laundry!, well empty a basket or buy one just for this purpose) and run around the main areas that will be seen, picking up anything that doesn't belong and putting it into the basket, clutter, toys, junk mail, whatever... If you are anything like me you might need more than one basket!

3. Now, hide the basket. Cupboards and wardrobes are great for this, so are laundry's and even a spare room (although if you are truly lazy your cupboards, wardrobe and spare room will be full of, well, clutter, anyway).

4. Dishes on the sink? Dishwasher full? No dishwasher? No time to do them? This is a VERY short term solution only - Hide them in the oven! Yes, you heard me, the oven. they are usually tinted a dark colour and will hide a miriad of things. Now spray all of the kitchen and wipe over. My favourite for the kitchen is Method. It smells like fresh cut cucumber and is completely non toxic. I always have a spare bottle hidden just in case I start to run low.

5. So now that your dishes are hidden and there is nothing lying around either vacuum or if no time at least pick up any obvious bits off the floor.

6. Now spray any surface that needs it and wipe clean (remember we are concentarting only on the parts of the house that are in view so this should be a relatively quick process) an old cloth nappy, the flannel type work really well, they grab dust, clean glass and give a great finish on all surfaces and if you are carrying your caddy you will have all the sprays you might need for different surfaces at your fingertips and can fold the nappy for the different sprays and surfaces. You can even grap any stray cobwebs that are lurking in ceiling corners if you are feeling like it.

7. Use a flushable wipe (ok, I am a Method addict) to quickly wipe over the loo and squirt in some bleach cleaner (nothing smells like you have been cleaning up a storm quite like nasty, stinky bleach!)

8. First impressions count so make sure that your entry is both tidy and welcoming. As you have already collected any clutter make sure that the entry is clean and give a spray of air freshener (I like Oust as it lingers for quite some time and is fresh without being heavy and overpowering)

9. Ok, they are nearly here, a few more sprays of air freshener around the house. As I have said I like Oust, no I am not 'plugging' products. There is a reason I use Oust... Every time I have used it, someone has commented 'ohhh you've been cleaning'. It just has a 'cleaning' smell rather than Glen 20 which smells like Glen 20.

10. Last minute, put the kettle and pull out all you will need to make a cuppa so that you are not opening up messy pantries and refrigerators allowing for closer scrutiny...

And you are ready for your company.

Now I am the first to admit that this is not a long term solution to stop you from ever having to clean and organise ever again but in a dire situation, with limited time this will do the trick and it seriously only takes about 30 minutes in the average sized home with children. And it is important not to forget the dishes in the oven or the basket of clutter that needs to be sorted. Otherwise you will definitely come unstuck.

So that is my secret, and now that it's out I can never do it again as my friends are now sure to check my oven for dishes and have a whiff to test for Oust but now you can! So create the illusion of being a Domestic Goddess when you feel like a lazy lump and enjoy your cuppa!

Your Vote Counts

Well, I have been terrible at this whole blog thing lately haven't I??? I'd like you to know that I have given it some serious thought... It is somewhat in the same vain that I have given my housework some serious thought, or that venture that will surely make me my fortune, or that diet I will start tomorrow... you get the idea.

So here is what I suggest.

Vote for your favourite idea and I will supply the goods...'

Options:

1.  The Slack Housewife's guide to Appearing to be a Domestic Goddess  (I'll think of a better title)

2.  Parenting tips I have heard and loves and some I have hated

3. I'm not a doctor but even I know...

4.  I don't have a fourth idea, I just prefer even numbers :)

So place your vote and I will blog it.

Parenting the Pre-schooler

I have been a little absent over the past few days. I have been busy working out how on earth to deal with Jaz's new found rebellious streak! During this time I have had two completely separate issues to deal with... How to deal with Jaz and how to maintain my own sanity.


With Craig having worked away from home a bit lately Jaz has been showing some signs of being quite put out. She has been behaving in ways that are just not her. On a normal day Jaz would not scribble on the walls in bright blue texta, draw on the floors with bright blue texta, colour in her 'My little ponies' bright blue, are you seeing a theme yet? I realise that for many pre-schoolers and toddlers that behavious like this iss quite common but I am lucky enough to have an exceptionally well behaved little person as a general rule (sickening I know but I am fully aware of just how lucky I am).

It is not only this artistic streak theat confounded me. When I saw her doing it I realised she was very intently watching me for a reaction. She had been baiting me for days and clearly hadn't gotten the reaction she was looking for. I tried, I really tried to maintain a calm voice and I told her to get to her room for a time out.


Her response completely dumb founded me: In the sweetest yet most smart alleccy voice imaginable - "I know... how about YOU go to YOUR room".

So I yelled. And of course I regretted it.

I knew she was hurting, she was not understanding why Daddy kept going away (and I am sure I have discussed before how much of a Daddy's girl she is) and no matter how hard I tried to explain that he was just away for one more day she didn't seem to believe me. And then she looked up at me with Sad eyes and said "you no need to yell at me. Jaz is sad, why you yell at me?" Ugh! I felt dreadful.

But in the same breath I cannot condone her behaviors of late and certainly not the attitude so I turned to the internet, looking for better ways to deal with behavioural problems when you don't want to become a screaming banshee of a mother whose incessant ranting and raving does nothing but confuse and frustrate their pre-schooler and I came across these handy hints and tips:

* When talking to little people they can become fidgety and seem to not pay attention. To overcome this try getting down on their level and holding their hands while talking with them. Craig and I have tried this over the last few days with great success.

* We all know the importance of consistency but it is often easier said than done when we are tired and worn out and frustrated. Try making a chart of which behaviours are causing you the most angst and what action you will take if and when they come up, be it a time out or a privilege being revoked etc and stick to it.

* Another one that can be easy to forget when you are feeling frustrated is to praise praise praise. When things are going right give plenty of praise. Make sure that your pre-schooler gets an abundance of positive attention and even if you feel they are constantly misbehaving start looking for things to praise. Soon enough they will start trying to do more and more to get that praise.

* When all else fails - distract! Plan an activity, start dancing, singing, whatever it takes to move them from the negative behaviour to the positive and then go onto the praise. Praise that they participated. Praise that they spent time behaving and tell them how much you love spending nice time with them

After implementing all of these techniques and also having Daddy back home I am happy to say for the most part I have hadd my beautiful, well behaved, sweet little girl back. Though she still wants Craig and I to do absolutely everything for her!


So the second aspect of the last few days was endeavouring to maintain my own sanity. Having a three year old demanding my full attention by behaving badly and wanting negative attention just to keep me focused on her and having a 6 month old with a headcold who is teething and feeling utterly miserable has not left me with much time to take care of myself physically or emotionally and left me feeling deprived of sanity. I can just about feel all you other mummy's nodding along with me. I am now, however, feeling relatively refreshed and revitalised and will happily share with you a couple of easy peesy ways to regain just a little of your sanity.

* Many people say sleep when they sleep. Don't!!!! Well, do get sleep but stay up for even just an hour and spend that hour doing something just for you. that might be watching your favourite TV show, read a few chapters of a good book or dance to some crazy music. You could even establish a blog in that time.

