Friday 28 February 2014
One Of Those Days.. Again
So I'm pretty sure that every day is 'One Of Those Days'. In their own individual ways obviously, but still classed as 'One Of Those Days'.
This is how my day went today:
Luckily a wonderful couple two houses up, who, by the way, don't speak much English - which of course didn't make them any less pleasant, but did cause a bit of awkwardness when I had to tell their maybe five or six year old daughter what I wanted so she could translate it - helped us out by lending me their phone to call the front office for assistance and then the lovely male of the couple rode his pushy down to the office to collect and then return the spare key for me.
This kindness actually made my day.
So after a very long and mostly unproductive day, I'm chilling out with the kiddies for a movie night. A very nice way to end a stressful day! You know what else lifts my spirits? Seeing this;
Cute right? That's Fireman Ted right there, getting all dressed up for dinner. Gotta be ready you know? Never know when the stove might catch alight.. especially with Izzy cooking ;-)
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
This is how my day went today:
- I sweated my ass off (not literally unfortunately) walking the kids to school and daycare and then home with some shopping; and
- Looked after a baby for a friend - which took 6 hours instead of the 1 it was supposed to and was a very loud time for me as the baby cried on and off the whole 6 hours (thanks for the help with this one Logan); and
- Got absolutely no housework or studies or website building done because said baby is rather clingy; and
- Sweated my ass off yet again picking the kids up from school - which was rather eventful what with Zay cracking it and running off and Logan having to chase him and then Zay screaming the rest of the way home; and
- Looked at my website finally, but by then the brain had already switched off so I just closed it for the day; and
- Picked up Bay, resulting in a lovely walk in the cool cool breeze (finally a plus) only to;
- Decide to be rid of the spiderwebs on the front screen door/window, when Izzy closed the front door behind her only to then find that we were locked out.
Luckily a wonderful couple two houses up, who, by the way, don't speak much English - which of course didn't make them any less pleasant, but did cause a bit of awkwardness when I had to tell their maybe five or six year old daughter what I wanted so she could translate it - helped us out by lending me their phone to call the front office for assistance and then the lovely male of the couple rode his pushy down to the office to collect and then return the spare key for me.
This kindness actually made my day.
So after a very long and mostly unproductive day, I'm chilling out with the kiddies for a movie night. A very nice way to end a stressful day! You know what else lifts my spirits? Seeing this;
Cute right? That's Fireman Ted right there, getting all dressed up for dinner. Gotta be ready you know? Never know when the stove might catch alight.. especially with Izzy cooking ;-)
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
Thursday 27 February 2014
What a day
Well oh my gosh. So frustrated.
I finally sat down to get working on my website today, seven hours later and I am just so over it! Because of course nothing is going right. And after 7 hours sitting at the table working on it my back is drilling. It's a good thing that I don't quit easily, because I wouldn't mind quitting right now.
Ah well tomorrow is a new day! Thankfully. Then that lovely weekend will be making an appearance again! Yay!
On the up side, Bay had a wonderful second day of toilet training. He had an accident this morning just after breakfast, then he went to daycare and at some point in the morning he had another accident and then that was it for the day, he spent the rest of it using the toilet like a pro! So so proud! I guess I picked the perfect time to get started! Wont be long now until nappies are a thing of the past! Now that is good news!
Logan went back to work last night after two weeks off and I was surprised at how well I just fell back into routine. I've gotta say, being at home alone at night certainly is a lot easier than it used to be.
I know this isn't much of a post but I'm having so much trouble thinking and I'm yawning so often (I'm talking every like, 30 seconds) that I can hardly see what I'm doing.
It's tiring work being a studying mum, or, I should just say, a Mum.
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
Wednesday 26 February 2014
I made it through the day
So here we are at the end of day one of toilet training. I admit that it did get a little stressful by the end. After the first two wee's in the potty that was it. Suddenly it wasn't fun anymore so it didn't happen. I've chosen not to reward him with lollies and he doesn't like stickers, because I don't want the kids to learn that they should do things only when they receive material rewards, so without bribery, all I have left is a little hope. And of course the art of persuasion.
