Author: Renae

Living life as a wife, a stay at home mama of 3 kids under 5, a marriage celebrant, a craft and sewing amateur, a cooked breakfast lover, coffee enthusiast, extroverted socialite, and most recently, someone who is trying to keep a tidy house. It's tough I tell you!

I know I’ll be made to eat my words

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But kids get easier the older they get, right? I mean my Mum and her dear friend always say “the challenges don’t ever go away, they just change” or words to that effect. And yeah I get that. Maybe I’ve just been eyeball deep in the same challenges on repeat for the last 5 years that I’m looking forward to different challenges?

Like I’m really looking forward to not having to run interference with 2-year-olds every 30 seconds all day; I’m kind of looking forward to not having to wipe tiny bums anymore; I’ll be glad when my children are all old enough for school drop off and pick up to not involve me tearing after a toddler while trying to hold in my pelvic floor; I’m looking forward to engaging in more in depth conversations with the kids and reading chapter books with them.

I’m not wishing this time away and as I said, I know parents of older kids are reading this and laughing at me while shaking their heads. It’s all a challenge I suppose. The trick is to enjoy the ride!

Yee-ha.

Nearly got away with it

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We went to Yeppoon today with my friend and her three kids as both of our husbands were working, and you know, safety in numbers. The weather forecast wasn’t great but we were determined. The first couple of hours looked a lot like this

Threatening but nothing much happening

The kids had an awesome time at the water park. It was a little more stressful for me than usual as I lost Darby 3 times – little bugger is doing runners and exploring as he pleases which had me on red alert the whole time!

And just as we were settling in to lunch the rains finally came down

Darby was safely tucked away in the stroller (where I had put him to stop him running away from me!)

In one of the slight lulls in rain we decided to make a dash for the car. The lull didn’t last long and we ended up getting completely drenched. It was pretty funny.

Look I’m not going to lie. I had contemplated just staying home all day with the kids and watching movies but I’m glad we got out and about. We all do better after we’ve been out of the house for the morning and we had a great afternoon and evening to start the week off well.

Hope your Sunday was a good one too.

Sometimes it’s all I need to do

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There’s a common belief going round about how, if you think you’re a crap mum, you’re actually not because the fact that you feel overwhelming guilt about being impatient with your 6-year-old, or feeling terrible about yelling at your 4-year-old, or getting so upset when your 2-year-old throws something ELSE off the deck, means you care. It means you want to do better. It means you will try harder the next day. It means you will read your kids their bed time stories even though your tank is empty and you still have to clean the kitchen and make the next day’s lunches. And it means you’ll tuck them in to bed with huge cuddles and unlimited kisses and your heart will burst and you will vow to try harder tomorrow.

There are some moments where I honestly feel like the worst mum in the world but I know that these moments pass and my kids are very forgiving and they teach me so much every day and I do vow to try harder every day.

I’m scared to admit that I’m struggling at the moment. School pick up is particularly hard when I have to take Darby. He’s a runner, but up until today I had it all under control. Today he decided that my threats of leaving and statements of “okay bye Darby” were empty. He called my bluff and didn’t stop running down the hill. I could feel the tears coming as I tried to run after him, with my heavy belly and weak bladder, and I’m so glad that the car park he ran into was quiet, and that it was a dead end.

Back in the safety of my car, after carrying him back up the hill, the tears flowed freely. It’s a daily occurrence at the moment. I call it my daily cry and it just seems to be a part of this pregnancy’s third trimester. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I also know that I will find a way.

As my dear friend reminded me today, only 11 more pick-ups to go before I get a break for two weeks. And in that time I will definitely be putting some plans in place to help with pick-ups in term two.

This blog post was supposed to be a short one about lunch boxes. Sometimes all I need to do is make the lunches and I feel a bit better. Like I’m slightly on top of things, even if it’s fleeting. I guess lunch boxes can really bring out the stuff that’s bubbling under the surface?

Who’da thunk it?

Talk about a cool change!

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People have been asking me for months how I’ve been coping with the heat and to be honest, up until three weeks ago I was going okay. Then it got hotter and I got bigger and all of a sudden I feel completely sapped of energy and patience.

