Looking in the Mirror

Today I was back on cleaning again and as I scrubbed my toilet I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

I thought to myself, this is it, this is my life.......

But then I realised that even if I didn't have kids and I still had my office job, I'd still have to clean the toilet! Even worse, I'd have to use my valuable weekend time to do it. Plus this is the life I chose and in between all the toilet cleaning there are amazing moments that I would never get in any office.

At least in my "office" I can knock off early when I want to and really I can just not bother to clean the toilet if my day is going that badly. I'm lucky I'm such a good boss!

From Martha Stewart to Bill Murray

I hear you say, what the??

I'm talking about the endless cycle of ups and downs of being a stay at home mum.


Two days ago - I pureed my own fruit for my baby, very Martha Stewart, especially for me. Don't think I'm too wonderful though. My departure from my good friends Heinz is mainly driven by financial constraints.

Today - Groundhog Day, hence the Bill Murray reference. The washing is my most tormenting roundabout that I just can't get off. No sooner have you sorted and soaked and sprayed and scrubbed and then washed it, then it's time to hang it all out. Of course then it's time to fold it all and then find a spot for it to live before someone can poo, spew or spill on it again!

Then BBBBUUUUZZZZZZZZZ the Groundhog Day alarm goes off and it all starts again, sort, soak, scrub, blah, blah, blah.

This phenomenon isn't just limited to the washing either, Bill Murray also plays the lead in my world of feeding the kids, changing the kids, negotiating with the kids and of course trying to get them to sleep when you want them to!

It seems I'm at the bottom of my 6 week cycle, when I just can't face it all over again. A cup of tea, some chocolate and an hour or so of trashy TV should get me back on course.

That is of course, until another 6 weeks has passed, BBBBUUUUZZZZZZZ!!! 

Pesty pests!

Living in Sydney I've accepted that there will be cockroaches, and larger than large ones at that, but the pest level in our house has just hit crazy status I think!

First there was a cockroach when we had our mothers group here. God knows what the other mum's thought! Anyway I tried to catch it quietly but it disappeared under the TV unit so I thought it was gone for now and I could wrangle hubby into catching it later. Obviously the cockroach had different ideas!! To cut a long story short, it ended up with 3 of my Mum friends chasing this nasty beast all around the lounge room as it jumped in nappy bags, crawled under children and flew at the toy box. Thank God someone finally got it. I was devastatingly embarrassed but also amazed at the worlds fastest cockroach!

As if that was bad enough......

That same night, after all the kids were asleep and I just sat on the lounge ready to veg out in front of bad TV, I hear, scratch, scratch, scratch from above my head. I must admit I'd heard this noise before and assumed it was a possum or the neighbours cat on our roof. For some reason tonight though I actually look up, where we have stained glass panels that are like skylights. There with it's long whiskers and beady little eyes...... A RAT!! Staring down at me like "Hey lady, what the hell are you doing in my place!"

AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Dirty, dirty RAT!

I did my best to convince my husband to get up there with a shovel and WHACK it with a shovel but he wasn't quite up to the challenge apparently. Of course there's not actually enough room to swing a shovel, but I was desperate.

I'm very pleased to report though that in the days since, hubby has put Ratsak in the roof and the scratching has ended. However, after the scratching came the smell. The smell I could live with though because when we lifted up the skylight there was my little housemate, Rodney the Rat, dead as doornail, VICTORY!! Now the smell AND the rat are gone and it's back to just me and the cockies.

Aah the serenity.........

The Emergence of the Daytime Dad

Of course there has always been stay at home Dad's and I have seen them out and about before, but all of a sudden there are more and more of them. Is it the economic climate or are guys just feeling more comfortable in taking on the role of the primary carer?

This week my Daytime Daddyometer was running hot!

Tuesday - At least 10 Dad's with kids at swimming lessons if not more

Wednesday - doing my weekly shops at every shop I saw 2 or 3 Dad's with a trolley load of kids and groceries

Thursday - driving home from the shops I saw 8 Dad's pushing prams in the 10 minute drive home!

And they kept on popping up everywhere! These were not Dad's in suits or in their work gear at lunch, these were obviously stay at home Daytime Daddy's or maybe Dad's on their day off.

It's actually happening right inside my own little house too.

My Hubby was retrenched on his first day back from paternity leave after the birth of Baby 0.6, great timing huh?! 

Anyway he is now working from home trying to kick start his own business. It is tough financially, but on the other hand it is brilliant having him home as a help some times. More than that it is excellent for him to spend the extra time with both kids, not to mention get a glimpse into the ever "thrilling" day to day life of a stay at home Mum.

So I'm glad to see these extra Dad's and hope it means they are getting the quality time with their kids. Hopefully they're not struggling too much if it's a result of being retrenched or something else just as tough. It might be time to start a Dad's group in our area I think.

Are you seeing these Daytime Dad's popping up more and more in your area? Or is your husband being a Daytime Dad? Tell us your story? Does it work for you?

Super Mum - NOT NORMAL!!!

