Everybody's Mum

Everybody’s’ Mum!

When you are just so fed up,
Of being everybody’s mum,
When you cook & clean & wash & sort
& it’s no longer fun,

When you are sad & down & low,
You nag, you shout, you yell,
You tidy after them constantly,
& chores just feel like hell,

The endless jobs there are to do,
The never ending tasks,
You never get a minute,
& no one thinks to ask,

Just remember how it feels,
When they all hug you tight,
The smiles and the laughter
That makes you feel alright,

Think of all those people,
So special in your life,
Your most important job,
a Mum, a friend, a wife!

When it feels like such hard work,
remember ...stop and think,
The special times are whizzing past,
Leave those dishes in the sink,

Share some time together,
Laugh and chat and play,
Life is far too short,
For any other way.

Making it to school and back

So I have been enjoying having a bit of child-free time – the house looks tidy (won’t last long – they’re due home soon and it only takes them seconds to undo the day’s work!!), the bathrooms are clean, the shopping is done, I have managed to drink a whole cup of tea before it went cold and I have finished the latest book I was reading. I just have to get through the actual school run now!! Not only do I end up carrying all four bags (pack-horse springs to mind) but I also have to hold various hands and referee the arguments and fallings out on the way. When they come racing out of school it is always great to see them, they come out laden with coat, jumper, book bag, lunchbox, school bag and dump it all at my feet! I then spend the next five minutes packing all their stuff up into their bags ready for me to carry it home, I then look round to find that they have unpacked ALL of it again because they wanted to get their drink bottle out of their lunch bags. So I pack everything up again when Georgia decides that she has to get her painting out of her book-bag to show her friends, so once again we have to riffle back through the bag again. Then Millie arrives holding a toy lizard that has accidently got split at school and she is upset because the sand is pouring out (and by the way, this is somehow MY fault – even though I didn’t think it was a good idea for her to take it to school in the first place, but still, it’s apparently MY fault!!) So I am now trying to get all the kids rounded up and scoop up all the bags, while carefully holding the lizard so that it doesn’t spill anymore sand before I can get it home and perform some emergency surgery on it. Hannah then decides that she wants her painting that she did at school (the suggestion that she could maybe get it tomorrow is met with crying and much stamping of feet) so she heads back into school to get her painting, in the meantime Abbie has fallen over and scraped her elbow and I am doing my best to comfort her, without dropping all the bags off my shoulders or spilling anymore sand from the lizard and now I also have to carry Hannah’s painting. Eventually we make it home and collapse inside the door and emergency ‘sand saving’ surgery is performed on the poorly lizard.

And just for any of you who are keeping track of our A&E visits, then we have another to add!! On Sunday Georgia came downstairs crying saying she’s got an acorn stuck up her nose!! (Yes, you read that correctly – AN ACORN!!) And sure enough, on closer inspection, there is a bulge at the side of Georgia’s nose. Oh great, Sunday mornings in A&E are not what anybody needs – but off Rob & Georgia go and they arrive back hours later with Georgia now acorn free!! (she has a small acorn in a little sample tube!!) Never a dull moment with kids........!!

I've made it - THEY'RE ALL AT SCHOOL!!!!

Well, I’ve made it!! I’ve done the ‘pre-school’ years and survived to tell the tale. Nearly five years ago I began with a three and a half year old, a two year old and two new born twins (four pre-school kids felt a bit like I was running my own nursery – with no time off!!) But I’ve made it, we’re there! THEY ARE ALL AT SCHOOL!! Now before you start worrying that I’m sniffing into my hankie, sobbing uncontrollably that my ‘babies’ have gone to school, rest assured that I’m coping with it well!! Don’t get me wrong, I still look forward to the holidays and love spending time with the kids, but it is so great to firstly, drop them ALL off in the same place (no more traipsing backwards and forwards with whinging kids) and secondly have a bit of time to do stuff ‘kid free’ (admittedly, not always exciting stuff but it is bliss to be able to do the shopping, cleaning and stuff without my ‘little helpers’ – but hey, I am managing to fit in the odd coffee/ lunch with friends, so it’s not all grind!) To be honest, the day/ week flies by and before I know it, it’s time to go and pick them up. I go to work on two days, I shop, clean, exercise, prepare meals, and I have even managed to fit it sitting in the sunshine reading my book on occasions (don’t tell, because it feels like slacking!!). On the down side, I now have no excuse not to sort through and clear out my wardrobe (if you open the door to it, everything literally falls out – agghh!) and I really must sort through Hannah and Georgia’s room and do various other jobs that I’ve been promising myself that I would get around to once they were all at school.