Monday and Tuesday this week were particularly hot and humid and I was on the brink of tears for most of both days. And actually reduced to tears towards the end of my parenting day yesterday. 5pm meltdowns aren’t just for kids I tell you. We had the a/c cranking last night while watching a movie and kept it on as I fell asleep.

Then the rain came and the temperature dropped and I’ve had a spring in my step all day. Well comparatively anyway. Today has been so lovely. Rainy and cool and just what I needed for a break from the heat.

I’m not sure how long it will last but I promise I will be enjoying every minute.

UPDATE: It didn’t even last until school pick up ? I walked outside and almost gave up on the spot. Back to teary and cranky.

What happens at Fit Mums…

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…is sometimes mortifying. And I’m not talking about the burpees or bear crawling or diaphragming which incidentally are all near impossible when over 30 weeks pregnant.

No I’m talking about this.

My little nugget decided to throw a wooden block across the room and crack!! I was absolutely mortified. My hands flew to my mouth but before I could even say anything our trainer, who has five kids of his own, told me not to worry about it; that is was bound to happen at some stage and he’s surprised it hadn’t happened sooner.

I thought he could do less damage if I put the gloves on. Gotta love fit mums.

And some nights

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I just don’t have it in me.

Even though I know an hour is all it would take tonight to do the kitchen and some tidying up that would make the rest of the week easier, I just can’t do it.

The heat + pregnancy + three kids is leaving me so drained and I’m just giving myself permission to rest. As long as my beautiful children are fed and loved, a full dishwasher, full sink and full basket of clothes makes no difference. Their bellies and hearts are just as full and that suits me just fine.

There’s always tomorrow.

Aah Hogs Breath…

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…you never fail to disappoint.

Now don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a Hogs-bash. Quite the contrary. It’s almost impressive how, no matter which Hogs Breath I go to, and I’ve probably been to only a few, and no matter how many times I’ve been, maybe only a dozen in my whole life, the food is always the same lacklustre quality.

They do not know how to cook a good steak. They don’t even know how to cut a good piece to cook! They pretty much always overcook their steaks, which I think was demonstrated by the language used by the 10 of us ordering tonight:

“I’ll have it as rare as I can.” The steaks still came out close to well done. Seriously. All of them. Hubs’ had the tiniest tinge of pink if you squinted, as did mine (I ordered mine medium).

And can I just say those curly fries aren’t all that? You can buy them in the frozen section at Woollies and cook them yourself. I didn’t even get them – I saw sweet potato wedges and was all over that goodness. They were the best thing on my plate by far. And I can probably buy those exact ones at Woollies too.

Look I’m honestly not complaining. My expectations were met. Those expectations just happened to be very very low, but hey! I wasn’t disappointed. Just underwhelmed.

And we still had a wonderful night as we were with good friends who had organised a night out, and I didn’t have to cook or clean up.

The only thing that did leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth was that it cost $80 for two mediocre steaks and a drink each. I don’t want to brag, but Dad brought up some super thick rib fillet steaks last time that Hubs cooked/smoked on the BBQ and I tell you what they were some of the best we’ve ever had.

So thank you Hogs Breath for remaining underwhelming and for helping us appreciate what we have at home.

I may never shop again

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It has taken me a really long time to truly embrace meal planning. I knew in theory that it was a good idea but I didn’t like the idea of being so restricted. Well I’m pleased to say that it has been great and has delivered everything it promised – less stress around the 5pm mark, no thinking about coming up with a meal idea at 4pm and realising I don’t have all the ingredients. Plus we are definitely eating better.

Speaking of delivering, I also finally gave online shopping with Woollies a go. I spent about half an hour ordering on Thursday and opted for delivery today. Oh my gosh what a game changer. I always said things like “I like picking my own fruit and veg and I like to get the reduced to clear bargains.”

Stuff that. I like to not have to haul groceries in and out of the car and up the stairs twice a week. Yes, they brought them up the stairs for goodness sake! I may never go to the shops again people!

I also signed up for unlimited deliveries for six months so mid week top up shops are covered.

Apart from all the plastic bags (I normally bring my own reusable bags) I give it two thumbs up!