One more sleep! Tomorrow at 9am our very first 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway in conjunction with The Bubbalino Kitchen is kicking off! We have some amazing prizes – we promise there is something for everyone, Mama’s, little people and foodies will all be very …
Dave’s been on a work trip for 5 days so I’ve been solo-parenting – with my Mum, so I know that technically doesn’t count but I’m claiming it anyway. I’m exhausted. Thankfully the kids have been amazing, aside from the baby waking up pre-6am every …
This post is sponsored by Nurofen for Children.
Nixon has had to deal with more pain in his short life than I can even imagine. Before his diagnosis with Hirschprungs Disease, the first year of his life must have been so uncomfortable. His inability to poop on his own meant that there was always some procedure or other we had to put him through which was pretty awful for him and us both. He’s had doctors rummaging around in his abdomen on multiple occasions, removing the bits of his large intestine that didn’t work, replumbing him and then recovering from the whole ordeal, which took six hours in the operating room! {you can catch up on Nixon’s Hirschsprungs journey here and here}. It almost seems cruel that after such an unusual and difficult start to life our little trooper would be hit so hard by teething pain. Our happy-go-lucky baby was seemingly transformed overnight into a miserable, clingy, super needy little ball of tears – after a couple of days and sleepless nights I was feeling much the same way! I knew it was teeth, he had all of the classic signs {check teething symptoms} and the only thing providing short term, temporary relief was breast-feeding.
After Nix was taken off the opiates post-op, Nurofen was prescribed to manage his pain. I find personally that Ibuprofen is more effective than paracetamol and I can see that the same is true for Nixon, he coped beautifully at home and we were able to keep him comfortable without too much trouble. I medicate the kids so sparingly that sometimes I have to be reminded to do it, luckily my Mum was on hand when Nix was really beginning to struggle with his teeth and reminded me to “get that boy some medicine!”. We fully use natural remedies when we can, I love Nixie’s amber beads, I do believe they have helped so much with his pain but some days the rumbling in his gums has just been too acute to let him suffer through.
Thankfully we are in a teething lull at the moment, but those big molars will be on the move in the next few months so we are prepared!
Visit the Nurofen for Children website for more tips on Kids Health.
My Christmas shopping is progressing surprisingly well this year. I hate rush-shopping so have been steadily ticking items off my list for the past few months. The kids gifts are a different story however. The only presents locked in and ordered so far are books. And that …
Sunday morning, post-sleepover party. It was sunny, I flung open the doors, I vacuumed and lit lovely smelling candles, the bebe was sleeping and the 10th birthday party was over {for me at least, Dave was on duty with 5 boys at the hot pools …
Life is mental. Then your eldest son turns 10 and life gets more mental and you just get really o l d .
On Friday E turns 10 and this means {if my maths is correct} that Dave and I have been parents for 10 freaking years! What the?! Double whammy actually as this also means we have been married for, wait for it, 10 FREAKING YEARS! Yup, we sealed the deal in a classy ceremony in a San Diego courthouse with one month old Ethan as best man – as he has remained to this day.
We have had some seriously good times with this kid, he was our sole team-mate for 8.5 years before graciously becoming the best big brother there has ever been. He is the kid at school that is super smart and kicks ass in the classroom but also goes pretty hard on the sports field as well. He sung his heart out on stage last night at the APPA choir festival at the Auckland Town Hall, and Dave was just the proudest Dad ever, constantly sending me pics and messages about his awesome boy. The nice thing about this is that I sung in the APPA choir when I was Ethan’s age 25 years ago and stood on the same stage at the Town Hall! There he is 4th from the left in green;
Shopping for gifts for a ten year old boy is infinitely harder than then the 9 year old I had last year. For some reason I cannot fathom the item on the top of his birthday list is this;
Hmmm. Confused? Same. That’s apparently a WWE Championship Spinner Belt Replica, which will not (sadly) be coming to live at our house post birthday on Friday. Wrestling belt, wrestling toy guys, some status update on Minecraft. And that is it. The sum total of my big guys birthday wish-list is a bunch of plastic, sweaty men in lycra gear. Scary stuff. But, compared to that his real birthday present is freaking awesome! I cannot wait for Friday morning!
Many of us try and add a little charitable cheer to the Christmas season, making a point to teach our kids the value and importance of giving, not just receiving, especially to those to those less fortunate. In-store initiatives such as Kmart’s Wishing Tree Appeal …
I’ve had a revelation dear reader, and being the giver that I am, I’ve decided to share it with you. {Truth be told, this philosophical divulgence occurred some time ago, but it has taken 6 weeks to get a picture of that damned frog!} So here …
Thanks to Rexona Invisible Dry for sponsoring this post – originally published on nzgirl
I am a Mum. I am also a stay-at-home Mum.
Every choice you make as a mother comes at a cost; the equal and opposite alternative to your decision to stay at home or go to work will always be there, niggling a little on those tough days and always reminding you of what you have given up.
For me, dealing with the daily predictability of an unpredictable toddler and a pre-teen means I have to stay focused and keep my head in the game – the game may be as unglamourous as getting the laundry done and the beds made but that’s my reality right now. Getting stuck in my own head and focusing on the minutiae of everyday domestic life will no doubt result in a spanking clean kitchen but it won’t help ease the professional yearnings I left behind when I bid adieu to paid employment.
But, being present, visible and in the moment with my kids does and will fulfill me in ways that I never expected before I had children and that I don’t think I could replicate any other way. But, you have to be open to that fulfillment. Over the past week I’ve been practising a little trick I call Stop & Drop. Basically, I have promised myself that when my 1 year old brings me that book about diggers we have read 172 times already today, I will stop what I’m doing, drop the dish towel and sit on the floor and read to him. When my big boy wants desperately to show me his Minecraft creation that I have zero interest in, I will stop what I’m doing and sit at the computer with him for five minutes and simply look and listen.
Breaking the habit of saying “No, Mama’s too busy” is hard, it requires me to let go of my ‘perfect house’, ignore the crumbs on the floor, breathe through nap-time strikes and relish this time with my babies above all else. It’s learning not to sweat the small stuff, and radically loving the bigger picture, be it your kids at home with you each day, or the joy you feel when you pick them up from daycare. In both my prior role as a working mum and currently as a stay at home mum, one thing I simply don’t have time to worry about is excess sweating. Post-baby body issues and being spotted in your around-the-house uniform of yoga pants are enough of a battle without the stress of ruining your clothes with sweat stains. Rexona Invisible Dry has worked for me, the 48 hour protection keeping me feeling fresh, even on those days when a shower has slipped to the bottom of the priority list!
There are many areas where we can feel like we’re failing as parents, try sweeping the slate clean, cutting yourself some slack and getting real with the expectations you have put on yourself as a mother. Make some micro-goals and try and work them into your week; if you’re worried the amount of fish finger dinners getting served, allocate one night a week to try a new, healthy recipe, if you’re worried about screen time incorporate some outdoor activities or simply get down on the ground and drive toy cars around the house for half an hour. Simplify and you will be amazed at how your kids react, they will LOVE it!
Practise makes perfect but simply being a mother who is visible, present and accessible to her children is the best kind of mother there is.
People go crazy about their coffee and its inherent routine in their day. Some will happily knock back a cup of instant and be good to go, but others love the process and the ritual of brewing and perfecting their consummate cup. The team at Volt Espresso …