Hannah and Georgia have settled in well. I think Georgia looks after Hannah a bit and sorts her out with where to put stuff and what she should be doing. Hannah got a house-point for smiling in assembly, so hopefully her winning smile will get her a long way. They are both getting tired though, so the ‘witching hour’ (that nightmare couple of hours after school) is back with a vengeance, with at least one (if not more) of them going into complete melt down over nothing in particular. Swimming lessons have also started up again and all four of them go now (second mortgage needed just to pay for that!) but it was the lovely Abbie who gave me the most trouble over re-starting swimming lessons. She got back out the car three times (hysterical and saying that she wasn’t going) and when I actually managed to get her there I had to lock my arms under her armpits and push her with my body to the teacher (no mean feat on a strapping eight year old) I don’t think that it helped that Millie didn’t have to go to the first swimming lesson due to her broken arm (no comments about ANOTHER trip to A&E please!!) but to be fair, Abbie has been good at going since that first day (let’s face it, she couldn’t have been any worse!)

So anyway, I feel like we have entered the next phase in the whole raising kids thing – hopefully in some aspects it’ll be a bit easier...but I guess every stage brings its challenges......

are you girls ready yet??

So I’ve come to the conclusion that my kids have no sense of being late or keeping to deadlines. Why is it that whenever I give them the ten minute warning for us needing to leave the house to do the dreaded school/ playgroup run and I give the instruction for teeth to be cleaned, shoes, jumpers and coats to be located and put on, no-one seems to move with any sense of urgency (I’m not sure anyone actually moves at all!!). In fact, I would go so far as to say, they all happily carry on about their business or even find other tasks to do, such as going on the computer, or starting a new game. So really, it should come as no surprise, that when, five minutes later I call “I hope everyone has cleaned their teeth, I need you to come down now and start getting your shoes on!” I find that actually, none of them have actually made it into the bathroom yet, let alone got any toothpaste deposited on toothbrushes. Why is it then, at the end of the ten minutes of nagging them to get ready and I shout up the stairs.... “Right! It REALLY is time to go now....come on!”....am I still surprised when they shout back..”But, we haven’t cleaned our teeth yet!” Honestly! What have they being doing? Does ‘we’ve got to go, we’re going to be late’ actually mean anything to them? Maybe I say it too much? I must have over used the ‘we’re going to be late’ threat. Perhaps it just washes over them as they merrily carry on doing just what they want.