You know what though? We will get there! It's only day one and for day one he did a wonderful job. Tomorrow he will be back at daycare so hopefully all the other children going to the toilet will encourage him to go too. Just in case, I have packed his bag with every change outfit he has. Which probably isn't as many as you would assume.
But that isn't all the excitement that happened today.
This afternoon when Logan went out to pick Izzy and Zay up, and I was out the back hanging washing, Bay moved his chair to the front door, opened it and went for a wander.
So of course I freaked out and went looking for him. First off I should probably mention that we live in a gated community where the speed limit is only 5km/h and there is a huge sign out the front warning cars to be careful as children are more often than not playing on the road. For this reason, I was not as freaked out as I would have been if we were living on an ordinary street. That's not to say that I wasn't freaking out.. but I wasn't quite at the point of calling the police.
Anyway, when I did find him he was walking with a very judgmental woman who had obviously never made a mistake in her life. Despite Bitchy McBitch needing to have her say about my poor parenting, and probably planning on evil eyeing me and every other young parent from now on (if she didn't already), I had my boy back! So whatever.
I'm honestly surprised he got as far as he did, he had no shoes on and the road was burning my feet. All he had for me though was smiles and giggles so I guess it all worked out in the end.
When I got home I put a nail in the wall up high near the front door with the screen door key hanging from it. Problem Solved.
Well I best be getting some sleep I guess, I really need to get my website started tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
You know what though? We will get there! It's only day one and for day one he did a wonderful job. Tomorrow he will be back at daycare so hopefully all the other children going to the toilet will encourage him to go too. Just in case, I have packed his bag with every change outfit he has. Which probably isn't as many as you would assume.
But that isn't all the excitement that happened today.
This afternoon when Logan went out to pick Izzy and Zay up, and I was out the back hanging washing, Bay moved his chair to the front door, opened it and went for a wander.
So of course I freaked out and went looking for him. First off I should probably mention that we live in a gated community where the speed limit is only 5km/h and there is a huge sign out the front warning cars to be careful as children are more often than not playing on the road. For this reason, I was not as freaked out as I would have been if we were living on an ordinary street. That's not to say that I wasn't freaking out.. but I wasn't quite at the point of calling the police.
Anyway, when I did find him he was walking with a very judgmental woman who had obviously never made a mistake in her life. Despite Bitchy McBitch needing to have her say about my poor parenting, and probably planning on evil eyeing me and every other young parent from now on (if she didn't already), I had my boy back! So whatever.
I'm honestly surprised he got as far as he did, he had no shoes on and the road was burning my feet. All he had for me though was smiles and giggles so I guess it all worked out in the end.
When I got home I put a nail in the wall up high near the front door with the screen door key hanging from it. Problem Solved.
Well I best be getting some sleep I guess, I really need to get my website started tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
Give me a thanks giving
So as pretty much everyone knows, we don't celebrate Thanks Giving here in Australia. Well I say no fair! Seriously, no fair! I want Thanks Giving!
See, here's how I see it.. Easter and Christmas are fun, but what are they teaching our children? That once a year they get to pig out on chocolate and once a year they get a huge pile of presents, whether they behave or not? Because lets face it, no matter how many times we sing about the naughty and nice list, no matter how many times we remind our children that they have to be good to receive that huge pile of presents, none of us are actually mean enough to deprive our children of the joy of unwrapping a million presents on Christmas morning, no matter how much they misbehave during the year.
Are we?
And we can try all we want to teach our children about the joy of giving but lets be honest, no matter how many do-good activities we involve our children in, they really are just hanging out for Christmas morning for purely selfish reasons. And really, who wouldn't be hanging out for Christmas once they realize that that massive present with the gold wrapping and pretty ribbon have their name on it. Seriously!?
So anyway, this is exactly the reason I want Thanks Giving! Because Thanks Giving isn't about what we receive (or the waaaaay too much money we accidentally spend), it's about saying thanks and appreciating all that we have. And I think it's oh so important that our children learn to appreciate not just their material possessions but their family and friends too.