* Download a good visualisation track from itunes podcasts, they are free in the 'self help' section. (I know this sounds kinda weird and dippy but it really does help relax you). Once downloaded, listen to it just before going to bed, it will help you relax, feel more positive and energized for the next day and help you get quality sleep.

* Take the time to have a nice hot shower where you are not rushed (even wait till a friend comes over and get them to watch the kids, if they have their own they will understand). Then really take care of yourself, shave your legs, condition your hair, exfoliate - the works. You will feel like a new woman when you emerge. Take the time to style your hair and put on whatever makeup you feel comfortable in or moisturise and massage your body before dressing and re-emerging to rescue your friend from the little fiends feeling and looking completely revitalised.

* Finally, call your best friend and talk until you can talk no more, let the kids run riot or, if they will oblige, let them watch a movie (don't feel guilty, a sane Mum is a good Mum) while you natter away to your hearts content.

Tomorrow I am starting fresh. I hereby declare I will not be a screaming banshee mummy and I will offer a lot of praise and maintain a happy vibe in the house. I will stay sane and well, I'll be the best Mum I can be. After all, isn't that what we all strive for?

Top Breast Feeding Comebacks

The other day, while Jaz was at 'kindy', Kayde and I decided to go wedding dress shopping. I had previously been into a bridal shop where there had been many dresses that had caught my eye and the shop assistant had been particularly nice (when I had told her I needed to lose weight before trying anything on she had insisted I try some on to get a feel for colour and style and to just enjoy part of the experience, insisting she would have a number of beautiful dresses in my size). I had made a note to return when I had a chance.

Upon my return there was a different assistant working who, well, didn't seem overly impressed that I had interrupted her day by entering the boutique. I was busy trying to break through her icy exterior (I just see this as a challenge and break them down with niceness and chit chat) when Kayde began crying. He was wanting a feed, I was feeling a bit sweaty and gross after walking to the shop in the midday sun and thought that to sit and feed Kayde would settle him down and give me a chance to regain some composure so that I could feel comfortable trying on some dresses.

Out of courtesy I asked the shop assistant if she would mind if I fed my baby so that I could try some dresses on in peace. To my surprise, she really hesitated. She rolled her eyes at me and said 'well, I suppose, but only as long as no other customers come in, it's not that I really mind (I could tell she did though) but I wouldn't want to upset any other customers (never mind upsetting the one that was here!!!).' At this point I was a little taken aback but not overly offended, I said quite simply that I hadn't really come across anyone who seemed overly concerned and that most of the people who seemed uncomfortable were quite young. To this she replied 'well not many people really breast feed anymore you know?' accompanied with a look that screamed distaste. Was she serious??? It's not like I was asking HER to feed my baby!!! I just wished I could remember a decent come back but right at that moment but they eluded me.

Mind you I am quite proud of what I did anyway but I'll save that for later. For now, I will offer up what I wish I had right on the tip of my tongue at the time - the top 5 comebacks I have found, heard or made up, in response to negativity about breastfeeding, in no particular order:

1.  (to the disapproving onlooker) 'Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me, would you like some?' - said while offering your spare...
2. When asked why an older breastfed bub doesn't just have cows milk - 'My baby prefers my milk to calf milk'
3. General - 'Oh, don't worry, it's just until I learn to cook'
4. in response to being asked how long you plan on 'feeding' for? 'Oh, just the next 10 minutes or so'
5. My personal favourite doesn't need words, just a quick well aimed squirt!!!!

Now, I would like to say one more thing, I am not a 'Boob Nazi'. Mothers all around the world do their best for their baby depending on their own circumstances, not everyone can breastfeed and as much as I love it and value the time spent feeding my babies, I do not think any less of Mums who do not breastfeed, so long as they leave me to do what I do. I do despise people making things difficulty for a breastfeeding Mum, as a matter of fact I despise people making life difficult for Mums in general. As I have said before, breast feed, bottle feed, feed your baby from a coconut cracked open by a monkey - it doesn't matter, as long as the baby is loved and well looked after. I don't actually know any babies fed from coconuts cracked open by monkeys but if you do, please let me know, I'd love to meet them and do a blog about their interesting parenting techniques.

So... what was my comeback for the not so nice Bridal Assistant?

I took the assistants reluctant 'well I suppose so' as my cue to get my boobs out. I settled in to their lovely comfy couch in their fancy bridal boutique, fed Kayde, far more openly (exposed) than required, popped him back in his stroller and promptly walked out without another word. No trying on dresses and certainly no spending any money, yes, maybe I should have had a little walk while burping him with his head tilted toward some of the more expensive frocks, in the hope of a little regurgitation, but clearly I was feeling 'nice' that day.

What's your favourite 'feeding' comeback?

I'm a total Wally - Wednesday

Yeah, like a real Wally.... Even as I am typing this I really can't believe the day I had today, or rather the morning I had. The rest of the day went rather swimmingly compared to our first activity of the day...

This morning Jaz had her weekly swimming lesson, so as usual we were running around like mad people in an effort to get there on time a 9am start - why don't I get ready the night before I hear you ask, well because if I was that organised and sensible I'd have nothing to blog about would I?

Anywho - so there we were, running as late as we normally do and yet still managing to look like we might just make it on time, even after stopping for fuel and waiting for what seemed an eternity at one of the many many many bloody annoying roadworks around here at the moment (anyone else hearing my pain on this one? Does anyone think anything is even being achieved?).

We arrived at the swim centre, made a run for the child care room to drop Kayde off for his one hour of care while Jaz and I have our one on one time. Kayde dropped off, Jaz and I make a mad dash for the pool, we strip off, practically at a run through the change rooms and off to do the lesson.

The lesson went reasonably well although, kids being kids, Jaz decided that she was adverse to using any flotation devices this week and basically refused to participate in any of the games, grrrr.

After the lesson we headed to the play pool for a bit of a splash with our new friends from swimming, this has become a regular occurrence and I quite enjoy my time with our new friends.

At around 10 it was time to go and pick up our little man so we headed to the change rooms and low and behold, I had a nappy bag, not the swim bag - no problem I hear you say, the swim bag was probably with Kayde in the care centre - alas, no! So... Jaz and I had a hand towel and a burp cloth with which to dry ourselves, a nappy bag in which to place our wet bathers and we had to throw on the trackies we had worn over our bathers (of course I hadn't even worn a trackie top, just a light t-shirt), leaving us effectively 'freeballing'. All good and well for a three year old girl but not so great for a Breast Feeding Mummy!!! And we were not headed straight home!!!! What was I going to do?

I threw the hand towel and burp cloth over my shoulders in a half arsed attempt at hiding my lack of bra and we went and collected Kayde, we made our way to the car where I decided to go directly to K-Mart and purchase some underwear, rather than drive all the way home and miss our next activity for the day.

I grabbed the Baby Bjorn and put Kayde in, not for convenience but it was all I could think of to hide my 'in your face' unrestrained boobs. We headed for the underwear section where they of course failed to stock my size in Maternity bras so I was forced to buy a 'normal' bra which will now offer no further use for at least another 10 months or so, I also purchased a pair of knickers which as we speak I am wondering how I have kept from removing by now as they are so incredibly un-comfy!

