tough gig

This mumma thing is hard. Yes it is absolutely the best thing EVER but at the same time is a really tough gig. There I said it, sometimes I think honestly is the best policy and sometimes us mumma's struggle and I am sure the daddy's do also. I certainly don't wish to sound negative but I have spent the last few weeks struggling with the myth that is 'motherhood'. You know the one portrayed by every nappy advert under the sun...giggling, sleeping, calming...when our life is more like...giggling, crying, giggling, tantruming, tiny bit of sleeep, calm, catastrophic, then giggling again. I am lucky enough to have some divine girlfriends around me (and a loving hubby) who have reassured me that my feelings of confusion and uncertainty are very normal. Miss T is still the most engaging, humorous and free spirited individual I have ever met however along side these sentiments I have been surprised and often stumped by the complexities that are motherhood and toddlerhood for that matter.

For years before the arrival of Miss T I dreamt of being a mumma. You know a calm divine earth mother who made her own play dough and never lost her cool. I dreamt of afternoons sipping coffee and tea and nibbling goodies with the girls uninterrupted ( HA!) while our charming kiddies played. I dreamt of endless cuddles and constant satisfaction. Of long walks with a happy bubba in her pram. Of mumma and bubba dates to the park or the local coffee shop where we were both just happy to sit together and laugh. My perception didn't involve sleep deprivation (STILL 1.5yrs on) and it certainly didn't include cooking ( I SUCK) and cleaning (YEP SUCK AGAIN). So I guess this is where I have come unstuck. My perception was totally off. For me anyway.

The hubby thinks I am in denial about being a mumma (He says this in the most endearing way I might add) and he also apparently loves that I am more like a teenager playing mum...And I guess I have to agree. I will never care about the best way to soak clothes or how to bake the tastiest pie or how to make play dough. It just isn't me. Actually I did consider making play dough one afternoon but quickly realised we only have pink Himalayan salt in the house and certainly not 1 kilo of it like the recipe required. There is nothing more I want than to be the best mumma for Miss T but at the same time I kind of don't want to pack baby wipes, nappies, snacks and a change of clothes just to grab a coffee that is likely to last 5 minutes...Does that make me less of a mumma. I am thinking no.

So seasoned mumma's out there I would love some pearls of wisdom to help me on my journey or mumma's a little less experienced like me what works for you or what have you found most challenging on your journey thus far?

Lucky Miss T has a surrogate Great Aunt who made her Playdough the other day :)

Miss T playing mumma x

don't tell daddy

I had a moment driving Miss T home the other day from her Yaya’s. I realised that I was being a little bit of  a hypocrite and quite a cheeky Mumma. I was feeding my almost 1.5 year old an M&M at almost each traffic light just to keep her quiet. (yep you read that right!) Great strategy Mumma! At the time I felt quite guilty but this morning I am finding it quite funny. The poor hubby would have been scolded for this type of behaviour and in fact was somewhat recently…I hopped out of bed. The two of them were so peaceful on the couch watching basketball. Miss T was so content and quietly nibbling on something.

'what is she eating for breakfast?'

‘she wanted tiny teddies!’ 

‘so you gave her tiny teddies. Seriously!’

So how did we get to this moment of serious misjudgement by me...

1. I was tired after working

2. The little monkey wouldn’t stop crying hysterically

3. I was trying to sneak the odd M&M into my own mouth without her seeing

4.  She saw and she put out her sweet little hand and said ‘me’

I thought oh why not. Who will see. And one became two and two became three and so on... And why am I telling you this, I guess to clear my conscious and to proclaim I can do better! Don't get me wrong we give Miss T the odd treat but I am just thinking that perhaps a bartering system of chocolate for quiet isn't such a great idea. I am not naive enough to think there won't be more of these moments and I no doubt will use the old ' don't tell daddy' often over the next oh 20 years but I am hoping they will be few and far between.

Once my own dad told me ‘parents aren’t perfect, we all make mistakes and we are only learning' and right now this little pearl of wisdom is ringing true. Sorry no more M&M’S for you Miss T.


Miss T loving her 'Gumnut' freckle on a saturday morning at the markets.
A treat daddy knew about...