Maybe we will have to start celebrating the holiday from down here in Aus!
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
See, here's how I see it.. Easter and Christmas are fun, but what are they teaching our children? That once a year they get to pig out on chocolate and once a year they get a huge pile of presents, whether they behave or not? Because lets face it, no matter how many times we sing about the naughty and nice list, no matter how many times we remind our children that they have to be good to receive that huge pile of presents, none of us are actually mean enough to deprive our children of the joy of unwrapping a million presents on Christmas morning, no matter how much they misbehave during the year.
Are we?
And we can try all we want to teach our children about the joy of giving but lets be honest, no matter how many do-good activities we involve our children in, they really are just hanging out for Christmas morning for purely selfish reasons. And really, who wouldn't be hanging out for Christmas once they realize that that massive present with the gold wrapping and pretty ribbon have their name on it. Seriously!?
So anyway, this is exactly the reason I want Thanks Giving! Because Thanks Giving isn't about what we receive (or the waaaaay too much money we accidentally spend), it's about saying thanks and appreciating all that we have. And I think it's oh so important that our children learn to appreciate not just their material possessions but their family and friends too.
Maybe we will have to start celebrating the holiday from down here in Aus!
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
How I want my kids to see it
There is always the issue of discrimination. It is everywhere and it isn't quiet. I read a few days ago about people who were talking about the 'issue' of homosexuality. People discussing the need to keep our children blind to the differences. I saw somewhere else that someone said that the way to get rid of racism is to stop talking about it. Everyone has their own opinions about it and they are such big issues that even my husband and I can keep the convos to something small.
I will explain what I mean.
The other day when he and I were on the train on the way home from college, I bought up the subject of how I believe we should approach the subject if discrimination with our children. We have never actually discussed it, but we have always approached it the same. Our conversation didn't stop there, it quickly spread to how society as a whole should approach the subject of discrimination. But do you know what? I can't change the world, all I can do is change (or try to change) the way my children see the world and react to the world and act in the world.
I completely understand where those people are coming from, "keep our children blind to the differences" and "stop talking about it" may help, but I honestly do think that is the wrong way to go about it. You see, I think our children should be taught that people are different. In almost every way, people are different.
Some people have dark skin and some have light, some are gay, some straight, some bi, some seriously tall and some seriously short, some have physical disabilities and some have mental ones. And all these people experience the world in a different way. We all have different backgrounds, different histories, different voices. But it's not just the big obvious things that make people different.
Some people are brilliant at maths, some science, some drawing, some talking, some painting. Some people are great at giving instructions and some are great at following them. Some people like to read a book in their spare time and some people like to play sports.
Each and every one of us is different in so so many ways. But as far as I am concerned, this is not something to shy from, it's not something to hide or be ashamed of. It, all of IT, is something to celebrate! Throw a damn party and shout "I'M DIFFERENT!!". Because these differences are what makes us all special. If we turned around and all told our children that we are all the same what would that achieve?
Children are not born with the ability to hate or judge. Hate is an emotion learnt. Judgment is also learnt. Let's teach our children to love! We need to teach them to love themselves and to love those around them. To celebrate not just who they are but who others are too. Teach them that our friends don't need to be 'the same' as us, they don't need to like the same things, be the same colour or have the same backgrounds. In fact, the more diverse a group of friends they have, the better. So much can be learnt from people who are not 'the same'.
My children know there are differences, and that they are not bad. And it is amazing. It is amazing that my beautiful children will tell you that a man can love a man, and a woman can love a woman, and not batter an eye, not see anything wrong with that, but there are adults who have such a huge problem with it. If that is you, then ask yourself who taught you to think that way? My children have friends with skin different to theirs, and my Izzy will tell you that people with dark skin have beautiful skin. And they know that there is nothing 'wrong' with people who have disabilities. That they are people too, people who deserve respect and friends and love too. And they are usually lovely people who can give so much back.
I'm going to continue to educate my children on the differences. And I am going to do my best to make sure that they believe 100% that all humans deserve respect and love and should be proud of who they are. Because they should.
I may not be able to do much to make the world a better place for my children. But will do all I can to make my children better people for the world.