We headed to the change rooms and I proceeded to put these on (of course I hadn't really thought through the whole wearing Kayde in his carrier and changing clothes but we managed, and getting naked in the car to put underwear on didn't really appeal to me either so the fitting rooms had to do) I removed the tags and proceeded to the counter with them.

The cashier gave me a most unsavoury look. I just looked her in the eye, and told her it was an underwear emergency, that I had been wearing none and now I was and I thought it preferable to pay for them than to shoplift. A smile that was more smirk and a card swipe later we were on our way to the early learning open day. Wearing underwear!!!

Believe it or not, this was not the end of the chaos for the day, just the part that would be most amusing for other people. There was also the time at the open day where I was yelling across a huge space at Jaz to get her to follow my instruction only to watch her run in the complete opposite direction, forcing me to chase her and pick her up kicking and yelling at me that I did not need to pick her up, she wanted to run!!!

Then there was the emergency toilet stop for Jaz at Craigs work which culminated in, ahhh, ummm, lets just say some loud and interesting vocal sounds to accompany what was going on, all at the bemusement of those within earshot.

And then there was the part of the day where we were grocery shopping and to stop Kayde crying (after feeding him 3 baby cruskits) Jaz was blowing raspberries on his fingers making him crack up. Gorgeous you think? Yep, well it was... until it got the better of her and she bit his finger!!! No I am not kidding, she sunk her teeth into his tiny pudgy finger and he HOWLED!!!! Jaz has never been a biter and I have no idea what possessed her at that moment to indulge what was obviously a curiosity to see what would happen but I did not appreciate it and neither did Kayde who thankfully still has his finger!

When I rolled in the door just shy of 4pm I felt completely and utterly physically and mentally exhausted but I was already able to laugh at the swimming debacle, I hope you can too.

Blog Envy

That's right, you see it here first. I am blogging again - already.
You see I am having some serious blog envy. I recently joined Aussie Mummy Bloggers and am astounded at the brilliance of so many of you bloggers out there, so much so that in addition to my usual hum drum blog of never ending gorgeous things my babies do, I have a little word doc on my desktop where I have been jotting down (ok, typing, but I still can't come to terms with being completely IT savvy) ideas for blogs. The problem is, I started this blog mostly as a kind of record of my children growing up, something I can refer back to like a journal and a baby book all rolled into one. But I am finding more and more other bits and pieces I want to write about that are not necessarily related to my kidlets, most of them are still to do with being a Mum (after all, write what you know and all that, right?).
I don't yet know whether to open up my Motherism blog to other ideas and musings as well as regular Mummy updates or to run two blogs, one for my hum drum stuff that no one other than I am really all that interested in and one for the other bits and pieces I have floating around in this over analysing, never resting mind of mine.
What do you think?
And while I am at it, I am determined to make my Blogs more interesting, some of the blogs out there are like entering a whole nother world!!! They are amazing!

Brightening my days

Well, this past weekend I experienced the teeniest tiniest bit of single parenthood. Now I am certainly not trying to say it was as challenging as actually BEING a single parent but it gave me a little taste and one thing is for certain... I am really glad I am not doing this alone, not only because I love my fiance but because it is bloody hard work.
I have friends who are single parents and they rarely complain, I also have friends whose partners work offshore, interstate and shift work and none of them really complain either but boy it really is hard work, have I said that already?
Craig was away for four days this week and four the last being home only 3 days in between.
While he was away it was just me and my beautiful babies, they were well behaved and are generally great kids, I did not have the financial stresses many single parents have, I did not have to go to work and have no-one else there to pick up the slack, I was still a SAHM and we pretty much did what we normally do. The big difference was the lack of a break, and I am not even talking about a break from the kids, I actually mean that I hadn't realised how much Craig's schedule of leaving for work and coming home and being there of an evening 'broke' our day up for us.
When the alarm goes off in the Morning, Jaz comes in for a morning snuggle, Craig gets up and it is time to start the day, breakfasts, brushing teeth, you know, the usual. When it gets to mid afternoon I start getting the kids calmed down, dinner on and give the house yet another tidy up in preparation for his return home (OK, that makes me sound like I am back in the 1950's, but seriously, he works all day, everyday to make sure we are well looked after, the least I can do is keep the house welcoming for him - not that things always work out that way, there are many occasions where he comes home to dishes on the sink, toys all over the house and an overly emotional and exhausted Mum and two grumpy, exuberant babes).
These last two weeks, without Craig's routine to keep us sane, without his return home from work to look forward to each day the days just seemed to roll into the nights and the nights into the days and so on.
There was a serious lack of adult stimulation in the evenings, even if it is just me listening to a run down of his day or watching Jaz jump all over her Dad and be played with and have stories read while I serve up dinner. When I finally did get both kids down for bed I sat up, watched a bit of telly and headed to bed only to wake a few hours later to feed Kayde, a few hours after that to settle Jaz after a nightmare and a few after that to tend to Kayde's early morning feed (mostly a cuddle, I don't think he even feeds properly at that time truth be told), then up to start the day when Jaz wants breakfast, after that the rest of the day just seemed to drag until the next day. We still had fun and played games and did housework and even visited some family and friends but it just wasn't the same.
As I said at the beginning, this is nothing compared to actually being a single parent but being given even just that little taste of it has left me more thankful than usual that I share my life and my children with a very significant 'other'. And it is not about not being able to handle the kids or the house or any of that, it is about watching them interact with their Dad, having someone there to acknowledge how darned cute they are being, being able to look at each other and laugh when one of them does something unexpected just to have that little bit of acknowledgement of a job well done and having that to look forward to each day makes my days brighter than they otherwise would be.

While you were sleeping

While both my babies slept today I did nothing.

Well that's not exactly true... I did nothing I should have done, nothing productive.
I boiled the kettle, made a cuppa, cut a piece of weight watchers cake (which I may or may not have added some butter to) and hit the IQ button on the remote. A huge selection of unwatched, recorded TV favourites from the last few weeks stared back at me.
Last nights episode of Neighbours won out. I sat in the recliner and flicked out the footrest, I snuggled in, wrapped my hands around my coffee mug and let the tears roll as I watched (it was a sad episode).
After Neighbours I took a look at the time and realised I could make this a real trash fest. And so I did. I tuned in to a very guilty pleasure I have had since in University (where a group of friends would take turns watching on our study days and catch each other up). I spent a whole hour watching Days of Our Lives!!!
I know I know, I could have cleaned, I could have cooked, I could have tidied, I could have been writing something prolific but I chose to spend my time in completely unadulterated, slothful, trashy, bliss instead.

Two babies sleeping in my house is rare for a start, and I mustn't let Jaz know I have referred to her as my baby, but she is, but this amount of sleep is completely unheard of. Last night we went to visit some wonderful friends to celebrate a birthday. They have three children, one of whom is close in age to Jaz. The girls played until very late, jumping on the trampoline, sorry, 'tramampoleeeen' (in the dark) and playing Dora and building Lego, the girls adore each other and play so well together that I always feel bad telling them it's time to go their separate ways, but last night, both girls were beside themselves needing sleep so were easy to peel apart.

On the opposite end of the spectrum last night was Kayde, who cried and fussed a majority of the evening, despite a plethora of snugly affection and attention going his way, a combination of being snuffly, teething and being overtired. By the time we were ready to head home - our latest evening for some time, still before midnight but not by much - I was pretty worn down and emotional myself.

