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!

10 things on the 10th

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10 things about me that I’m sure drive Hubs crazy

1. I change my mind. A lot. Sometimes mid-sentence.
Sometimes we will have decided on a certain course of action, and then I’ll go away and decide that we should do it a different way, and sometimes maybe I forget to tell him about the new plan. Ha ha. Lucky for him, I changed my mind about having another baby. (He always wanted 4 or 5 or +++ but I had to come around.)

2. I ask him to do numerous tasks and expect them all to be done at once.
An example – I’ll ask him to upload some photos to the computer, and get a movie ready for the kids for Friday family movie night, and to take the rubbish downstairs, and to help Chance tidy up the Lego. Then 10 minutes later I’ll ask if he’s done.

3. I rush him.
I have this unrealistic expectation and desire that I arrive at everything “on time”. Even if there is no real “on time”. Hubs has taken to asking me “is it possible to be late for this event?” ie is there even a starting time? He has very little sense of urgency or concept of time and I know that he hates to be rushed for no good reason.

4. I complain a lot about the heat. And being tired all the time. And lots of other things.
I’m really working on my complaining. As in, I’m trying to not complain so damn much. It’s a waste of breath, it’s counter-productive and it changes nothing. It also exacerbates the situation – if I complain I’m tired instead of just getting on with things, I feel more tired, and so on.

5. I have a tendency to overreact to things sometimes.
I’m kind of a “react now, think after” kind of girl. Instead of taking a moment to evaluate, I have a tendency towards the dramatics.

6. I get cranky.
Sometimes my mood can change very quickly (I currently blame hormones!!) and Hubs is like “ummm what the heck just happened?” Then I have to try and snap out of it. Something I don’t like to do!

7. I hang my bags on the backs of chairs.
This one is just funny. Even though Hubs isn’t the tidiest Hubs in the world, he has organised piles of things and he hates things hanging on the backs of chairs/on door handles/on curtain rods. Ha ha. I’m such a shocker for this one.

8. When I tidy up I don’t necessarily put things exactly where they should go – I’m more of a stuff ‘n go kind a gal. Hey, it works for me!

9. I sometimes undercook his toast.
This one is a funny one. He told me after we had only been together for a few months, when I had made him a piece of “warm bread” as he describes it now, that he likes his toast cooked more, and that he’d rather tell me now (then) than have undercooked toast for the rest of his life. Sometimes I do it just to stir him…

10. I can sometimes be over-sensitive to my needs and very insensitive to his.
I always considered myself a very sensitive person, but I do know I can be very sensitive to my own needs and feelings and disregard others. Something I have definitely worked on over the years.

I’m lucky he’s such a patient man!

Home scream home

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Look I’m not going to lie. It’s good to be home. Even though a couple more nights with Hubs in Syds would have been amazing, I did miss the the kids and was keen to get back to them. I think part of that is because I have a renewed energy to do more with them; a great desire to be more present and to just play with them more.

Enter the screaming banshee.

Darby has literally just entered into a screaming phase and boy can this kid scream. Your first impulse is to throw your hand over his mouth just to stop the noise as quickly as possible. Not an ideal solution but an effective one in the short term.

And I don’t know if it was the thunder storm that rolled in this afternoon, that I’d been away, the fact that studies have shown that kids do in fact behave 800 times worse when their mother is in the room, or a combination of these factors, but the kids pretty much went feral and bat sh*t crazy this evening.

Just for me.

I’ve been assured by my parents that the kids have been perfectly well behaved in my absence, apart from a bit of screaming, which obviously is a relief but is also entirely unfair.

They saved it all for me. Aren’t they just darling? I certainly didn’t get eased back into family life but it’s what I’ve come to expect, and now that they are all in bed, sound asleep I can feel grateful for my wonderful kids.

Come home quickly Hubs. Your kids are missing you!

Obligatory Sydney pics

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This one

This one

This one

And this one is a new one

Had a pretty funny day. The weather was a bit crazy – windy and rainy and sunny and repeat. I did a lot of walking, some coffee drinking, caught up with my other Sydney friend, ate yummy Japanese food (so much food on this trip!) found an awesome op-shop, had to come and rest because of sciatica pain but I was very happy and exhausted.

Then went out again and helped Hubs choose suit material and designs for a tailor-made suit (yeeow!) and watched him get fitted and choose buttons and details and all that fun stuff, then finished up with an amazing dinner with Kel and her partner at an authentic Malaysian place.

Have I mentioned the food this trip has been incredible!? We have been in luck every time.