The forgetful toothfairy
I don't know if any of you have noticed, but I'm not sure the Tooth Fairy is any good at her job. She isn't when she visits our house anyway!
Izzy's second tooth fell out a week ago and it was only last night that the Tooth Fairy paid up! Luckily the child is about as forgetful asher mumma *cough cough* the Tooth Fairy.
So for 3 whole nights the tooth sat on the bench. I know, forgetful much? Then on the fourth night it finally made it under the pillow.. But the Tooth Fairy didn't come. Good thing Izzy forgot anyway and didn't bother checking!
On the 5th night the Tooth Fairy tried to do her job, I promise you she did! But honestly, it's almost cruel expecting her to find her way through that bedroom.. I'd say it looked like a bomb had hit it, but I seriously don't think that even a bomb could make that much mess!! So do you know what the Tooth Fairy did? (That mean, mean Tooth Fairy) She left a note explaining to Izzy that she has some work to do.
So Izzy got to work right after school, she spent about an hour in her bedroom cleaning it up and then made sure the tooth was safely under her pillow in its snap-lock bag.
The Tooth Fairy did not come seriously! This Tooth Fairy has a lot of explaining to do!!!
Well here we are, the morning after night seven and guess what! The Tooth Fairy finally came!!!
..............And Izzy forgot to check.
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
Izzy's second tooth fell out a week ago and it was only last night that the Tooth Fairy paid up! Luckily the child is about as forgetful as
So for 3 whole nights the tooth sat on the bench. I know, forgetful much? Then on the fourth night it finally made it under the pillow.. But the Tooth Fairy didn't come. Good thing Izzy forgot anyway and didn't bother checking!
On the 5th night the Tooth Fairy tried to do her job, I promise you she did! But honestly, it's almost cruel expecting her to find her way through that bedroom.. I'd say it looked like a bomb had hit it, but I seriously don't think that even a bomb could make that much mess!! So do you know what the Tooth Fairy did? (That mean, mean Tooth Fairy) She left a note explaining to Izzy that she has some work to do.
So Izzy got to work right after school, she spent about an hour in her bedroom cleaning it up and then made sure the tooth was safely under her pillow in its snap-lock bag.
The Tooth Fairy did not come seriously! This Tooth Fairy has a lot of explaining to do!!!
Well here we are, the morning after night seven and guess what! The Tooth Fairy finally came!!!
..............And Izzy forgot to check.
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
Never signing up for that again!
One of my close friends had a baby two months back and one is due in 15 weeks and do you know what I'm thinking? "Glad it's not me!".
Don't get me wrong, I'm so damn happy for them! So damn happy.. but golly gosh I can't even begin to express the relief that I feel that it is not me with the baby.
Now if that's not a sign that I'm never having another baby, then I don't know what is. I never thought that it was possible for me to feel like this. I'm going to let you in on a little secret;
I didn't want kids. Like, Ever. That isn't the secret, anyone who is close to me knows that I wanted a career. I wanted to fly around the world and work in and own restaurants all over the place. Yeah, yeah, I can hear all you working mummy's getting ready to lecture me right now. Don't stress, I know you can have a career and be a mum at the same time, believe me, I wouldn't study so much if I didn't plan on it. But working around the world while having a family? That's just not for me. I don't want to leave my kids for long periods of time, nor do I want to drag them all over at the expense of them missing out on having life long friends, on having structure, normalcy.
Yep, that's why I wasn't ever going to have kids. But then I fell pregnant with Izzy and ever since that first conversation with Logan about her, about the thought of there being a mini us running around.. well, I've been one hell of a clucky mess!
No joke.
This is the secret - not the fact that I was clucky, cos anyone who is anyone to me knew that! Sheesh! No, the secret was how clucky I was!
Every time I saw a baby, my emotions would go crazy and I'd actually have tears in my eyes, yep, real tears. I didn't even have to know the mum or bub any cute little newborn would do it. And while I wanted no more kids (yes, I admit - not that I need to really, because people are always bringing it up - that I said "no more kids!" after each was born), I just couldn't help but feel extremely jealous of every single pregnant woman. I'm telling you, I was the definition of clucky.