Jaz and Kayde, as expected, fell asleep in the car on the way home, were carried in asleep and placed in their respective beds. Craig and I headed almost immediately to bed and I completely expected Kayde to wake within the hour for his next feed. He had already slept through one on the way home and he always has one at about 2am.

I was woken at 4.45am!!!! To many this may seem early but to me.... Amazing!!! This was the longest Kayde has gone without a feed and definitely the longest sleep he has had in his five plus months with us.

And now today, for the last two hours, my beautiful babies have slept soundly, Jaz on the couch with a pillow and blankie and Kayde in his cot, tummy full of milk because he didn't want his 'food' today. Considering Jaz gave up her day naps back in April, and I find if she sleeps during the day I am in for a very late night, this is so rare that I just couldn't help but take advantage.

Now, bearing in mind that I have watched two of my favourite shows and that I also listed the things I 'could've' done instead, I would like you to note that though it is not prolific, it is not even well written, I HAVE done some writing. My blog has been written and many more subjects, mostly revolving around how much I love my children, family and life, are racing through my mind. ready and waiting to be typed (I really wanted to say penned but that would be a lie) the next time sleep this extraordinary visits my house.

Just an Ordinary Night

Yesterday I spent almost the entire day de-cluttering, culling, cleaning, sorting and tidying Jaz's bedroom (how does a three year old have so much STUFF?).
By the time I had done this I finally got her into bed at about 8.30. Quite late for little Miss but I had started and was desperate to finish before I retired for the night rather than wake up to it again in the morning. And at 8.30 I would still have an hour or so of me time - Craig was already fast asleep on the couch, snoring.
So that done, of course Jaz had no intentions of going to sleep, her toys all looked so much more enticing now that they were all set up, areas designated for different types of play and things located that had been AWOL for many many weeks!!! I actually got a big hug and an 'I love you Mum, thank you',  After a lot of convincing that it would all be there for her in the morning.
9pm. Jaz finally drifts off. Ahhhh Time to relax and watch a little telly before bed...
9.45 Kayde decides he needs a top up before retiring for the night, oh well, at least I was still up (I had just been contemplating going to bed but it could wait a half hour) So he had a lovely snugly feed and I watched last nights episode of Neighbours that I had IQ'd (Ringo died, it was quite emotional).
10.30 Kids in bed, I head towards my own bed, climb in and - scratch scratch scratch - the dogs want a loo break, grrr why can't they just sleep outside, noooo they have to sleep in the laundry because my dog, as cute as she is, is afraid of the rain and has total freak outs. So I let them out, reluctantly, let them back in, even more reluctantly, lock up the laundry, recheck the kids and head for bed again.
11.45 Jaz has a nightmare and wakes up quite hysterical, so I climb out of bed and go and calm her down, after giving her her 'magic blankie' she is back to sleep. I can hear coughing coming from Kaydes room, he has been snuffly all day and is now starting to cough, but he's asleep so hopefully it will pass.
12.30 Cough cry cough cry cough cry cough cry cry cry cry cry so I am up again to Kayde, a bit of percussion on his back to loosen anything in his chest, a little drink (may as well top him up) and lots of cuddles later and just under an hour later I am climbing back into bed
1.30 As I climb into bed 'Not winning huh?' I think all Craig got in response to that was 'Grrrrrrr'
1.45 The dogs are scratching again but I refuse to get up and let them out. I am angry that they have woken me up. I know it's mean but seriously, no way!!!!
2.30 Kayde awake again, I go in to find him out of his covers, on his tummy at the top of the cot with his legs poking out and his head mushed into the bars *sigh*. As I pick him up I realise he is drenched, wet from head to toe... Not only do I need to get him stripped off but I now need to locate some fresh jarmies and as I spent the entire day in Jaz's bedroom I hadn't put away any washing, cue deep sigh of resignation. So as I strip him off Kayde absolutely loses it, he is wet and uncomfortable, he has a cough and a cold and Mummy is being mean and making him all cold and nude!
2.35 Kaydes crying wakes Jaz and the dogs
2.45 Jaz has resettled, the dogs have once again been ignored and Kayde is tucked up in bed with me.
6am Jaz is up, ready to face the day, lets go...

Coffee anyone???

Nap Time

Well the last few days have passed in a blur. Craig has been away and although we have missed him terribly, the kids and I have had a rather nice weekend of firsts.
On Saturday I took Jaz to the Toys R Us Princess party, although at the time she looked a bit uncomfortable being surrounded by so many little girls (everyone we see regularly has boys), she assures me she had a lovely time. I did learn one thing, that Jaz does not have any idea who any of the Disney Princesses are!!! What a terrible mother I must be, Cinderella? no, Sleeping Beauty? No, Snow White? No, and don't even get me started on some of the newer ones - uh oh. Time to invest in some traditional fairy tales... for my little princess.
Jaz dressed up as a princess and off we went. There was colouring and story time and then a dance off. Prizes, certificates and lollies were handed out. All with a group of little girls all dressed up as princesses. Then it was time to head home.
Once we were home it was Kayde's turn to share the spotlight. He had learned a new talent, raspberry blowing, and it was now that he decided to do it again and again and again. I knew what was coming, it was nearly dinner time.... Yep, we all got covered in deliciously gross baby food. It is his new thing and as much as I am not a fan of getting covered in food, it is still nice to watch how happy he is to know that he has mastered a new skill (though I am not sure what use the skill has other than to cover everything and everyone in slobber and food).
This weekend was full of learning for my little ones, Jaz learned to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep (although she does sing, 'one for the pasta and one for the game', no matter how many times we sing it with her) and a few weeks ago Kayde started pulling his little knees up ready to take off, well tonight he has worked out how to move himself forward by pulling his knees up and pushing off over and over again. So a weekend of learning was had, what had I learnt? I learnt how much easier it is to nap when Craig is home beacause when he did arrive after being away for 3 and a half days he took Jaz for a drive and encouraged me to have a lie down while Kayde had a kip... Ahhhhh the serenity...

Just a little bit backwards

Today I had a lovely day with 'my girls'. A group of amazing women, one I have known since three year old kinder, one I have developed an amazing kinship with over the last 12 or so years and another who I am fortunate enough to have as a member of my family, she has been for a number of years now.

We all had the 'big kids' at creche or daycare or school and only had the babies in tow. We had lunch and coffee and for afternoon tea some brownie slice, we chatted, we laughed, we shared ideas and we discussed how breastfeeding makes your boobs sag, that babies poo a lot and kids are challenging- all in all it was a fabulous afternoon and i could do it a thousand times over.

After all my afternoon fun it was time to pick Jaz up from her day at 'kindy'. Things are a little disrupted at our house due to the commencement of the SuperX season, taking Craig away from home for a few days at a time over the next couple of months. Jaz is OK with it all but still a bit disrupted, so to take her mind off her Dad not being here I decided to shake things up a bit.

