[advert:mpu] Phew. I think one of the reasons I’ve started to think about going back to work is so that I take part in an activity which doesn’t have to be repeated in another three hours – looking after a newborn you do the same things over and over in such quick succession – nappy, feed, wind, nap, washing, nappy – I have to make an effort to do some things differently or I wind up having no idea what time of day or night it is!
My thanks to everyone who’s knocked at the door or called up and jogged me out of my stupor, in fact to everyone who’s helped me out this month, I couldn’t have done it without you, and I mean that most sincerely!
The worst days have been those rainy ones before the clocks went forward – stuck at home with ds1 (literally) smothering the baby with frantic kisses, trying to smile and look nonchalant about it when really I was a pip away from screaming ‘TOOOO ROUGGGGGGGGHHHH, STOPPIT!’…. Much counting to ten... Paranoia was only made worse by horror stories from other mums: one who walked in on her older son standing in front of the new baby wielding a pair of scissors (gulp, deep breath, serious hostage negotiation tactics required) another who turned around just in time to see her four year old daughter inserting a tiny pea into the baby’s ear at dinner time. Of course she sucked it out, what would you have done?
Things are sweet now that it’s sunny and the days are longer. We’re planning an egg hunt and I’m wondering if the four year olds are up for a three legged egg and spoon race (if they’re not, I am!). No, don’t be silly, I mean with plastic eggs. I’ve been trying to keep doing fun things with ds1, especially as daddy hasn’t been around for a few weeks, but I know my fun rating has taken a nosedive since the baby arrived… I’ll be back though, don’t worry about that!
In fact, ds1’s had a pretty terrific time, with people coming to take him on trips to the aquarium, the London Eye, for pancakes and sleepovers. This baby malarkey must seem like a bit of a social whirl for him, and I fall asleep on the spot within seconds of him leaving the house. That’s the big difference between kid numbers one and two – no more delicious daytime naps with the baby! I’ve invested in a very good anti-puff eye cream instead, seems to be working just fine for now.
I'm longing for a white Russian, but I guess I can’t swing it till I start expressing… boy oh boy, is it going to taste good!
Bullying doesn’t just happen to other kids, it’s not always easy to spot and we need to give kids the confidence and the strategies to recognise and combat threatening behaviour.
Dp & I are getting married, 8 years and two kids down the line. It's less than a week away, we've got 100 people coming and we've yet to buy the rings - I haven't even found a dress - but here's ...
We've all been there - when your child makes an innocent remark (usually at the top of her voice) which turns out to be a horribly personal insult to someone within direct earshot... or worse...
Come on, I challenge you not to smile...
Watch out bugs, baby's about! Wiggle your tasty little abdomen in front of him and you're dead meat, honey!
The first person to wish me happy mother's day on Sunday was my mother in law, on my mobile, in the toilet, about 5pm. Can't get much more depressing than that...
Anyone else’s kids into this? It's like SecondLife but with penguins and for kids...
We're now halls supervisors, living in a quiet block and eating in the canteen with 230 students where every night is a potential party. It's great fun, but a bit out of the ordinary... how can the ...
After being pretty much indifferent to who gives him his presents, this year it seems that ds1 is DESPERATE to believe in Santa Claus, and the man’s lifestyle, generosity and ‘big brother’ ...
Of course in hindsight I see it's a little naive of me to trot around searching for rubber knickers, but you see we have this Poo Emergency on our hands (literally, as it goes)...
Yay! Ds2’s started to crawl at 8 & ½ months! He has been doing this thing for a while where he goes on all fours, sticks his bum in the air and then pumps up and down in a very wobbly and ...
An hour on an amphibious car round the sights of London with five four year olds yelling ‘quack quack!’ to passers by: more fun than it sounds!
It may take a while to settle my four-year-old and six-month-old into their new, German nursery.
So here we all are – we’re in our wee flat in Germany with just a few boxes, some raincoats and wellies and a couple of sleeping bags. Like Glastonbury without the mud, drugs or music....
Stagger, the ugly superhero who only comes out at night, is my son's new alter-ego...
So, the baby starts nursery on 28th August... and hasn't yet taken more than a mouthful from a cup or bottle. It's an uphill battle.
It's started: huge clumps of hair coming out when I brush my fingers through it. Plug hole totally bunged up when I have a shower. The old postpartum hair loss begins again...
So I think the happy hormones must be finally wearing off (fun while it lasted) and the incessant tiredness beginning to kick in. Or perhaps those are just my excuses for leaving the baby in the car ...
Son no.1 couldn't have been more pleased with his new baby brother. He picks out the cutest nappy for him to wear, and seems charmed when the baby does a poo whilst sitting on him!
We're pox-free, hooray! But a few days later ds broke out in hive-like red lumps - turns out that their wee bodies can have an allergic reaction to the chickenpox virus which causes its own rash. ...
We don’t go out trick or treating. We lie in wait for them to come to us. This year, ds dressed in his skeleton outfit and accosted passers by with sweets... All was fine until he stuck an eyeball up ...
Poor old ds really isn't looking forward to 'Big School'. “They won’t like me” he sobbed, “I’ll be in the corner of the playground on my own because I won’t have any friends of my own!” He thinks ...