All posts filed under: Being a Mum

Giddyup we’re homeward bound

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Minnie had her first pony ride today and she loved it!  As soon as she was on HP (Harry Potter) she shouted “giddyup” periodically to remind her stead who was in charge.  All those “Nimminnie knee” sessions have paid off Pops!  What was most curious was her fascination with the horse poos along the way, “there’s a poo” was said just as often as “giddyup”. Her enjoyment of it made me so proud.  I find that it’s generally when my children do something I wasn’t expecting them to do that I feel most proud. I think I had my first pony ride when I was five or six.  My dad used to take me to lessons every Saturday through my childhood and then bought me a horse, Moose, when I was in my teens.  At about 15 I realised that boyfriends and horses didn’t mix – I think I’ve been on a horse about three times since then.  My dad still owns horses! So I’m excited about the prospect of Minnie enjoying horses, learning to …

Why am I so passive aggressive?

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I’ve noticed recently that there is an ugly side to my character that has snuck in somewhere along the way.  It is, that I sometimes use passive aggressive ways to make a point. For instance, me and the children joined a library this week.  We were picking our first books, I took a while and chose two to start us off.  As I was putting the coats back on the children to begin our exit to the car, I turned around to see that a woman had picked up one of the books and added it to her pile.  At that point I had a three choices of how to deal with this; A/ realise it was an innocent theft on her part, I’d put my two books near a pile of others so she obviously just thought it was fair game – put it down to an unfortunate mistake, pick another and then be on my way. B/ approach the lady with a smile and explain that I’d chosen this book, had set it …

Potty Update

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For anyone following this blog regularly, I thought you should know (mostly so Minnie gets some credit) that my first born has had four days of no accidents and has already upgraded from potty to toilet. Now I want to know how do you stop having to dole out smarties every time they succeed?  Her teeth will fall out!    

Toys R Free

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In New Zealand they have an amazing service to families with young children on a limited budget – toy libraries. My Irish friend Sheila who has lived here for years and now has a toddler and baby, advised me to join one, as we had only the toys we could fit in Minnie’s trunki from the UK.  So on Thursday night I left Gareth putting the angels to bed and I went in search of my local toy library.  They are often in an unused classroom in a primary school, which mine is.  You pay about $70 a year and can take out eight toys every two weeks. It was like finding Aladin’s cave, there were shelves and shelves of every puzzle, doll, lego or play station ever invented.  I took about 20 minutes to select a few things for each of my children, already planning what I would get the following fortnight.  Paid my money, signed up to do my volunteer session each month and packed the car full of joy. I set everything …

Miracles

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A friend reminded me today that my children are miracles.  Just over three years ago I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to have children. Now I am a mother and that is a miracle.  I am so grateful to the God of miracles. My children are a gift that I don’t deserve.  If I’d been given a choice, I would have picked these two.  They are awesome. This is my remembrance day.

Potty Training Whilst Flying

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Minnie has been ready to potty train for a long time but we had to postpone whilst we were living in other people’s houses.  First day into our rented property in Christchurch, I showed Minnie her big girl pants and we were off! Minnie has been taking herself off to somewhere private to have her number twos for about a year now.  And for the last month she has started telling me she’s having a wee.  Even Jackson has his evening poo in the potty, which his sister takes great interest in.  Basically I thought we’d get through this quickly.  One day in and I’m not so sure.  The problem we seem to be suffering from is not what I expected.  I was sure Minnie would hate the mess and wet of peeing through her pants…not so.  In fact she is delighted every time she wets herself because that means she can choose a new pair of pants and leggings to wear…on reflection I should have seen this coming.  My little budding stylist changes her …

Good Parenting

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I feel like I will be writing on this subject a lot, as it’s an on-going question burning in my mind throughout my days and weeks.  How can I be a good parent for my children? In any other vocation you can find, mould and shape a job so it suits your talents.  It’s in an employer’s best interests to have you working at what you are best at and it’s most worthwhile for you to dedicate your 40 hours a week to something you get satisfaction out of doing. With parenting you can bring your talents. strengths and best features to the role, but they won’t cover the vast spectrum of what the job requires so there will be times and whole areas where you will fail. Take me, I’m a “completer/finisher”.  I can organise, I can solve problems, I can see something complicated and make it simple, I can bring order, I set out to do something and I have the focus and discipline to finish it.  In parenting this means, I can …