Sunday, April 25, 2010

Where is the Mummy Off Switch?

It's 3am in the morning and I've just fed my baby. I make my regular trip to the loo and as I wash my hands make a mental note "need to buy more hand soap". On my way back up the hall I check on my son, pull up his covers and do my usual check of his forehead just in case there is a temperature sneaking up on him. Even as I get back into bed I pull the covers over hubby to make sure he doesn't get cold.

So my question is, where is the Mummy off switch?

Women are always multi taskers but after you have kids you just seem to be "on" 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Always writing those mental lists of what's next, what goes in the school bag tomorrow, what's for dinner, where did I put that??

Where always told to make time for ourselves, soak in a bath, read a book, get our hair done. I do these things, but even then I struggle to stop my Mummy brain working me over. I'm going to be especially brave here and say that even when I'm in the midst of "special time" with Daddy I've had a thought about washing or a job I have to do. Of course only in the early stages and it is most definitely not a reflection on Daddy, it's just this darn Mummy brain of mine.

I think it's almost the opposite of how men can just block everything else out and focus on just one thing, whether it be the job at hand, the footy or a pair of boobs!

I spoke to hubby about this and he says it all ties back to the Cave Man Days. Men just had to go out and hunt but women had to tend to the kids, the animals, the cave and pick the berries. We also decided that men tend to have a natural provide and protect instinct for their family. While us Mum's have the organise, nurture, protect, provide, feed, clothe, bathe, entertain and anything else under the sun "instinct"!

So it is an environmental thing or a biological thing. Do stay at home Dad's get Daddy brain? But again my question is, is there an off switch? 

Monday, April 19, 2010

I've sucked a lot of snot today!

For those of you who've never had a baby with a cold who can't feed because of snot, this sentence probably sounds very strange and totally gross.


snot-boy.jpg


But is has been snot mainly that has kept me away from blogging the past few weeks.

Patient 1 - Toddler
Patient 2- Daddy (the worst patient of all - man flu!!)
Patient 3 - Baby

Check out the very supportive site http://manflu.info/ for tips on how to cope with the dreaded disease.

They didn't all get sick one after the other either, they were like a snowball getting bigger and bigger as it rolls down the hill.

In the midst of that I also had an infection in my stomach. That I could manage, the effects on baby were much harder. Of course seeing my baby girl can't talk yet she couldn't help me narrow down whether her grumpiness and even worse, her refusal of my boobs was linked to the cold or the antibiotics. Or even better still is there another cause of her sudden change of well ............ everything?

I can tell you this, having your baby kick and scream when you're trying to breastfeed her is devastating. It tops any rejection from any past boyfriend, and I've had a few "how will I ever live without him" break ups!

Maybe tomorrow my boobs will be back on the menu.