Photo's courtesy of Miss T's gorgeous godmother Aunty La

 

don't sweat the small things

Miss T is heading on 14months old! Seriously! What has surprised me the most is that I am much more relaxed now about the small things. Obviously I care enormously about her health and well being but I am far less fussy or (obsessive perhaps) than I thought I would be…I like to think this is a good thing. This week saw Miss T enjoy her new day bed... while some would see germs, dog hair and grime (including the hubby who just can’t handle it) I see a cheeky little lady enjoy her best pals place of rest.

Miss T even enjoyed the odd TV lunch (something I swore I would never do!) but on these few days guess what, I did it and Miss T ate fabulously and mumma enjoyed a slightly less challenging experience…

And we even enjoyed a bit of gelato at 3.30pm. Yep that’s right, just before dinner time, to celebrate the news of a dear friends shortly arriving baby girl…yep life is good x

 

homework

I had my first piece of homework last week. For daycare that is. It made me a bit excited about all the little future projects Miss T and I will work on together. I absolutely love the idea of the dining table being overtaken by pre-school, kindy, school, high school and university projects in the many years to come. I know Miss T didn’t request an enthusiastic art and craft obsessed mumma but that’s what she got. We are going to have sooo much fun. Ok maybe by university (or even high school) she will be letting me down lightly when I make assignment suggestions but until that day I am going to be her little second hand. For Daycare I needed to complete,  in visuals two little work sheets titled ‘ About Me’ and ‘Our Family’. The questions were simple but they really made me stop and think.  As she would be putting it up in her classroom wall I wanted to be authentic to Miss T and her family and I wanted to put the biggest smile on her face in the process. Is I completed my work it was amazing to see how Miss T's identity is already so complex. I have always said to the hubby, 'isn't it amazing that she has been on this earth for just over 400 days ( give or take depending on when I get all deep and emotional) but already it is clear that she was always meant to be here. We have just spent the first part of our life waiting for her'. And doing this little bit of homework cemented this for me. On these two little worksheets all the most important and influential people in Miss T's life are present, her history is spelt out, her loves, passions and strengths are already present. Poor Miss T better hope mumma doesn't get this soppy over every assignment...

Walking home from daycare. Miss T is getting the hang of her new routine.

A snippet of our work in progress...

It went down like this...

There have been a number of incidents over the last few days that havn't been exactly note worthy mumma moments for me. I am not proud of them but when I look back on them this morning they are kind of funny. I do take pride in the kind of mumma I am most of the time so it is hard for me to decide which of these moments I am confident enough to disclose. All I can say is, it isn't always easy being a mumma, especially being a sick mumma and atleast I can laugh at myself.

Should I tell you about the two men (working for a pretty worthy cause) outside the local supermarket that I ever so slightly attacked. Who to my defence wouldn't leave me alone when I was feeling slightly faint (yay for gastro)... ok why not...My internal dialogue should have been 'stay calm and carry on' but it wasn't. It went down like this.. me storming out of supermarket, Miss T in pram losing her mind, hubby with dog vanished, me furious and obviously not really coping...

Young man(YM): are you looking for something?
Mumma(M): yes my hubby and dog
Miss T (MT): still screaming
YM : I havn't seen a husband with a dog here lately! (HELPFUL)
M: well that's interesting because they were here with me 3 minutes ago

YM: why don't you talk to us instead?

M: Seriously, I don't feel well and I am not in the mood (hands waving, feel stomping)
MT: still screaming
Hubby (H): cruising down the street loving his sunday
M: gives pram to hubby, tries to lock pram, pram wont lock, kicks pram lock a number of times...
M: ranting about young men who won't leave me alone
H: babe, they arn't in your world, they don't understand that you are stressed out and unwell. They are just going about their day...sunday bliss I tell you

 



Or should I tell you about my mexican stand off with the hubby this morning  Much less aggressive but never the less I was determined to win. It went down like this...

 

6.20 Miss T wakes and starts crying, I roll over and look at the time, I snuggle back into bed and hope that the hubby will attend to our crying bubba. It should only take a few minutes. (It is a tactic I have used often and had a high success rate with. Why? Because as Miss T spent a good part of her first year as a notoriously bad sleeper, the deal was I did the nights and dadda did the mornings. This worked well but now that Miss T is a pretty good sleeper we do occassionally have a stand off).