So tonight we had a 'backwards night'. We had stories at play-time, ate desert before dinner (and just for the interest of do gooders who think this was a silly idea - she still ate her dinner so ner ner ner ner ner), we sat and had a laughing competition when we should have been having 'quiet time', we had milk with dinner and water before bed and as we had read stories and cuddled at play time we sang songs to get ready for sleep. If you ask Jaz I think she will tell you we had a pretty fun evening. Dinner was eaten, stories were read, cuddles were had and she is tucked happily into bed sleeping soundly so all in all our backwards night turned out great.

After all of todays fun and games it is high time I turn in for (fingers crossed) a good nights sleep, so to all you people in blogger land, shake things up, go a little topsy turvy and have a fabulous weekend.

Lesson Learnt

Sometimes we are good parents and sometimes we leave a bit to be desired. I don't think it is just me who occasionally thinks - 'geez, I was way off on that one'. Or, 'I really should stop doing whatever menial task I am doing and play a game with the kids' or 'Oh, crap, timeout was over AGES ago... better go and tell them it's over'. But it is a rare time in our house to find both parents guilty of being in the wrong at exactly the same time over discipline, we are generally supportive of each other but quick to point out if the other is overreacting.
It was an ordinary evening this week when Jaz was pottering in the kitchen and Craig and I had both asked her to come and get ready for bed, she kept telling us to hang on because she was busy, she would then huff a big exhale (she gets that one from me) and would continue pottering. This went on for some time as both parents voices became more and more agitated to the point where I yelled from the other end of the house telling Jaz to do as her Dad was telling her. It was then that I heard a very remorseful Craig apologise to Jaz, I heard him say he hadn't realised what it was she was doing and she could finish if she liked and then get ready for bed. Hmmm I thought to myself, wonder what that's about?
Craig came down to the bedroom looking like only a smitten Daddy can and told me what he had found Jaz in the kitchen doing...
During the day I had done the grocery shopping and in my haste to do whatever I had felt the need to do I had left two bags of pantry bound goods in their plastic bags on the floor. Jaz had found them and was one by one removing them from the shopping bag, looking them over, exclaiming 'ooohhh you look yummy, I think you can go there' as she placed the item as high up as she could reach into the pantry. The adorable little poppet had picked up where I had slacked off and both parents were telling her off, true she should have followed our instructions but we weren't listening to her either.
It just goes to show that as parents we know we are fallible but sometimes we just don't realise what we miss when we make assumptions about our children's behaviour. We had both assumed Jaz was just being belligerent but in fact she was trying to do something helpful. It is these moments of misunderstanding thrust upon us as children that happen to stick in our minds as grown ups. The times when we felt misunderstood and a bit hard done by.
I have been making an effort from that day to understand Jazs motives before letting things get the better of me and raising my voice or issuing a timeout and already there have been so many times I have learnt a piece of information that changed the course of the day and my attitude. Something simple like allowing Jaz to explain that the reason she hadn't done something we asked her to do was because she didn't know how to do it or finding that she had in fact done something naughty on purpose to get my attention! (She still hasn't learnt to lie - bless). Taking the time to listen really does pay off.

Just like Clifford

Today I was a proud Mummy. Not that I am not always a proud Mummy but today I noticed a real strength in Jaz that I am sure has always been there but that I had maybe taken for granted.

Many moons ago, when Jaz was a tiny six month old we started her in swimming lessons. these were more water awareness and familiarisation classes - not the type you see pictures of with tiny babies being thrust under water and seeming to swim.

As you by now know, whenever Jaz becomes unwell it goes to her chest so as a baby she had several bouts of bronchiolitis and as a result of this, coupled with many ear infections (so common in that age group), we only managed to attend a handful of classes over the period of about 12 months. So all in all, we decided to give the lessons a little break and start again when we felt her immune system could cope better and we weren't paying hundreds of dollars to attend only a handful of classes.

This year Jaz turned three and has been the healthiest she has ever been. We decided it was time to give the swimming lessons another go, only this time it was a little more logistically difficult. how was I going to participate in Jaz's swimming lesson and look after Kayde? So I started looking for a swim centre that also had child care. I landed back in my old stomping ground in Hastings at Pelican Park and booked Jaz in for term four swimming lessons in the 'Seahorse' class, then I booked Kayde in for one hour of child care a week at 'little pelicans' child care. So I could now drop Kayde off at the end of the corridor, go through the change rooms and into the pool for our lesson, returning via the change rooms after the swimming lesson to collect Kayde. Logistical problem solved.

So last week we re-started Jaz's swimming lessons. At first as we discussed what was going to happen she was so excited, telling me with a huge smile how she was going to learn how to swim like a fish, something we heard over and over in the days leading up to the lesson. When it came to the big day we started on the back foot, running incredibly close to the clock. We went to drop Kayde off at care, only to discover that he had, ummmm, 'filled his pants' and leaked right through. Whoops, sorry ladies, I'm running late for a swimming lesson, here you go - small person, leaking, thrust at child care staff (something I never thought I would do). There was only one problem, it was not me who was hesitant about the childcare and Kayde really wasn't fussed either (he'd had boobs and relieved himself so I was not needed for a few hours anyway) but Jaz, that was another story entirely and she was most unimpressed at the thought of leaving her 'baby brudda'. Once I convinced her we would definitely come back and get him immediately after her lesson she agreed to leave him and go swimming.

As we stepped towards the pool and Jaz turned around and made towards the chairs 'I just sit and watch I think'. Uh oh... Well I'm not exactly sure what made her apprehensive, leaving her 'baby brudda', being rushed all the way there (I'm not used to a 9am start anymore), meeting new kids, the incredibly bright and enthusiastic instructor or the pool itself but Jaz was NOT going in the pool.

After practically dragging her (coaxing and bribing hadn't worked) into the pool we began the lesson and Jaz clung to me like a kitten trying to avoid a bath, her hands gripped my skin and her arms stayed wrapped tightly around my neck. I began to think that this whole swimming lesson, one on one time, was going to be more stressful than it was going to be fun. There were only three students, all girls around the same age and ability, though no one bar me could know what Jaz's ability was, it was amazing she managed to get wet with the effort she was making to avoid the water. She did eventually relax a little and enjoy a game or two but seemed so very daunted by the whole experience.After the lesson we chatted about what she had learned and how lovely all the people we met were and that's where I thought it had ended for the time being.

A few days ago Jaz started talking about how she had gone to the pool 'the other day' and was learning to swim like a fish, how she had to learn puppy paddle which meant kick kick kicking and dig dig digging 'just like Clifford' (the Big Red Dog). Hmmm I thought, interesting. I heard her singing a tune to herself and asked her to sing it to me. It went to the tune of 'twinkle twinkle' but started 'twinkle twinkle little toes'. At first I couldn't think where I had heard it sung, it soon dawned on me...

This morning we went back to the pool. We were running reasonably well to schedule and Kayde did not fill his nappy just as we pulled up (he waited till we were safely in the pool, well trained baby that one). We dropped Kayde off, went through the change rooms, shed our trackies and headed to the pool. Jaz seemed really excited. As we entered the pool there was no hesitation whatsoever! In she went, just ahead of me, and straight into whatever the instructor requested. Just as she laid her head on my shoulder and pointed her toes to the roof (the activity that freaked her out the most last week) she started singing... 'Twinkle twinkle little toes, this is how my backfloat goes' - That's where I had heard the song, somewhere, sung in the background as I wrestled to untangle her arms from around my neck and get Jaz to trust that I wouldn't let her go, the song was being sung by Jess the swimming instructor. Jaz had been singing it the last few days while she was telling me all about our trip to the pool and how she was going to swim like a fish.