I head home in the morning and to be honest I do miss the kids! I’ve had some great sleep and sleep-ins and I feel recharged to get back in the parenting game. I know I have a few crazy months ahead of me but I’m certainly feeling energetic and optimistic about this time that is to come.

In 12 hours I’ll be homeward bound. It’s been great!

Day 2 in Syd

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Unfortunately the bed in the Air bnb we’re staying at is only a double. Fortunately I couldn’t give a crap because not only did I not have to get up to kids all night (only to pee. Twice. Damn pregnancy bladder!) but I also got to enjoy it until 9.30 this morning. The last 3 hours by myself! Now that is luxury for a mum of three, let me tell you!

I headed down for a leisurely and delicious brunch around 10 (eggs benny of course) and then got my nails done. After which I headed around the corner to Darling Harbour to find a shady spot to read my book.

I then got a call from my dear friend Kel to see if I was up for lunch and a spot of shopping. Heck yes please!

After a light lunch and a look through a huge Salvos we ended up at a super cute and tasty gelato bar. A selfie was definitely in order.

Much like Guy and Hubs, Kel and I have been friends for over 20 years, and have been through a mountain of things together. So much history already, and so many more memories to be made in the years and decades to come I’m sure.

My time in Sydney is already half over but I’m appreciating every minute. I’m particularly appreciating the fact that I missed a 38 degree day in Rocky today. Thanks mum and dad! And sorry about that!

See you soon!

This Guy

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These guys

Hubs and Guy have been friends since high school. Both geeks, both gamers, both lots of fun to be around.

Both on completely different life paths but can always meet back for a drink and some banter.

Thanks for a great night!

So far so good Sydney!

Swinging

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Wow what a day. I have experienced the following in the last 12 hours, in this order, and I blame hormones:

Exhaustion

Relief

Happiness

Elation

Exhaustion (again)

Slept for 90 minutes

Hot and sweaty (after my sleep)

Hungry. Okay hangry

Impatience

Frustration

Bewilderment

Regretful

Then I cried

Now I’m a bit better but tired from my cry and just want to go to bed but refuse to because it’s Friday night and it’s not even 9pm. I’m also sitting in the media room with the air conditioning on and finally not feeling hot for the first time today, while Hubs freezes his butt off. Luckily it’s all about me.

I wonder what roller coaster ride of emotions tomorrow will bring!? One thing’s for sure – I’ll bet Hubs can’t wait!

“Octonauts, to your stations!”

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Alternatively, “Octonauts, let’s do this.”

Bath time can be a bit funny at our place. Sometimes, usually on a Friday evening when there is a movie to watch, it’s a 5-minute affair for all three of them. They get wet down, soaped up and then hosed off before being shipped to the other parent for PJ-assist.

Other evenings,  like tonight,  there’s no hurry. Tonight, the kids played Octonauts in the (ridiculously tiny) bath tub we have (a big plastic tub from Masters that they barely all fit in) for almost 40 minutes. It was honestly the cutest freaking thing you ever heard. Such music to my ears and I had time to clean the kitchen from start to finish.

It doesn’t happen all the time, but I’ve noticed they’ve been getting along better and better lately. Darby is getting to the age where he can join in on games instead of just trampling over them. And the older two are getting much better at including him.

Just bliss for this mama.

Care for Darby

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I went down to the child care centre I had chosen to send Darby to, to drop of his paperwork. It’s been sitting on various horizontal surfaces for a couple of weeks now. I was in no hurry as I had been told there were no spots available on the mornings I wanted.

Turns out, an hour before I got there, a spot became available every Thursday morning and every second Friday morning.

You know those moments in your life where you feel like things were just meant to be? This was one of those moments. It’s not a big thing, but it’s a thing that was on my list that has worked out exactly how I had hoped.

I’ve had a lot of guilt around sending my kids to childcare over the years. I don’t work so surely it’s my job to take care of my children 24/7 right?

The thing is if we were near family, I dare say my parents would have one or two of them for a few hours here and there. But I don’t have family nearby so this is the next best thing. I need a break to recharge and just get stuff done without the kids “helping”. I am very grateful that Hubs gets it too.

I think the guilt will always be there (maybe until they are all in school??) and over the years I have learnt to own my decision. I certainly don’t judge other mums who “don’t work” for putting their kids in childcare. I think I’ve put off putting him in care until now because quite frankly he’s so easy to have around. And he’s just at such a cute age where he repeats everything the older two say and do. It’s too adorable.

I know that I will fill the time with mostly essential mundane tasks that just have to be done but I will also be making an effort to have coffee with friends when I can as well. Hubs does call me a latte mum so I need to live up to my title!