 

6.23 Miss T continues to cry (I swear I am not a bad mumma), I look over in hubby's direction to see if there is any movement, nope nothing. I roll back over and keep trying, bubba is still crying (I swear I am not a bad mumma), hubby seems pretty determined himself this morning...I jump out of bed with a little huff and puff, look back at out bed and all becomes clear. There is no hubby only pillows. Hubby has gone to the gym...

 

Atleast I can laugh at myself. I like to think I am not the only one who sometimes sinks instead of swims...I would love to hear of some of your meltdown moments?

 

Mumma has had a few of these moments...



so obviously there was no hubby!

 

whatever works

I have (yet again) found myself running around like a mad woman today while Miss T is in daycare. My days are numbered until that dreaded, I mean lovely thing called 'work' will start to take up some of my time so right now I feel like I need to conquer all. I have just sat down to have a breather from the chaos (self inflicted mind you) and of course the first thing to pop into my mind is ' I wonder how Miss T is getting on'.

Gosh I miss my monkey. Right this minute she feels physically so far away (although she is in fact only in the next street) and I can't help but giggle and reminisce about a few of the hurdles Miss T has put me through in the last week. What are some of these challenges you ask...oh you know, wanting to sleep with the car keys...being insistent on having every coffee cup in sight...and perhaps the most difficult at present... not only refusing to sit in her pram but insisting on pushing her pram while we walk. Difficult much?!

As they say, a picture tells a 1000 words...

One of many times she has slept with the car keys this week, bless x

A big shout out to the fabulous friend who taught this little skill! Thanks!

And what has Miss T taught me this week. Mumma just do WHATEVER WORKS!

jet plane

We are on the holiday countdown. 8 weeks till our first international holiday since Miss T was born. In fact as Miss T was a delightful honeymoon baby, the first international holiday since our wedding and honeymoon. Mumma is beyond excited and Miss T isn't going to know what hit her. She has turned into quite the water baby and that is exactly what this holiday is going to entail...
pool, beach, food, sleep, (cocktail for mumma), pool, food, sleep, beach, (cocktail for mumma), sleep...you get the picture. For those experienced mumma's and dadda's out there, I know what your thinking 'this isn't going to be like all your other holidays'. Yes yes your right I might be romanticising a little...no doubt included in our time line will be tantrums, night time wakings and the works but seriously why would I dwell on that! I do feel very sorry for the poor souls who board our plane but hey what can I do. All I can think about is breakfast being made for us EVERY morning and that overrides all.

So yesterday I took Miss T to get her passport photo taken ( something I have been planning to do for the last 4 months) and my goodness it was classic. My slightly cheeky child turned it on for the camera.

Miss T's passport photo- Picture perfect if I do say so myself

Now I might have borrowed the following from the lovely Angus and Julia Stone and the context is obviously different but I think they said (or sung) it perfectly...

I wanna hold her, I wanna kiss her

She smelled of daisies, she smelled of daisies

She drive me crazy, she drive me crazy

Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane

Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane

Hey hey

9 sleeps!!!

So it is as though I just woke up this morning and properly realised that it is Miss T's 1st Birthday in 9 sleeps! Why did no one tell me it was so soon. I just rang the party place to orgainse decorations and guess what...closed until Jan 29!!! So mass panic is setting in. I just said to my hubby 'oh no, why am I such a sh*t mum' and he said 'your not sh*t your just unorganised, which is funny for a teacher'. Thanks hubby so now I am panicking even more...And to top things off, lucky me got myself a tiny bit of food poisoning over christmas, so I am trying desperately to piece together an action plan but my brain feels like mush and I have zero energy going around. But no pity parties for me, I have 9 nights so minus today- 7 days to make this happen. I just googled themeing ideas and guess what, not such a good idea when you have nothing prepared! I just viewed hundreds of beautiful party's themed to the max and thought what lucky bubba's. So where do I start???? I am thinking about everything -all at once, decorations( lanterns or pom pom's or...), tableware( table cloths, jars, cupcake stands, plates, forks, spoons, straws, jars...), food( adult, kiddy, healthy, yummy), drinks( champagne for me...that's as far as Ive got), cake ( homemade, bought, both?!), lolly bag's...(and my hubby just asked 'can we play a war?!?!?!)

Yes yes you are probably thinking, don't lose sight of the bigger picture...You don't need to worry about that as it has only come into my conscious mind 9 days before her birthday...Something tells me this is going to be a common theme year to year...except I will certainly be calling the party shop pre-christmas next time! 9 sleeps to achieve my artistic vision, I better get moving...Wish me luck.