I was so very proud, I understood what my beautiful daughter had been doing over the last week. She had been working over the lesson in her mind and preparing herself for her next one. Telling me how she was going to do it all and even singing the songs that went with it. As I held her tummy up and she did her 'puppy paddle' she was saying 'I dig dig dig like Clifford' and she kicked her feet too!!!! I felt such a surge of pride. She had not only overcome her fear but totally conquered it! After the lesson we had some play time with one of the other girls in the class and returned to pick up Kayde. Jaz has spent the entire day telling anyone who would listen all about her swimming lessons that are 'so fun'.

Life in print

Last night while I should have been blogging I was looking through the plethora of photos that have been taken in the last three years (minus several hundred that were lost when our last computer died and we could only recover a portion of them) deciding which photos to go and get printed.
I really love my camera, a beautiful digital SLR Craig bought me for my birthday this year and I love digital photography in general, you can snap away, taking literally hundreds of pics, in an endeavour to capture a moment in time, perfectly, without wasting film or having to pay a small fortune to have a film developed, only to discover there are only one or two shots worth keeping.
And my camera is never far from me as I am addicted to capturing my favourite subjects (no prizes for guessing who) although this does mean that I am rarely in any of our photos because I am always the photographer and although this can be good when it comes to not admitting to how much weight I have gained, I would like to have some pics of me and my most precious people for the future.
But how many photos do we print off these days? When the mobile phones come out, the nifty cameras we tuck in our handbags and our SLR's in all their whizz bang glory and we snap away, in an effort to preserve a memory we want to keep fresh, how many of us actually go and have these printed? Archaic??? Is that the view? Well what happens when technology overcomes our current methods of photo storage and we can no longer access our pics? Like trying to watch a Beta video on a Blue Ray player I imagine.
Call me old fashioned but I love flicking through actual photo's, especially with others who were there or maybe didn't even know you then... It feeds ones soul to remember so crisply, reminded in vivid, un-embelished, albeit two dimensional truth. And most recently I have taken great joy in looking at childhood photos of me and my siblings, admiring the family resemblance in our own children. How unfortunate if our own children are not able to enjoy such a simple pleasure.
So last night I started on a mission to create a folder of photos I want to print off, some to frame, some to scrapbook and some just to flick through every now and then because I would be devastated to lose them because of a technological meltdown.
What I discovered while looking through the pics is how insanely quickly Jaz has grown up in the last 18 months. I often say she is growing up way too fast but to see the transformation in vivid colour, on the screen in front of me it bought tears to my eyes. I stared in wonderment as I looked at baby photos of Jaz and noticed just how similar her and Kayde are, and I amazed myself by remembering exactly how I felt at certain times just by a quick glance at a photo.
I may have many of my photos backed up, published on facebook and displayed in a digital frame but I am really looking forward to holding the prints in my hot little hand, the hard part has been narrowing the list down from the many thousands of shots I have taken over the past three years. One thing is for sure, I have enough of Jaz sleeping in odd and uncomfortable looking positions to make a killer wall display at her 21st!!!

A Real Mum

There are few things in life that can make a parent feel as completely helpless as having a sick child.
It doesn't even have to be a serious illness that brings out your fragility, a simple temperature can bring out the overprotective hypochondriac in all of us.
Well, in the past week both of my littlies have been unwell, nothing serious but enough to cause me concern. As many will know, whenever Jaz becomes unwell it goes to her chest, she has had her fair share of bronchiolitis, chest infections, coughs and even pneumonia but most recently has been diagnosed with asthma, it is well under control but still makes me uneasy whenever I hear her start coughing, so no wonder when she got a horrible persistent cough accompanied by a temp I was instantly on edge.
With Jaz I am now an expert at how to improve her breathing and offer her what she needs such as her puffer as well as a nice warm honey water (literally honey dissolved in boiling water and cooled...nice and soothing for a sore throat). So within a day or so everything had settled down and when I asked if she needed anything for her cough the answer was 'It's OK Mum, I just got a cough'.
And then I heard a raspy little cough coming from the nursery... Ohhh nooo
I am not one of these mothers that runs to the doctors at the first sign of a sniffle, Mum has instilled that one into me, along with viruses will sort themselves out and there's not much a doctor can do about them, cold air does not cause colds - viruses cause colds and my favourite - a cold is NOT the same as a flu (but that's a serious gripe I wont get into right now).
Anyway, after a couple of days of monitoring I noticed what I knew to be laboured breathing (having been told a few times of the signs to watch out for in Jaz) so it was off to the docs. We all bundled in the car and headed off .
On the way a conversation was had that went as follows:

Jaz - why we going to see Doctor Bron?
Me - Kayde's not feeling well so we just need to take him to see Doctor Bron
Jaz - I know what will feel him better! Just give him a superman lolly mum (Jaz has chewable multivitamins in the shape of a little muscly Michelin man that she calls superman lollies)
Me - Kayde's a bit too little to have superman lollies but that's a really nice thought Jaz
Jaz - Oh. Well I know what will feel him better Mum
Me - What's that?
Jaz - Mummy cuddles will feel him better! Mummy cuddles feel me better when I am sick!

All together now, Awwwwwww. If I wasn't a real certified Mum before, I sure am now! My cuddles can fix things... if that's not a sign of a real Mummy then I just don't know what is.

And just for the record, Kayde is on the mend although still very chesty, he was in respiratory distress when we got to the docs and was given some redipred to help him breath easier (redipred is a staple in our house unfortunately but I for one am glad it exists). Just goes to show, mums know their kids, even the new ones that we are still getting familiar with.

Stay well and give lots of cuddles freely, I know I will.

The list of lists

Everyone has their own ways of doing things. This is evident in all areas of life, school life, work life and parenthood to name but a few.
My way of doing things often involves lists, to the point where there are times when I even have a list of what lists I need to make and a book in which to write my lists. Sound crazy? Yes? well, I guess it is a bit but hey, isn't everyone? just a little?
My lists have changed somewhat over the years, from assignemnts I have due to paperwork I needed to follow up, clients I needed to place into work and now activities for the kids, housework, chores and bills that need to be paid.
Late last night between feeding Kayde, letting the dogs out (just after I had gotten back into bed of course), re-settling Jaz and then the obligatory loo visit I realised that I had not been keeping my lists up to date over the last few days and from then on I just couldn't get my mind to stop. I instantly felt disorganised, like I was going to forget something imperative and the internal monologue of lists began...
Ok, what needs to be done in the morning?
Get Jaz up, dressed, fed and ready
get Kayde ready
Jaz to creche
Kayde to nurse to get immunised
don't forget the blue book
there's an hour to kill - take money for coffee
Starting swimming lessons next week, must get paperwork for that done and submit
need new bathers
check bank account see how much I can spend
what's the date??? Rent is due
Ahhh so's electricity (must jot those down first thing or could end up homeless and without power, that makes no sense, I don't need the power on if I have no home - better pay those bills)
The housework needs doing, what time will I be back from nurses?
Then what time do I need to leave again to go pick up Jaz?
So how much time will I have to clean once I have fed and settled Kayde and maybe had a bite of lunch?
Hair appointment as soon as Craig gets home, so that means I have to do it all this arvo
What housework is the priority?
Must IQ Neighbours coz I'll be at the hairdressers (Don't laugh)
I'm going to forget something... I should have done my lists
Yaaawnnnn
Wasn't there something I was going to look up on the net?
Meh, I can't remember, can't think, need to sleep
Zzzzzzzzzzz

Ponies and Barbies and Dinosaurs Oh My!!!!