The same goes for other appointments, such as going to the dentist the other day. I got everyone home from school and gave them all a snack to keep them going, I then got everyone to clean their teeth ready to get in the car to begin the half an hour drive to show the dentist their teeth! I then realise that Abbie is missing from the little gang all busily scrubbing their teeth in front of me. I find her sitting on her bed looking none too happy. When I try the “come on Abs, we’ve got to go,” approach, she informs me that she’s still hungry. I tell her that she can have more to eat when we get home, she’s had her snack to keep her going and we really do have to go to the dentist now. She then proceeds to go into complete 'melt-down' and she informs me in no uncertain terms that she will NOT be coming with us to the dentist and that she will be happy to go at another time – (has she not grasped the concept of an ‘appointment’??) I inform her that she will be coming with us to the dentist, we have been given an appointment time and this is when we have to go. By this time, all the others have their shoes on and are in the car, seatbelts on, ready for the off. Abbie however, is refusing point blank to get her shoes on and come with us. I then have to man-handle her into the bathroom, do a quick ‘it’ll have to do’ scrub around her teeth and wrestle her into the car (not an easy feat on big, stroppy, writhing, crying seven year old) throwing her crocs in after her! I strap her in and close the door with a sigh of relief; finally, we’re ready to go. I lock the front door; turn back to the car only to see Georgia has got back out to get something. It’s turning into comedy sketch, as soon as I get one child in and the door shut, another pops out from the other side! Fortunately we get underway on time and singing along to a CD in the car seems to calm everyone down. When we get to the dentist a happy Abbie proudly shows the dentist her teeth and is only too pleased to receive her sticker for being such a good girl!! Does she have any idea about the stress she put me through to get here? Never mind, we made it! Rant over! Bring on tomorrow!! xx

Back online!

18th January 2011

I am still here!!............can’t quite believe that I haven’t managed to blog since July 2010. I did keep meaning to.....just never found the time. I know it’s no excuse, I should make the time, it’s just that shutting my eyes for a few minutes on sofa in the afternoon while H&G watch Peppa Pig is sometimes (always!) more appealing! (not sleeping – honestly, just resting.....what do you mean this is the third Peppa Pig just starting? Did I miss some??!!) Now there’s another good reason not to blog during the day, I’ve just nearly been late for the playgroup pick up. And why is it that when I go out on an actual run, I can run fine, but when I am legging it down to playgroup in a desperate attempt not to be the ‘bad, late to pick my kids up’ mother, I look like a puffed out, middle-aged woman? (no comments please, I am fully aware of my age!) Anyway, a friend of mine has entered the world of blogging too and reading her blog yesterday has inspired me to check in online once more.

I have also gone back to the world of work (yes – gasp, I do still remember what paid work is!!) Now that the running frantically round after four young kids is easing off slightly, with two at school and two at playgroup. I thought, rather than using their one full day at playgroup to get house stuff, shopping, cleaning and other stuff done to make my life easier, I’d find myself a few hours work to fill the time! What actually happened was, I started to worry about having been away from work now for just over seven years (gulp – have I really been doing the ‘kid’ thing for so long?) that the gap on my CV was getting ever bigger and one day soon I would no longer be able to make the leap back! So there you have it, I’m back on the payroll (albeit for three hours a week – but still, it’s a start!!)

How did I get here? I don’t mean how I got here; obviously I’ve just walked up the stairs! I mean how did I get to this point in my life? One minute, there I am, not a care in the world. Nothing to worry about except where to go out at the weekend, or what to watch on TV when suddenly, blink twice and here you are, mortgage, work, house, kids, sensible car, responsibilities, bills..........!! I’ve turned into my parents! I am no longer the youngest generation in the family, we have all moved up a notch...my kids have taken my place in the young, carefree, no real worries position. Come to think of it, my parents have also moved into the ‘mortgage paid off, no work, easier pace of life’ too...shit looks like I’m bang in the middle of the hardest bit of life!! No wonder people have a mid-life crisis!! Those university days are beginning to feel like a distant memory....

Heading off to uni is great, full of possibilities and new beginnings. You get to live with your mates, go out all the time, go windsurfing, biking and any other activities that take your fancy, admittedly you have to attend a few lectures and put a bit of work in, but all in all it’s a fantastic experience. I headed off from the little sleepy Devon village that I’d called my home for 20 years, to a big city life in the north of England and enjoyed a fantastic four years, meeting some of the people I would still call some of my best friends, not to mention the guy I would marry!. Right, enough reminiscing about what life was life was like ‘back in the day’, it goes without saying that I wouldn’t trade any of our beautiful kids for life back then, I guess your life moves on and you just have to move with it.....enjoy the next stage, whatever it may bring..............