My mumma's christmas brunch table- so pretty, am I missing the gene?

I better make Miss T smile like this on her 1st birthday!

P.S if you run into a maniac woman it is probably me...back away is my best suggestion.

christmas spirit

Miss T and I have been getting in the Christmas spirit this week, belting out Mariah Carey and Destiny's child Christmas songs. I dare say I might just belt them out during the entirety of 2013, why wait till december for such fun! This morning we watched rage where the likes of Justin Bieber, David Bowie and Annie Lennox were also getting into the Christmas spirit and Miss T danced up a storm. Watch out Sophia Grace and Rosie here comes Miss T. We have almost been in training for tonight's extravaganza - we are heading to the carols!!!

Having a bubba has brought a magical dimension to this time of year and I'm loving it. I've always loved singing along to a bit of rage or video hits on a saturday morning and I must admit it has been a few years since heading to carols by candle light but now I have someone to share it with who has the same level of enthusiasm that I do...just perfect. So with 3 nights until Santa arrives and we get to spend our first Christmas with Miss T, I thought I would share with you 3 of my favourite photos from my December challenge. Enjoy and Merry Christmas xx

Day 6 Mirror friend- Where much of her smooching practice has occured.

Day 8 Dancer- Serious excitement for a trip to the beach. Love Miss T's zest for life.

Day 13 Frozen yogurt fun- Looks like Miss T and I share a passion already x

P.S If you dont know of Sophia Grace and Rosie, google them. They are amazing!

baby steps

I am absolutely not one of those mums who harp on about how skilled or clever their kiddies are, but Miss T has a way of making me forget she is only 11 months old. Sometime I look into her eyes and I see an old soul. Maybe it's her new found independence and confident walking...whatever is it, every so often I forget she is still a bubba and expect greater things.

The other week we visited Santa for the first time. Many babies are petrified of Santa but no, not Miss T. She smiled at Santa like they were old friends and looked at me as though to say 'It's no biggie mum, what's with the concern'. I was the nervous one, not knowing the etiquette. Do I say hi? To what extent do I introduce Miss T? Should I say whether she has been naughty or nice...

Miss T has no fear it seems..or has she? In the pool she is so confident we expect her to start doing freestyle laps and at the beach you could mistake her for a tri-athlete (albeit tiny one) the way she runs towards the shore. But the other day something brought me back to earth and stopped me in my steps. I was reminded of just how little and precious my little Miss T is...We went to buy her first pair of shoes and guess what it turns our she is terrified, no petrified of shoes. She is so scared at this stage I honestly think she will be a barefoot hippy for the rest of her life. She can hold the shoes no problem, but as soon as they veer towards her pudgy little feed its all over. Tears, screams, clenching into me for dear life. It is slightly heart breaking but also slightly hilarious...they are just shoes after all...Yep she may be walking, almost talking and oh so confident but I still have myself a bubba.

No fear!

Lots of fear!

bad mumma?

I was judged yesterday morning. I just know I was. I could feel prying eyes and when making eye contact with a mumma and her 2 kiddies I recieved no smile but more of a look of disdain. I thought come on lady, its nearly christmas and it's cute right? Give me a smile! Nope no smile was given...

I've been judges many times as a first time mum, and funnily each time has been for something that I swore I wouldn't do as a mum (naive I was!). Yes miss T is dummy obsessed and bottled fed. I almost feel I need to explain myself now once stating these facts but how ridiculous! Seriously my monkey is a thriving little being who couldn't have more energy or spirit if she tried.

So why was I judged? Oh for doing another of those things I swore I would never do...I popped Miss T in backpack harness, a cute little panda that she loves. Why? Because I've been dealing with a crazy walker who wants to do her own thing and at 11 months old she has less sense than I would hope for someone who wants to walk the land alone. So yes I popped on a harness. How terrible of me to make my day more manageable and my angel safer. (Gosh I wish some mumma's would be more supportive!!!) I don't mean for this post to be a downer and yes this is totally a first world problem and I was lucky to be supported by my own group of mumma's who assured me that soon enough we would all be ditching our prams and become the harness brigade...

Yesterday I was a little down about this moment of judgement and wasn't sure if I wanted to share it but today I am a little bit more 'glass half full' and philosophical and if I could have a conversation with this unknown mumma I would say ' hey if your kiddies didn't need harnesses good for you! If they arn't giving you greif now they sure will when they are 15! Then you will be needing more than just a harness...Ok perhaps that isn't to philosophical?

