Can't believe I just said that!

Geez the things you do for your kids! I didn't realise the indignity of parenthood..though because of the kids...I have an excuse.

Megan is still toilet training...she hasnt quite got the hang of things perfectly yet. And so we discuss things...in detail! We look at things...in detail! EVERYONE in the family gets congratulations and high-fives

People would surely look at me strangely, were it not for a littlie nearby! And even then.....

T.G.I.F.

It's 6:55pm Friday night. My favourite time off the week. Not specifically this time, but Friday afternoon/evening. It's the furthest away from work on Monday morning!!

No work, no meetings, no planning....my home is a work free zone. The weekend means time for my kids, hubby and (sadly) housework. If I'm lucky, maybe a little retail therapy or gardening/home improvement.

Don't really care what I'll be doing, what the weather is like or where I have to go. As long as my family is around, I'll be happy!!

You want what??

I have boring tastes, no doubt about it. I don't have a high fashion wardrobe or hairstyle. And my mum will attest to my fussiness with food as a kid (see earlier blogs for more details on that!!)

Since marrying Michael, I have battled with the flavours of his heritage. Mike's parents come from England and so, despite being born in Australia, Mike has English taste buds. We have HP sauce, Yorkshire puddings and English rissoles. Some of these flavours I have come to like, others DEFINATELY not!!

The flavour combinations are what really throws me and it seems to have been passed down to Megan. One of the first cringe-worthy meals Mike had was cheese and onion on a sandwich. You might think that sounds ok but I don't.

The other day, Megan was about to have a peanut butter sandwich until she saw the cheese in the fridge and decided to add cheese to her lunch. My initial thought was "no way" but I remembered that I'm boring and shouldn't restrict anyone else. Still, we thought she would take one bite and ask for a new sandwich, but no. "Delicious!" she says.

Today she trialled Vegemite and ham. Apparently another success story. Who knows what the request will be tomorrow! But I won't question her. I'll just baulk while I make her combination and hope it will be the next flavour sensation!! She might create the next "salt & vinegar chips"!!!!! (yuk!!!)

Luck????

I don't really consider myself to be lucky. But the stars were definitely aligned when our local council arranged my Mother's Group.

We did the standard 6weeks at the community centre with a maternal health nurse discussing young baby issues. At that time, it was great to talk about the milestones and diffilculties of new mums and bubs, knowing that we weren't the only ones having troubles.

After the initial community centre visits, we decided to keep things going, alternating houses each week. Originally there were about 12 mums/bubs. Some mums have returned to work, others have moved or drifted away. But there are still 7 or so regular groupies, still meeting each week, more than 3 years on!

I'm actually really surprised that such a random selection of women who just happened to have babies around the same time have clicked as friends so well. We come from different backgrounds, different careers, different ages. But I consider these mum's among my best friends.

Despite losing some families, our group has grown and grown. Everyone has had (or is about to have) baby number two, and no doubt number threes will appear soon too!

We still do group birthdays and a Christmas party with presents each year and even the dads are getting to know each other more and more. I even deliberately set my day off from work to be mothers group day, so that my kids didn't miss playing with their friends, and I didn't miss the chats and laughs with my good friends.

For no other reason than peace of mind at such a full on, uncertain time with a newborn baby, I would recommend ALL new mums join a mothers group. Who knows, it might turn into rich friendships like my group has!!

Tick tock body clock

Whoever said 5 o'clock in the morning was morning, needs to be shot!! Well maimed at least. Better yet, let them get up at 5am EVERY morning to a little boy who is WIDE awake. That should teach them that 5am might be AM, but it is defiantly not morning!!

At 5am, it's still dark, cold, and quiet. There are no birds chirping...they're all still asleep. There is no traffic noise, only the sound of clocks ticking and snoring husbands. To me all of those things point towards night time!

7am used to seem early. Now it's the promise land of sleep-ins. Maybe one day Alex's body clock will shift out of nighttime and back into morning like regular people!!

Hopping...?

Learning to talk must be frustrating. If we learn a new language we already have a base language for reference but as a kid there is no reference point. And it's probably even harder when families have their own little dialects.

I know we do. We hop, for example. Not literally of course. God no!! No energy for that!! But we do hop... Hop off the couch, hop up on the chair, hop in and out of the shower. Poor Alex will be confused when he learns what hopping really means!!

Been a while....

Well you might have thought I had disappeared, been eaten by lions or perhaps joined the space program. No such excitement really. I've just been busy.

What a mundane reason! Busy!! But it's the truth. Work and children have taken up my consciousness and energy and I haven't had time for anything else. Well I haven't MADE time for anything else.

That's the reality of it. I could probably make time if I put my mind to it but I guess with lack of energy comes lack of motivation. I've always believed that "inactivity breeds inactivity" so my goal is to change that. I'm hoping that with extended daylight coming into summer will allow me to start to take some time for myself.

Lke I said.... That's the plan!!