On Sunday my beautiful princess turned three. I can honestly say that I do not know where the time has gone, possible to teaching her how to sit and crawl, to walk and talk and toilet training and drawing and a million other things we have learned along the way and just for the record, I think she has taught me more than I could ever teach her!
After a big grand final day the day prior (something Jaz will forever have to do battle with for birthday attention) It was great to see our nearest and dearest little friends turn up to Buzy Kidz in Frankston to celebrate Jaz's birthday with her.
A childs first birthday is a big celebration for the parents who are often amazed at having survived that first year with an ounce of sanity still remaining and a healthy child still in one piece.
On the childs second birthday, well, it's not as exciting as the first and the toddler is often still reasonably unaware of what all the fuss is about... but at three, believe me, they are very aware of what is going on.
For weeks leading up to the big day I was asked each and every morning if it was the birthday day yet? Will there be cake - yes, what about candles - yes and balloons??? - yes there will be balloons. The excitement was growing.
My friends will come and play? This was always the question that came with the most excitement. And it's not that we don't play with friends on a very regular basis, it was the possibility of having ALL her friends there all at once. Yes hunny, your friends will come and play at your party (that secret little question that often rears it's head when you plan a grown up party reared its ugy head - will they all turn up? what if something happens and no one makes it?)
There was no need for concern, the day came and we shared mickey mouse shaped pancakes for breakfast, rode the brand new 'big girl' bike out the front in our court, opened some zhu zhu pets - to mummy's relief these were met with squeels of delight! yes - touch down!!!!!
Soon enough it was time to get ready for the party, being held at a local play centre (the best move made in a long time) we toddled along and I handed my pride and joy (not Jaz, the Mickey Mouse birthday cake) over to the staff and our guests started arriving. To my delight, Jaz used her manners when given gifts, played nicely with everyone and we even spent the time 'accident' free. (this has been a bit of an issue of late, most likely since Kaydes arrival).
Each child seemed to enjoy themselves, Mums, Dads and Grandparents (thank you so much Judy, you made my day) enjoyed a cuppa and a chat while kids aged from 2-8 ran amok, jumped on the jumping castle, climbing and sliding their way to exhaustion.
After lunch came the birthday cake and although not a fan of being the centre of attention Jaz handled it all without totally freaking out and even blew the candles out with very little prompting. It was official, the party had been a success. I had a very tired but happy little three year old who had had a ball with her friends, been thoroughly spoilt and the best part - there was no cleaning up for Mummy.
After leaving the party we headed to Nan and Pops for a quick visit, which involved more birthday wishes and a big present (a blackboard and painting station which has been used more than I can mention in the last couple of days), then off home. But the celebrations didn't end there.
For dinner we had invited the grandparents (and Uncle Adam)  for Jaz's favourite dinner - Pizza. There was more singing to be done, more candles to blow out and even more presents but when asked about her favourite thing she did for the day?
The answer was 'play with all my friends at the inside park' - Yay!!!!! A success by any measure.
As my three year old princess colapsed into bed I began to pack up the spoils of the day, thinking of how much she had grown and how incredibly lucky I am to have her in my life, a tear may have been shed and I suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to go and cuddle her but thought better of waking an exhausted princess.
As I cleaned the dollies and ponies and dinosaurs and fur real pets were just too alluring and soon enough I was told off for playing with Jaz's toys before she had had a real chance to play with them (whatever Craig, I was just removing tags and stuff) and with that I retired to bed, thinking of all the fun we would have this week with new toys to keep us entertained, new books to read and stories to tell of playtimes had with friends.

Good Morning

As I woke up yesterday morning I hadn't yet opened my eyes but I could feel a tiny warm chubby hand touching my cheek, it slowly moved across and gripped around my nose and then down to have a tug on my lip, I gave his hand a little kiss and opened my eyes to see him smile up at me a big gummy smile so I leant over and gave him a kiss, resulting in a big open mouthed giggle and a kick of all of his limbs that signalled he was well and truly awake and there would be no more sleeping, at least for a few hours. Just then the bedroom light came on and startled both of us. A happy little girl sang 'heellloooo'. "Ohhh he sooo cute Mum" she landed a big smoochy kiss on his still quite bald head. Jaz came over to the bed and handed me a bright blue headband. I put it on and she smiled a big warm smile. Next it was Kaydes turn, he was adorned with a lovely silver bangle and finally she dressed herself in a brightly coloured straw bead necklace. 'C'mon guys, I been awake for ages, it breakfast time now'. Too true Miss Jaz, too true, it may be 5.30am and your dad may have slept through all of this but it is breakfast time. The day had begun in the best way it could. It may have only been 5.30 but I was in the best place I can imagine doing just what makes me happiest.

A search for the Holy Grail

Today just seemed to disappear. From getting up and watching our first episode of Mickey at 6am till I officially knocked off Mummy duties (at least for the next few hours) at about 8pm I somehow managed to cram quite a bit in and yet seemed to achieve very little - at least to the untrained, non Mummy eye.
I did achieve one very important thing. I took a big step towards fullfilling a promise made to Jaz that had started to look futile.
Before the visit to play with cousins, and for two mums to share some adult conversation, shopping for a surfboard repair kit - for Craig not me, getting some finishing touches to prepare for Jaz's creche footy day, doing several loads of washing and cooking dinner, reading bedtime stories and tucking snuggly little bodies into bed. I found the Holy Grail!!!!
After filling our tummies with breakfast it was time for Jaz to play with Bella (her dolly), Kayde to attempt a morning nap and Mummy to continue on her, thus far fruitless, attempt to find a Mickey Mouse cake tin.
This may seem unimportant, but not to me. Many weeks ago when I asked Jaz what she would like to do for her birthday, instead of what I expected her to say (eat cake, play with balloons, maybe even go to the park), her eyes lit up when she told me she wanted to go to the Mickey Mouse Club House and play with her friends, my heart sank as I realised she was telling me what she really wanted and there was no way I could deliver. I negotiated with her and we agreed that she could play with her friends at a play centre and Mummy would make a Mickey Mouse cake - I was yet to realise the full extent of how far I would have to go to keep such a seemingly simple promise...
Little did I know that it would take weeks - and I really do mean weeks - of searching online stores, contemplating having a tin shipped via ebay (at a total cost of nearly $40 and possibly weeks of shipping time), traipsing around the shops, calling cake speciality stores and being told that Mickey Mouse cake tins were not available in Australia and if I could locate one under $50 to buy a dozen because they were that highly sought after. I believed I was going to fail to deliver on my promise!!! Yes, as many people suggested I could create my own, but we all know that kids really do know a fake when they see one, especially when it comes to something they love, and well, I can be a bit of a perfectionist and couldn't face making a wreck of it.
This morning, shortly after 9am I finally FINALLY heard those words I needed to hear - "Yes we have Mickey". I think the neighbours could hear me exhale!!!! (And the best part, he's for hire at a very reasonable cost)
I had had a tip off, to call a cake store that my sister in law uses for her sons cakes, and thanks to that one conversation I can now bake a Mickey Mouse birthday cake for my princess' 3rd birthday party and so on Friday I will traipse over to Hampton Park all in the name of a mothers promise to get the tin that will make the cake that will take hours to make and only moments to eat!!! But I will make sure I take a photo of the Holy Grail of birthday cakes - MICKEY MOUSE...

