Many times I sit down at the end of the day and think I have literally been dragged through the day by these monsters who are my children. And I am sad that I feel that way. But then some days they let me enjoy them and I am so proud and delighted to be their mum. Today Minnie was that child.
Since moving to another country and drastically reducing our friends and responsibilities outside of the home, Gareth and I are getting to talk so much more. Which is definitely an upside to being down under. In one of our chats this week we talked about finding some time for me when I am not cooking or looking after the children. Because one of the down sides of moving this far away and Gareth having a 45 hour week is that I have 12 hour days, seven days a week. Extra stipulations for this gift of time were that it couldn’t be a week day evening when I am shattered, it couldn’t be used for doing those things that I can’t do when I am cooking or looking after the children but is still not really “for me” i.e. picking up some more cereal and milk for the week, paying bills, going to the post office etc. and it could not be interrupted, so no cute but totally unnecessary visits from Minnie. We went for three …
It was a pretty rainy day yesterday but we ventured out anyways (dragging along the Barnetts, so sorry!) – jury is out on whether it was worth it, Minnie was as grumpy as the clouds.
However we did have a successful five minutes of pooh sticks, Minnie and I watched them float while Jackson posed for pictures.
You don’t often get time with just one of your babies when you have two close in age. How you do it with twins I have no idea! Most of the time I just have to sneak some time with one of them when the other is sleeping. My eldest gets the rough side of this because when her little brother is sleeping Mummy generally has to get the dinner cooked or various other domestic duties. Now that Minnie is going to nursery two afternoons a week I have some time with Jackson which we are both loving. It makes me more aware that just-us-girls time is even more important to find. Last Sunday we went out for a coffee and a fluffy (hot milk with a marshmallow) and had a great time using up all her stickers in her new magazine. It was so lovely having an hour where I had nothing to do but talk with my daughter. This week Jackson has been waking up later in the morning so I get to …
Since having children and finding that I get short slots of time in the day and night where I can’t leave the house and I am really tired, I have formed a habit of watching a lot of TV. I can get through a box set in a fortnight. I have always justified it by the fact that I am really tired and we’ve been living in other people’s houses with about a tenth of our belongings so doing exercise, picking up a hobby or just being generally more productive was impossible. Plus some days I am so stressed and emotionally drained from a day with two littlies that I literally can’t hold a conversation let alone do something valuable. In short I just want to switch off. The problem is that my family could really do with me being a little more “engaged” again. We move into our new house in four weeks time and we’ll get all our things then so proper life can begin. I need to be ready. So I am …
I realise that “normal” is generally an unquantifiable entity in that, what is normal when life changes all the time? But today, after two weeks of upset and sickness, I saw a glimpse of my son’s normal self. Again it’s difficult to say what is normal for a one year old baby as they still aren’t developed enough to really know what their personality is. There are far too many other factors that alter them (teething, injections, moods of older siblings, moving countries, inability to move) and make them appear to be a certain way (moody, sad, scared, unsettled, frustrated). Put it this way, I wouldn’t want to describe Jackson’s personality based on the last two weeks – he has not looked good! So this afternoon, when there seemed to be no discomfort or pain effecting him, my boy was cheeky, bold and happy. He also pooed in his potty, ate some food and played with his toys – normal. I really do hope this lasts for a while – I am shattered. 12 hours …
Seven days a week, 52 weeks of the year I plan a menu that includes home cooked meals, using fresh ingredients for me and my family to eat. Five days out of each week my dinners suffer some form of rejection and/or abuse. Take today for instance, while my children are sleeping I have prepared a dinner of steamed green beans and roasted cherry toms, marinated then grilled chicken breast, home made wedge potato chips and red cabbage coleslaw. I am pretty sure we will have to bribe Minnie to finish half of her plate and Jackson won’t even let the majority of it anywhere near his mouth, then I will give up passing things to him and he will spend the rest of dinner time throwing food from either side of his high chair – that is the only point in the meal when he looks like he is really enjoying my food. Weaning both my children has been a heartbreaking experience for this mum-who-likes-to-cook. I am pretty sure my children have the smallest …
This may well be one of the hardest weeks in my career as a mother. Starts off, after a shaky weekend following inoculations, with Jackson still being curiously grumpy. After five days of Jackson rejecting almost all foods and being downright miserable, I Googled Hepatitis B, just to make sure it wasn’t worth taking our chances and sacking off inoculations for the real thing. But it looks pretty nasty so we’ll brave the next batch of injections. By Thursday I’ve really had quite enough of all this sadness dragging us down so off we go to the GP. “Doctor won’t do my leg mummy?” inquires my little girl as we walk into the waiting room. “No sweetheart” (I’m officially dreading the next lot of those things!). Turns out Jackson has tonsillitis – almost relieved as that means there’s a chance we won’t have this much upset next month. He’s on antibiotics and should be better for the weekend, which is nice for daddy but I can’t help feeling a little bitter about the fact I’ve …
Felt my first earthquake today. I was sat on the floor playing with the children so I was able to just feel the house shake and then it stopped. Apparently there are two types, rolly and shaky, this felt like a rolly one. I asked Minnie if she felt it, she said she felt like she needed a snack. So there we go, I’m not an earthquake virgin anymore – phew!
Despite feeling rough for the last few days, my boy is still a lot of fun to put to bed.
copywriting editing proofreading project management
food and other important things
(Texts from Expats who are Wives. Simple.)
the things not said 