So for now it's just  Miss T, panda and I going on our daily strolls. I'l let you be the judge though...check out just how cute she looks walking with her little backpack. Bless her and her adventurous ways.

self inflicted disaster

Last night was an official self inflicted disaster...and I mean disaster. Poor Miss T seemed to be having night terrors that kept waking her up. The poor cherub was waking from her slumber in absolute hysterics. After we resettled a few times...ok after we resettled ONCE being the smart Mumma that I am I thought, I just want to cuddle my little monkey. (because clearly it is all about me!) so I picked her up and brought her to the lounge room. The lounge room with all her favourites, Daddy, Apollo and the TV. Yes what was I thinking??? This wasn't what she needed...this was that I needed. I snuggled into her soft little face with her tiny arm wrapped tightly around my neck and I loved it. As insane as it is I have been missing our night time affairs. I'm pretty sure I told the hubby that I wished I could boot him out of the bed and snuggle with my girl all night. Be careful what you wish for!!! While I saw an opportunity for cuddles the hubby saw playtime... In his defence he hadn't seen her since 9am that morning so with one little ' hi my little girl' it was on!

Fast forward to 2am and Miss T is still partying hard and the hubby is fast asleep of course! Nothing I do will make her sleep. She isn't upset, in fact she is singing and chatting the night away while I am equally cursing myself for taking her out of that bedroom and the hubby for revving her up. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time as in the dark of the night valuable sleep was being lost while Miss T had a great time pinching my nose and giggling. Miss T must have entered sleep not much longer after this, her little body planted by my side for the rest of the night. We woke to the sound of birds singing in the morning and she seemed pleasantly rested.

If I ever try to give you baby advise, please gently remind me that I have no idea. Disaster.


Morning mumma, good sleep?

Busy busy busy

While Miss T and I wait for the news of a dear friend who will be giving birth any day now I can't help but notice that something has changed. My beautiful girlfriend is about to start the mumma journey with a brand spanking new bubba and something has happened to my bubba. She has been replaced with this busy individual who I see going about her daily business. I've become somewhat of an observer. She has her schedule and she is sticking to it. Let me tell you she does not stop!

In my peripheral I see her walking, kissing (practically anything…lounge, dog, lambie, phone, they are all the same to Miss T and all deserving of a kiss), collecting, sorting, arranging...even answering the phone (which phone you ask…my phone, her play phone, lambie acting as a phone...let’s not worry about the details) with this cute little 'eeoo' which matches the tone of my own 'hello'. It looks like we are starting our next little chapter and I for one am not sure I am ready. I even got excited when she woke last night. I thought, Oh yay I can cuddle her like old times. It was lovely and cuddly but the 10 kg that is Miss T started to get just a little exhausting. I am pretty sure a newborn never felt so heavy.

I'm stoked but also slightly devastated that my little baby is growing up. As irrational as it is, I still would like to wrap her up and put her back in my belly where she belongs. But instead I have to endure her almost teenage like maturity. Miss T is so busy these days I am hoping a visit to the hospital to meet the new bubba will fit in with her schedule. I will have to wait and see…

the apple of her eye

There is no doubt about it, Apollo is the apple of Miss T’s eye and I say he deserves it. This poor boy didn't know what had hit him when we arrived home with our new tiny buddle of joy. And for last 10 months he has endured a heap of crying, many disturbed nights, a fair amount of prodding and poking and he lost his place in our bed…. He has had to learn to share his mumma (I do get occasion looks of jealousy that break my heart) and although he is still loved unconditionally the reality of Miss T has meant just a little bit less time for Apollo and a decrease in walks by…lets say 20%. And he has had no say in the matter. Like I said, he deserves it.

I must admit we were totally cool, calm and collected about introducing our teeny tiny new bubba to our 20 kilo+ big baby Apollo...that was until we arrived home. If you are a parent I am sure you know the feeling when you hop into the car on the way home from the hospital or the first time you arrive home and you think OH MY GOSH it is just us!!! It is almost laughable it is so crazy. No nurses, no buzzer, no friendly little man bringing tea around every half hour (I still miss this)...When we walked through the door I was almost frozen with fear and honestly thought how it this going to work….Well let me tell you it did. And it does swimmingly every single day.