The Ruse

It was late yesterday afternoon when it dawned on me that things were going quite well regarding the likelihood of getting Jaz into bed nice and early (she's usually great at going to bed and getting to sleep all by herself at a reasonable hour but lately she had been challenging this) - I probably should have known that just for having this thought I would be punished.
After getting a phone call from my gorgeous sister in law asking if we would like to meet her and the kids at the local playcentre (we very willingly obliged) I managed to keep Princess Jaz awake all afternoon. A very tough job indeed after all the running, playing, climbing and jumping that is done at an 'inside park'.
For the unitiated, a playcentre can be a stay at home parents complete bliss, the critters are locked away - oh I mean the precious cherubs are kept safe from harms way by kiddie proof fencing - and are able to run and jump and climb and tumble and play to their hearts content, thus burning off all the excess energy they have built up over the preceeding, gloomy, rain inhibiting, inside, telle watching, tantrum throwing days.  All this with very little risk of injury
Mums and Dads and Grandparents and care givers can sit and have a cuppa and a piece of cake - or the whole gammut, wedges with sour cream and sweet chilli, pies, hot dogs, foccasias, you name it. Anyway, my point is that it can be great for both the kids and us.
Unfortunately for us if Jaz has a nap during the day I have little to no hope of her being asleep at any reasonable hour that night. So the 'keep her awake at all costs' game ensued. Yesterday it looked as though I was going to have a real battle on my hands. Her little eyes looked like they needed propping open with match sticks, there were yawns and even tears and yet she managed to stay awake. Brilliant.
Craig (My fiance and Jaz and Kaydes very proud Daddy) was going to be late home and that to me meant one thing... I could feed Jaz nice and early (no need to wait for family dinner time) and start the bedtime routine at an hour usually reserved for Daddy cuddles and play time, so I did. Dinner was served shortly after 5pm, followed by PJ's and a dressing gown to get all snuggly, a 'shake milk' (Warm milo, shaken not stirred in a sippy cup while we sing shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your milk shake, shake your milk shake... and Jaz shakes her booty to get ride of any excess energy) and two bedtime stories, then it was bed time - 7pm...
Oh I could feel the 'me time' coming, it was exhilerating...
And then it began....
Jaz - I need the light on
Me - Ok, you can have your light on for 5 minutes and then I will come and turn it off
Lights off time
Jaz - Noooooo I NEED the light on
Me - No, I will leave the hall light on but your bedroom light needs to be off, now put your head on the pillow, shut your eyes and go to sleep
Jaz - ok
Ahhh telle - nope
Jaz - Maaarmeeeeee I neeeeeeed youuuuuuu
Me - what is it Jaz?
Jaz - I need cuddles
Me - Hmmm ok, a quick cuddle... there you go, now sleep
Jaz - I need more cuddles
Me - no you don't, Mummy loves you but I know you are just avoiding going to sleep
Jaz - yeah... *smiles* but I love you and want cuddles
She knows I cannot resist cuddling her, lots of cuddles later I insist she goes to sleep - It is now nearly 8pm...
I can feel the me time fading away as I hear singing and strange clunking noises coming from her room, I leave it for a while to see if she just stops and falls asleep... sure enough at around 8.30 everything is quiet. I sneak down to tuck her in only to find an empty bed... "Hi Mum, I not asleep" (sitting on the floor with a ball)
Me - Why not?
Jaz - I get out of bed
Me - well why did you do that?
Jaz - So I not sleep
Grrrrrrrrr
Jaz - I will sleep in your bed
Me - Quickly losing patience and feeling the 'me time' slipping by quickly...Hmph, just go, now, get in and do not make me come back down here, go to sleep! (Yawn)
Jaz - Just lay with me for a cuddle? I love you lots and lots and I need cuddles (master negotiator and emotional blackmailer in the making here)
Me - Ok, but just for a quick cuddle ok?
Jaz - Ok,
As I lay there next to her, warm and snuggly, in my own bed, she snuggled right into me and put her warm soft, still slightly toddler chubby hand on my face, I could feel the cozy, warm, fuzzy embrace of sleep taking over, just as a little voice said "you so cute Mummy, you sleep now"
It was a ruse!!!! The nearly three year old princess had conned me into getting into bed and falling asleep before her!!! No doubt she had plans of getting up and watching Mickey Mouse and Dora till the wee hours... For a second, wrapped in fuzzy sleepy thoughts I wondered if it would really be THAT bad if I DID sleep???
And then as if in answer to my question the phone rang (Thank you Jo) - jolting me out of la la land....
10 minutes on the phone and Princess Jaz was fast asleep, it turned 9 o'clock and Craig waltzed through the door.
No me time whatsoever and after being awoken at 5.30am (after a 2am feed) by Kayde, shortly followed by a still very sleep looking Jaz I know that today I am bound to have a grumpy, sleep deprived toddler on my hands who I will inevitable have to prevent from having a nap, in the vein hope of some 'me time' tonight...

Starting in the middle or somewhere like it...

I guess I should start at the start, or really somewhere in the middle.
So to start in the middle, I am Mum to a gorgeous soon to be three year old princess, Jaz, who loves to wear her fairy dress teamed with pink polka dot gumboots and a beanie on her head and to a five month old little man, Kayde, who I am still getting to know and enjoying every minute of it - even the sleep deprived, loony, caffeine riddled moments that are common place among new Mums the world over. I am also engaged to a wonderful man who has given me two beautiful children and although he too amuses me endlessly, that's for another blog entirely.
Having children is the most wonderful, enriching, tireing, amusing, exhausting, rewarding thing that can happen to a person. It changes your life wholely and completely forever. The changes are mostly for the best but inevetably for the most pants wettingly funniest and sometimes most embarrassing times of your life!
I plan on sharing with you the tantrums, the laughs, the tender sweetness of a goodnight kiss and the joy of meeting your childs first imaginary friend (usually by inadvertantly sitting on him or her).
I warn you, there is very little that is special about me... I am not famous, I am not a comedian and I am not rich. And I am no SuperMum (the ones that manage to do it all and stay sane, otherwise known as a complete fallacy) I am just your everyday, ordinary Mum who is proud of the most amazing people in her life - her children. They amaze me everyday, whether it be by cooking me up some 'chicken soup to feel you better Mum' in the play kitchen or by rolling over for the first time when you least expect it. I will share it all in the hope that you too can revel in the joys of motherhood and either laugh at or empathise with a motherism or two.

Please enjoy The Daily Motherism.