5 Things I did not do on International Women’s Day

1. I did not hook up with all the wonderful women in the city that I know and go out for the drink to celebrate the fact that we are all women in a free society who can hook up and go for a drink just because…

2. I did not get a baby-sitter for the evening so that my husband and I could go for a nice dinner and finish all the sentences that we started.

3. I did not call all the girlfriends so we could get together, dress up and go dancing.

4. I did not call my mother to say what a wonderful job she does

5. I did not post my thoughts of any of the above on facebook

 

 

Minefield of toddler conversation

“I like Play School.” Play School = child care

Baby is warmly ensconed in her car seat hugging her water bottle. We are on her way back from child care so Halelujah!

It is a relevant thought expressed in a full and grammatically coherent and correct sentence.

“Really? That is great.” I say in my Shrink Voice from behind the wheel.

“I like Jaxsen.”

“That’s nice. Why do you like him?”

“We play together.”

“Did you play with him in the sand pit?” That is her favourite spot.

“No. Jaxsen fell down today.” Ok. Abrupt change but that is alright. “Jaxsen crying. Wah Wah. Jaxsen’s mommy came in a car.”

“Oh no. Was he hurt? Did he have vaavu?” Vaavu = injury

“Mum! Go and play with blocks!”

??????

Housekeeping for bloggers

I feel that there is much to be said for careful writing. Writing that is considered, where ideas are thoughtfully laid out, the piece that is grammatically acceptable (who is right and wrong nowadays?). However, I am always up for some spring cleaning of the Good Ole Conceptions and Misconceptions.

Here is one link that I found really relevant and really liberating. I have often laid waste many hours (oh ok minutes, precious minutes) trying to move a Because, And or a But to the middle of a sentence. I have to say the sentence always sounded more convoluted for that reason so what was the point.

Now I’m struggling to find a sentence that begins with But or Because just to be smart.

Random Act of Super Kindness

A trip to the supermarket can be such a challenge with one baby who does not walk and another who only runs — away from you.

To make matters worse, it was raining and the One Who Runs decided she did not want to get out of the car. So after spending a long two minutes negotiating with the little she-devil  baby while my back got drenched, I had to walk into a supermarket (not my regular one) that only had the coin operated trolleys. And of course I would not have any coins with me. And of course little Big Baby would want that very same trolley that she could not have. I was going to just sit down on the wet floor and weep brave it out without a trolley when the lady who was about to take the trolley in front of me changed her mind and asked me if I wanted her dollar and offered it to me, making a vague gesture towards the kids!

I was so stunned I just took the dollar and arranged the kids in the trolley. Once that was done I darted from aisle to aisle looking for this lady so I could offer some way of returning the dollar. Sounds silly now that I write it.

Anydollar, I found her and she waved away my offers to pay her back and said “I know how it is with little ones.” I almost cried. I was just having one of those days, and that’s all I needed really.

I just needed a pat on my back.

Go on, call me needy and I’ll hunt you down and smoke you out.

To end the story, I left the trolley with the dollar in it as a sort of pay it forward.

I am not done… I think

People say I’m crazy, said John Lennon and I quote and end quote.

I glance back at the two little people in the back seat of my car while stopped at a red light. My heart constricts a little when two pairs of bright (oh alright two slightly fatigued) eyes look back at me. they are probably thinking: “What will this crazy lady make us do next?” And I am thinking, I so could have another one.

I cannot reconcile my pre- and post-motherhood beings.

Do we just become our parents?

I mean is that all there is to evolution? Some days, when DH complains about some aspect of my parenting, it’s shocking how he sounds exactly like me complaining to my mum!!! Arghhh!

I try. I know I’ve given my mum a really hard time in life and probably am still doing it and only I know how much I’ve changed since little Baby came along into my life. But honestly… do we really just become our parents?

DH snapped at me the other day saying: Just cuddle her, you can tidy up later. In my defence, when only one child is crying, I don’t consider it a crisis. It’s when both are crying that I feel the need to drop everything and become Consoluer (I just made up that word).

On a happy note, we seem to be recovering and there is even a dinner with my mum’s group next weekend. OK so it was meant to be a weekend away… Whatever!

 

Mums never get sick

It’s true. I cannot remember my mum telling my dad: “Hold the fort. I need to just creep under this blanket and sleep till lunch time, maybe tea.”

On that note, there are three sick people in our household of four and yes, I’m the one not sick although I would dearly like that sleep. Flu would have been the best excuse to stay in bed.

Jinx

It would have to happen that way. The week that I decide to stop trying to get baby on a bottle, he decides to start taking it. I went to pick him up from childcare today and they tell me he was crying after lunch so they offered a bottle and bingo! He drank the whole thing!!

On a brighter (?) side, he does not take the bottle from me. So I can still try the sippy cup.

These babies really have a mind of their own and it is a very reactionary one. It reacts in the exact opposite way to how you want it to act. (Now there’s a sentence that needs a re-write but I’ll take a nap instead).

Busting stress

I’ve been stressing about Baby not taking the bottle for a while now

While he is a great feeder (quick and efficient) and a great eater (eats pretty much anything), he has been adamant about not taking the bottle.

Went to the maternal health nurse today who said that I should just give up on the whole enterprise because in a couple of months, I would be stressing about how to take him off the bottle. Instead, I have been advised to try and get him to use a sippy cup.

So goodbye to one stress … but am I setting myself up for another stressful project?

Getting it right

Some days are so beautiful because I get it right. I send both children off to sleep at the right time, they eat well (I make the right stuff) and they stay clean and tantrum-free almost the entire day. Ah!

I love those days. Even if they are not the entire days, I love those bits of days.

It does not take much to please a mum. Some days.