My two little monkeys have become the best of friends and have already started working as a cheeky little team. It’s Miss T and Apollo against the world…or mumma rather. Apollo still gets the majority of the open mouth kisses, they are obsessed, I can’t stop them! They play ball with his disgusting rubber ball that makes me want to barf...again they won’t stop. It appears Miss T’s love is even more unconditional as she almost likes the doggy slobber…

Miss T has been feeding him from her high chair whenever she gets the chance but now they have stepped it up and she sneakily passes food below the tray, they both think they have mum fooled on this one! And now it looks like Miss T is starting to show an interest in taking on the duties of dog walker. Poor Apollo is chased around the house with Miss T trying desperately to get his collar on his neck and although she is making incredible progress with her walking (we are up to 8 steps at a time…too cute) I fear that it will be some time before she will be able to reward Apollo with the outcome he expects. But almost as though they are already scheming I can’t bare to leave him waiting for his walk so we inevitably all head out for a leisurely stroll. Your apple thanks you Miss T.

coffee with a side of construction

Miss T and I headed out for a coffee this morning. For once (well lately anyway) we had a lovely time. Ok that sounds terrible...many of our coffee dates are lovely but this particular one was without a tantrum as my weak skim latte arrived at the table and she was particularly happy and content sitting by my side. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the bulldozers were bulldozing?! Yes that's right! We enjoyed our coffee with a side of construction. Almost in unison we sat and they commenced excavation. And Miss T loved it. It made me laugh out loud and Miss T following her recently acquired social cues also laughed. So it was coffee, construction and laughter on this friday morning. Never in my wildest dreams would I have believed that I could actually enjoy a coffee accompanied by the chaos of a construction site. Never would I have believed that I could in fact love this coffee and that I would feel so calm and satisfied to have managed such a smooth experience on this particular morning...they can't say becoming a mum doesn't change you!

our obsession

Miss T's latest obsession and I mean OBSESSION is my take away coffee cups. This fixation has only appeared in the last few weeks. When I think about it this was bound to happen and Miss T really isn’t to blame. Since her birth Miss T has witnessed me drink a minimum of 2 coffees a day...by my calculations that's (I'm averaging here!) around 60 a month or at least 600 since she was born. Ok now I'm a little embarrassed... Not that I need to justify myself but it is my vice and I might remind you Miss T took 9 months to actually sleep…Anyway it is what it is. Perhaps next year I should try to cap my obsession to one a day... So anyway Miss T is obsessed and quite clearly I am also (so who am I to judge) but her little meltdowns are getting the better of me. I have been trying all sorts of tactics to deter the tantrums that are to follow, I have even been going to the lengths of washing my previous days coffee cup ready to give to her as I order mine. This has even failed. Why? Well because yesterday the cup was green and today it's maroon or white or black. This morning the hubby suggested that I collect a cup from each of my locals so that I have the full collection ready in my hand bag. At least I can sleep at night knowing my little lady is getting very good with her categorising of colours and shapes...Maroon and white cup featuring a very Florence Broadhurst inspired design today Miss T? No problem, I've got it!

P.S talk about coffee cups getting fancy! And if you can name the coffee brand of the cup described above then perhaps you are also obsessed!

nighttime swim

This is the third time I have done this. Run out of nappies entirely...well other than her swimming nappies recently bought for her first trip to the pool. Appropriate for bedtime? I mean I guess they would work functionally but I wonder about comfort for my little monkey. I know what you are thinking. Don’t I notice the nappy supply going down…No not really, one minute the basket is full then next minute I am thinking 'oh crap we are out of nappies'. Why don't I buy them online and in bulk? Firstly this would require thought and secondly the space to store a large quantity of nappies. Yes occasionally I am heading to the supermarket or chemist and think to myself, 'I wonder if we need nappies' but unfortunately this thought is almost always intercepted by 'Oh actually I might grab another takeaway coffee' or 'Oh how super cute are the new bonds leggings, better buy a pair’.

On the previous two occasions the hubby saved the day stopping by the local supermarket on his way home from work, probably also thinking, doesn’t she notice the nappy supply going down??? This time it was me arriving home at about 6pm from yet another ‘hens’ celebration. The first thing I heard as I opened our gate was ‘babe, have we run out of nappies?’ and the first thing I saw was Miss T and her cute little botbot playing on the floor. Hopefully Miss T will never have to go to bed in her swimming nappy...



