I love Marmite and so do both of my little kiwi-mericans. The great Marmageddon of 2012 hit particularly hard in our house and I haven’t really looked back since toast turned black again and we could eat Marmite EVERY DAMN DAY.
But I realised something yesterday as I was making my breakfast toast. I’ve been holding out on Nixon. He sprinted into the kitchen as soon as he heard the fridge open, as he does about 71 times per day {food, hangry, massive 99th percentile boy-child} and he asked for toast. His second breakfast to be sure, but that’s not uncommon.
He wanted Marmite toast like me. My gut instinct said NO! Marmite toast in the hands of a toddler is like live ammunition in the hands of a toddler. Never a good idea. As I thought about it a little more I realised that this whole Marmite should-I-shouldn’t-I conversation I was having in my head was a bit of a metaphor for how I’ve been parenting lately.
And how I’ve been parenting lately is mainly based on one key technique;
Avoidance.
Not heard of that one? No-one’s written a book about avoidance parenting yet? That’s because it’s what the lazy mama’s do, the sucky parents that don’t bust out the finger paints every day (or realistically once a week as there would be other amaze craft activities planned on the remaining 6 days of course!). I’ve been avoiding giving Nix Marmite on his toast because Nixon is a Category 5 Hurricane on legs who lives in my house and is destroying it window sill by window sill. Add Marmite to the mix and all hope is surely lost.
It’s true I’m feeling a little over-wrought by the chaos that is our family life at the moment. I think in an effort to simplify at least some parts of my day I am totally avoiding the little Marmite-Moments, the sweet, messy pleasures that make us stop, relax and enjoy these fleeting childhood moments. I’m stressed, tired and overwhelmed to the point of anxiety right now but I’m also frantically in love with my life and my little people. The dogs, meh, but the boys, Dave, my Mum and our friends are lovely and I’m so lucky to have them helping me along.
We need to make some changes. The finish of rugby season and my role as team manager will bring an end to some obligations and free up 3 days a week plus we are heading away on holiday soon which couldn’t be more perfectly timed quite frankly.
Does anyone else feel like their head is going to explode daily or is it just me? Maybe the cure is more Marmite lol.
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