Fed up!!

Today this mother is fed up.

Royally, and completely sick to the back teeth, fed up.

Fed up of feeling like she is wading through sodding treacle.

Discipline and the Super Nanny!

Discipline? How do you do it?

Do you have hard and fast rules? Do you have consistency? Do you follow through on every threat? Do you feel bad if you don’t?

Or are you like us? Just winging it.

What's mine is yours..... kind of...

When you get married, or actually, enter into any kind partnership, romantic or even business, you make an agreement. This isn't a typed out on paper, signed sealed and delivered kind of agreement. This is an underlying, unsaid, code of conduct.

School, Spellings and Me!

There are a lot of situations you find yourself in, as a mother, that you never really thought about when you decided to have a baby.

Like the 4am wake ups to find missing bogeys, or letting them eat floor food just to avoid a tantrum.

That kind of thing.

Phone Shaming

Phones..... we have entered the age where we simply CANNOT live without them. There is nothing a phone can't do.

You can Grocery Shop, book a holiday, order a Pizza, find out the name of that song that's been bugging you for the last 20 minutes, diagnose yourself with a number of rare and tropical diseases, get directions to the nearest soft play hell zone, phone a friend, send a message in endless different ways, watch a film, take a photo, shoot a video, and of course, access the wonderful black hole that is social media!   *sound of a trumpet*

Phones can give us SO much, and yet, their use is starting to be 'frowned upon'.

Meeting Constance Hall - The Dream VS The Reality

The Dream

Picture the scene... our eyes meet over a crowded room, she compliments my outfit, I make a HILARIOUS joke, she p*sses herself laughing.

We chat.... we connect. After the show we hook up, go for drinks, swap numbers.... and become all time besties. Lost souls.... finally reunited!

Lets talk!

So this week is Maternal Mental Health week.

Mental health is not just about those with underlying mental health issues, it is also about keeping you mentally healthy.

Looking after your mind. Looking after yourself.

Sometimes it's hard.... to be a woman.

So, recently we had International Women's Day! (Yay to us!)

This was, as always, greeted by some with the usual rolling of the eyes, the classic 'Where's International Men's Day??' (19th November actually) , or the ever so lovely 'what do you need a special day for?'

Walking with baby - Dream vs Reality

Taking your baby for a walk. 

The Dream vs Reality

Anxiety is a bitch!

Anxiety is a bitch!!

No really it is!!

If there were a list of pointless things, that serve no real purpose, it would be up there with Mum Guilt.... and wasps!!!!

It makes you feel like you are losing the plot.

It makes everyone around you think you are losing the plot!

Day to day it doesnt affect me too much (thanks to medication). However a break from the norm will always set it off.

Things like a weekend away without the children.

Relinquishing control of your children doesnt come easy. Not to me.

I get irrational. Imagining countless scenarios with catastrophic consequences, and they play on my mind.

Its not because I dont trust who I leave them with. Of course I do!! Its because I can't really cope with the lack of control. It makes me anxious. Like swirly tummy, dry mouth, heart racing, hold your breath anxious.

Deep down the rational me says that there is no greater chance of anything happening when Im not around, than when I am. But the rational me gets squashed!

The only way to combat this is to have my little rituals. The things I do to 'prepare'.

I wont bore you with the details, but tomorrow when my folks arrive they will be BOMBARDED with information.

It wont end when I've gone either! There will be texts.... random texts of things that I remember which, I know I am actually only sending for my benefit. Things I feel like I need to say otherwise something bad will happen.

It wont, but it make me feel better.

Husbands are funny in these scenarios. They say countless times 'they will be fine' while pouring another drink 🍸 🍸

Whilst I'm turning a bit 'Monica' and saying
'Will they?? WILL  THEY  ???'

Once I've gone the rational me will kick in.

I know I have left them with the people who love them as much as me, and I can't really do much more. Unless I never want to leave them EVER! No amount of lying awake worrying about it will keep them any safer.

So its all just a bit pointless.

Now..... where's that giant roll of cotton wool??

#anxietyisabitch #andpointless

Why Blogger?

Just in case you wondered why the hell I decided to try out this blogging lark, and who on earth do I think I am!!

Double Trouble

When I started this blog thing 8 months ago, I had many many thoughts running through my head when debating whether to take the plunge.

Things like....Whats the point???? Will I have time???? Do we need another parent blogger???? What if no one likes it???

blah blah blah.

One of these thoughts was also about the fact that my kids were a bit older now, 4 and 2, and I was probably over the worst of it. Surely this is the bit where things got easier?? Maybe I'd struggle to have things to write about??

Do whatever YOU need to....

I find it hard to offer advice to new parents, its a mix between feeling like you want to share all your experiences, but not wanting to a) petrify them, or b) come across as someone who thinks they know it all. I try and avoid giving advice until it is asked of me, for the above reasons, but another thing I have learnt, is that people often won't ask.

So... what is the one piece of advice I would give to every new parent?

2016....A year in Books!

A brief review of the books I have read this year, as part of my 'Book a Month' challenge.