Miss T's first trip to the pool,
Swimming nappy in correct habitat

security breach

Let's face it I was bound to fail on this one. My intentions were grand and of course I do know how important it is to safety proof our house for Miss T but each attempt to date (minus our baby gate) has been one massive fail.

Why was I bound to fail you ask, Well I purchased a fabulous ‘home safety essentials’ pack with over 50 plugs/catches/latches/locks to safety proof out house. Within it I discovered I had practically enough plugs to fill a 10 bedroom mansions. Miss T and I do not live in a 10 bedroom home. In our little mansion we have 2 bedrooms and I needed to use 7 of these plugs in total. This fabulous pack then sat in our tiny kitchen…I mean mansion of a kitchen… taking up space for another 2 months. One Sunday recently I harassed the hubby to help me sort out the house and this is when I discovered we could only use another 3 items. No joke! The remaining 40 catches, larches and locks were useless to us! Now I am sure others would find this pack useful. I do not blame the pack as I am sure it would have also been useful if I actually read what was in it.
 
Why else was I bound to fail?  Well the 3 items that I did use…3x multipurpose latches that I attached with confidence and satisfaction have not worked for their intended purpose. It appears that I have fastened them to the slightly wrong type of draw or cabinet or WHATEVER...is shouldn't be this hard!!!  How did I find this out? Miss T has essentially wondered around the house getting into everything  that is ‘out of bounds’. Today in particular has seen these ‘out of bounds’ spaces almost becoming little challenges or obstacle courses for my little lady. If she could speak, I am sure she would be thanking me for spicing up her daily grind. So it's back to the shops for me. Maybe Miss T is just too clever but I fear I have myself to blame!

shades of green

Its 7am Sunday morning, Both Miss T and I are feeling slightly shabby. Me from a hen's night out and poor Miss T from what seems like the beginning of a little cold. So here I am dealing with a snotty, squeely Miss T who obviously missed her mumma last night and who is therefore clinging to me for dear life. Even sipping a hot cup of tea is near impossible...And I cannot help but reflect on the week that was.

It was a week of replacing. Last night I replaced my regular Saturday haunt (couch, take away, hubby, movie and occasional intermissions of Miss T soothing) with a world of champagne, laughter, big hair, high heels and tiny dresses. I had a fabulous night out and loved every minute of it but I did have a moment in an ‘oh so classy establishment’ at about 1 am where I realised that the grass isn’t always greener. Give me the couch any day. I did my time and now it is bye bye big hair and short shorts! Ok who am I kidding I’ll keep the big hair.

During the week I replaced home mumma with working mumma. Again this experience was a nice reminder that my patch of grass is super green and something I hope I remember the next time I commence a whinge session where the hubby usually intercepts me with ‘seriously babe, is it really all that bad’. Miss T had a daddy/ daughter day on the Wednesday and the hubby assured me that it is in fact all pretty green. He said he would swap places with me any day. I spent the entire day on Friday convinced the universe was going to punish me for being a working mumma and that I would miss out on Miss T’s first steps. She has been so very close lately. At 5.50pm Friday evening, when the house was quiet and it was just me and my girl, Miss T took her first two steps. Yep I am all about the green on this Sunday morning.

New games with dad

who's got separation anxiety?

So today I replaced my role of mummy with my pre Miss T role of teacher. Why? Oh to spice things up a bit. Did I enjoy it... well you know it was alright but unfortunately there was A LOT of separation anxiety going on...for me anyway. Miss T had a fabulous time it seems hanging with her Yaya. While I clock watched, Miss T danced her day away.

At approximately 11am a sweet little student asked me, 'Are you enjoying your holiday Miss'. I almost laughed. I mean the previous 20 minutes sipping a hot tea felt more like the holiday he was referring to. Thankfully I took that extra moment to remind myself that he was only 13 and I was an adult....and how was he suppose to know I was on no holiday!!! Bless him I thought and replied, I'm having a great holiday thank you. (I might add that he had witnessed my ever growing belly the previous year).

Miss T and I reunited over dinner. I couldn't stop watching her, I swear she looked bigger, stronger, wiser. She had this confident look on her face as though she was saying 'what's wrong mummy, I'm fine, what about you?’

So smug!