I’m going for a light pack this trip. 4 days. 4 outfits. 1 book. I bag of toiletries. 1 pair of shoes. 1 Hubs.
That’ll do Wifey. That’ll do.
Category: 250 in 2017
I am committing to writing 250 posts in 2017. It was going to be 365 but I think that’s a little ambitious…
Swinging
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!”
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
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!
2 months down
Tomorrow it will be March. Crazy right?
The weather is cooling down somewhat THANK GOODNESS!
I almost forgot to blog today, but here I am.
I’m crazy itchy and even though I’m sure it’s not serious, I am going to get some blood tests done on Thursday because oh my gosh this itch is torture.
Kids in Dadda’s boots. It never gets old, right?
It’s bed time.
I’m so freaking itchy.
Sydney bound
Hubs registered for a course in Sydney a little while ago, and as usual, I made all of his arrangements. Not because he can’t, but because I love that kind of thing. I love booking flights (even if they are not for me), I love researching accommodation, and I don’t mind that he gets a week “off” from family life, because I know that at the end of the day, he always misses us and would rather be at home.
Then a couple of weeks ago, out of the blue, one of my friends in Sydney told me that he and his partner are moving back to the UK in May, and if I was going to be in Brisbane sometime before then, he’d love to come up to catch up.
So I did one better and, to cut a long story short, told him I’d see him in Sydney! The long story is that Hubs obviously thought it was a great idea that I come with him, and after umming and aaaaahhing about taking either one, two, or three of the kids, I decided to take none. Well, just the one. The last time I was in Sydney, I was pregnant with Darby! Has it seriously been almost 3 years??
Because I have the world’s best parents, they will be making the trip up here this Saturday, to spend a few days up here looking after the kids. Hubs and I leave on Sunday morning and I fly back Wednesday midday, while Hubs doesn’t get home until the Friday.
I have two very very dear friends in Sydney, and their wonderful partners, and even though the city doesn’t exactly do much for me (too big!!) I can’t wait to catch up for coffees and brunches and all good things. Hubs also has one of his best mates down there, so it’s going to be quite a lovely few days!
I might even sleep in a little…
I am adult, hear me roar
It sometimes feels like the more exhausted I am, the more I can get done. It’s that a thing? It’s like I’m too tired to even try and talk myself out of doing the day to day stuff that is my life; like I’m so exhausted that I just keep going and going with one more thing before I collapse in a heap, that once I’ve finished X, Y, Z, I start right back at A, B, C. Because that’s what adulting is all about, right?
Washing? Done. Oh look! More washing!
Paperwork? Filed! Let me just flick through these papers I found on the fridge. More filing!
Bills? Paid! Let me just check the letterboxohmygoodnessyou’rekiddingmeratesagain?????
It never stops does it? And that’s okay. That’s life. 80% of the time I can totally handle it. Like tonight. This weekend has been huge. As mentioned we had a pretty big crowd over on Friday night and at 7:30am Saturday morning, our friend the carpenter turned up to start work on the ensuite frame. Not that we knew – after not getting to bed until after midnight we had put cartoons on for the kids at 7 and promptly gone back to sleep! Until 8:30! Turns out Chance let him in (he knows he very well) Ha ha. Lucky he knows how to make himself at home!
I took the kids out for the morning and lunch while the boys worked away and then there were post-work beers from 2 til 4.30pm. I hadn’t even started cleaning up from the night before, and now there was sawdust all over the kitchen and floor as well as the dozens of glasses on the deck table and dirty dishes overflowing in the sink.
Somehow we had another late night last night (watched the new Tarzan movie. Ummm I kind of LOVED IT but didn’t want to go on about it to Hubs!! Ha!) And then we spent the morning and lunch and early arvo at Yeppoon with friends. Another huge day and I still had the groceries to buy/get home/put away.
Needless to say (then why say it!??) by 7:10pm I was thrilled that the kids were in bed but the tasks ahead of me were daunting.
Clean the kitchen (I was still catching up from yesterday!), make school lunch, bring in washing (look! More washing!) And blog.
“Just one hour, Wifey. That’s all it will take.” And I was pretty spot on too. I was walking down the stairs at 8pm to get the washing off the line.
And although I’m exhausted, getting back to my original point, I’m still thinking I could get a few more things done before I crash on the couch with a tub of Pineapple Chobani yoghurt (on special again this week!) and a bit of Parks and Recreation.
I think I’ve earned it, don’t you?
Looking forward but not wishing away
Don’t wish it away; Don’t look at it, like it’s forever.
I’ve heard the song “I guess that’s why they call it the blues” a hundred times or more over the years, but isn’t it funny how you really hear lines of songs when they reflect your life?
A few months ago I was feeling like I couldn’t wait for the next phase of a particular part of parenting to begin (I can’t remember what it was specifically). Then I heard that line and it really hit me.
It won’t be like this forever. And that can be a happy and a sad thing. It’s pretty cliché for mums to say how quickly the years go by and to urge other mums to enjoy their young children. And I do feel like I make an effort to do this but every now and then things pop up and I wonder how it will be in five years time.
Like watching movies with my kids at home.
I don’t like to just put a movie on for them and leave them to it. I love watching with them. But when I do, all they do is climb all over me and ask me for food. And it’s no fun for any of us! Well not for me anyway. It’s mostly Darby (climbing over me) and Quinn (asking for food) and Chance often just wants to be as close to me as possible which I can’t really complain about. I know I’ll miss that when it stops.
So I guess I just have to keep reminding myself that in five years time, things will be completely different, as they were five years ago when all I could think about was trying to get Chance to sleep for more than two hours at a time at any time of the night or day.
So much to enjoy in this phase of our lives.
I just can’t believe it
Actually I can.
The one day I wanted Darby to have a long sleep and he wakes up after an hour and 20 minutes.
Seriously! And I was asleep for 45 of those minutes. But look. It’s 11:47pm and I need to get today’s blog published before I get distracted again.
It’s been another great evening on our deck surrounded by friends and kids and food and booze (for everyone else) and I’m feeling grateful.
I may get onto the computer another day.
I need to sit down at the computer
Most of my blog posts this year, just like this one, have been written on my phone. You can tell when I have used the laptop – the post is longer and well-edited.
Tomorrow I will have a two-three hour block where Darby will be asleep and hopefully I can sit down and write something of substance.
Until then, here is a cute photo of Quinny as a toddler.
And Chance looking at me looking at my Darby bump.
And my little cuties enjoying ice cream in our tiny stinking hot courtyard in Mount Isa
Hopefully that’s enough distraction for now. Okay maybe one more…
Gosh were they ever really that little??
FYI these photos are early 2014 for those of you playing at home ?