So whilst browsing through the internet, looking for websites that offer advice from other mums, I found "Beyond the Baby". It's quite a beautiful site although a lot of the links have no information in them - Toddlers, Little Children.

I did however stumble upon the little gem below..... Now be warned if you are a mum like me, who just does what needs to be done to get through the day and maybe gets to vacuum under the lounge once or twice a year, be prepared. This woman calls herself "Super Organiser Mum" and they may just be an understatement. You only need to look at the photos and read a few lines here and there to get the idea!

http://www.beyondthebaby.com.au/superorganisermum/

I mean no disrespect to her and if I'm honest I'm probably a little jealous of her life, but the level of perfection is ridiculous. The scrapbooking ok, she has the time obviously but scroll down to see her FAQ's on laundry!! She includes photos of her laundry and well, I think she lives in a display home, OR has a housekeeper. It gets better when she shows you a picture of the meal she made for another family, tagged with a beautifully hand made card and ribbon. Super Organiser Mum is going to do this once a month, BLESS!!

I'm sorry, but this woman is the reason people have such high expectations of mothers and why the "normal" Mum's like me feel like failures half of the time.


From me to my kids - I'm sorry I didn't scrapbook all your artwork but I kept them on the wall for months and only took them down when the Blu-Tac wore off.

From me to my friends and family - I'm sorry I don't cook meals for you and hand deliver them with sweet little notes, but beans on toast just doesn't travel well.

And well about my laundry....... here it is. I just haven't quite got around to labeling everything.

Boob Denial

My boobs have been an asset to me for a long time now. I think it started back at Uni when I discovered what power my natural gift and a good push up bra could achieve. Aaah the countless free drinks the girls got me back at the Powerhouse night club!

This week however they have failed me and I'm feeling very dejected. They have lost their appeal to one person who has had more affection for them than even my husband, Baby 0.6.

I know babies become more efficient at feeding and get faster but all of a sudden I'm lucky if my baby girl feeds for 4 minutes each side. This started quite suddenly and happens even for her first feed of the day when she should be starving. She has a last feed about 7.30pm and then feeds again anytime from 4am to 7am. So even after 9 or so hours without a feed she's on then off.

Part of it I know is distraction, Baby 0.6 can't dare miss a second of any sort of excitement and by her definition a shadow moving is worth front row seats! She doesn't seem hungry either but after losing my milk at 4 months with Toddler 2.10 my anxiety levels with milk supply are pretty high. She is eating 2 meals of solids a day and her weight seems ok, so am I just freaking myself out?

Maybe if I pull out one of my old push up bras again she might find them more appealing?!

Have you experienced the same? Do you have any tips? 

Ironing out the creases

So this morning at 9am I was ironing. I DON'T IRON.

I actually go out of my way to buy clothes that don't require ironing, but this morning, mother guilt and peer pressure got the best of me.

I had washed Toddler 2.9's sheets for kindy and after sharing the clothes dryer with too many items, they were more than crinkled. Now at home I would think "Hey! they'll flatten out after we sleep on them for a few days!".

But this morning the little voice creeped into my head. "What will the other Mum's and teachers think if I send my son to kindy with wrinkled sheets? They'll think I'm a terrible mother!!" The truth is no-one would even really see the sheets and they would have plenty of their own little voices running around in their head and toddlers pulling on their skirts to even notice.

What do we do to ourselves?! Talk about self inflicted suffering. Does this happen to us after childbirth? Is it really Syntocin they put in that drip or is it mothers guilt?

Even as I was standing there ironing I knew I was being ridiculous but I still did it. Will I be able to stop myself next time or will my little voice shout out again?

What totally unnecessary things have you done in the past to stave off the Mothers Guilt?

Can I lose it?

I'm not talking about losing my mind here, that happens to me at least once a week or after a few too many sleepless nights. You can usually tell when I'm still in my pyjamas at 11am or the kids are eating baked beans on toast for dinner!

What I'm working to lose at the moment is the dreaded weight left over from having a baby. Although if I'm 100% honest it's actually weight from before Baby 0.5 and quite possibly from my addiction to all things sweet.

Breastfeeding Benefits
I'm currently riding that wonderful wave of steady weight linked to still breastfeeding and so I can eat a lot of things I shouldn't without paying too a high a price for it. But thanks to baby 0.5 starting to sleep through and a very noticeable change in my hormones, I think maybe things might be about to change.

I paid the price last time when my chocolate addiction continued well after breastfeeding finished and my weight went up and up. So this time I would like to avoid the same thing but that's easier said then done.

The Family Challenge
My husband, Dad and Father in-law have all joined a challenge with me to lose 4 kgs by Easter, which is a reasonable quest but still I am failing and I can tell you exactly why....... I'm eating way too much and not doing ANY exercise. So what am I whingeing about, all I need to do is get off my butt and try!

As straight forward as it all sounds I still struggle every day to find the motivation, after all, looking after two young kids is tough, don't I deserve a cup of tea and a choccie biscuit?

Today though I'll say, that's enough, toughen up and put the biscuit down!

So, 5 weeks and 4 kgs to go. All I have to do is get through my birthday and chocolate cake on Friday..........