But now suddenly the thought of having to do it again sends warning bells to my system. The thought of going through labor and birth again makes me cringe. The thought of being up all night again makes me feel like crying. The thought of carrying a cute little newborn everywhere I go, of snuggling it as I relax at night after the big kids go to bed, maybe even in bed too, my very favorite thing about newborns.. Well, it just makes me feel claustrophobic!
That's it.
No more.
None.
Ever.
Like, never ever.
Yep, I'm DONE.
It almost feel like a big sigh of relief to realize that I'm finally past all that clucky crap. Yay to moving on from newborns and finally having a little freedom. Freedom to sleep at night, freedom to (almost) pee and shower alone, freedom to run down to the shops without having to pack up half the house first.
You know who wasn't happy with my realization? Izzy. She wasn't happy at all because she wanted so badly to have a little sister. Ha! No. Way. Hosay.
Then on valentines day we babysat a friends 4 month old for the night. Boy was that funny! The poor darl had the worst case of wind I've ever seen, he screamed for two straight hours and burped I swear close to 20 times before finally calming down.
He had been crying for only about 10 minutes before Izzy was practically begging that I take him home. The kids enjoyed playing with him the next day but, just in case I didn't already know, Zay felt the need to let me know that "we don't want another baby, we are happy with our family how it is, huh mumma?".
Well if you insist little buddy, if you insist ;-)
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
Don't get me wrong, I'm so damn happy for them! So damn happy.. but golly gosh I can't even begin to express the relief that I feel that it is not me with the baby.
Now if that's not a sign that I'm never having another baby, then I don't know what is. I never thought that it was possible for me to feel like this. I'm going to let you in on a little secret;
I didn't want kids. Like, Ever. That isn't the secret, anyone who is close to me knows that I wanted a career. I wanted to fly around the world and work in and own restaurants all over the place. Yeah, yeah, I can hear all you working mummy's getting ready to lecture me right now. Don't stress, I know you can have a career and be a mum at the same time, believe me, I wouldn't study so much if I didn't plan on it. But working around the world while having a family? That's just not for me. I don't want to leave my kids for long periods of time, nor do I want to drag them all over at the expense of them missing out on having life long friends, on having structure, normalcy.
Yep, that's why I wasn't ever going to have kids. But then I fell pregnant with Izzy and ever since that first conversation with Logan about her, about the thought of there being a mini us running around.. well, I've been one hell of a clucky mess!
No joke.
This is the secret - not the fact that I was clucky, cos anyone who is anyone to me knew that! Sheesh! No, the secret was how clucky I was!
Every time I saw a baby, my emotions would go crazy and I'd actually have tears in my eyes, yep, real tears. I didn't even have to know the mum or bub any cute little newborn would do it. And while I wanted no more kids (yes, I admit - not that I need to really, because people are always bringing it up - that I said "no more kids!" after each was born), I just couldn't help but feel extremely jealous of every single pregnant woman. I'm telling you, I was the definition of clucky.
But now suddenly the thought of having to do it again sends warning bells to my system. The thought of going through labor and birth again makes me cringe. The thought of being up all night again makes me feel like crying. The thought of carrying a cute little newborn everywhere I go, of snuggling it as I relax at night after the big kids go to bed, maybe even in bed too, my very favorite thing about newborns.. Well, it just makes me feel claustrophobic!
That's it.
No more.
None.
Ever.
Like, never ever.
Yep, I'm DONE.
It almost feel like a big sigh of relief to realize that I'm finally past all that clucky crap. Yay to moving on from newborns and finally having a little freedom. Freedom to sleep at night, freedom to (almost) pee and shower alone, freedom to run down to the shops without having to pack up half the house first.
You know who wasn't happy with my realization? Izzy. She wasn't happy at all because she wanted so badly to have a little sister. Ha! No. Way. Hosay.
Then on valentines day we babysat a friends 4 month old for the night. Boy was that funny! The poor darl had the worst case of wind I've ever seen, he screamed for two straight hours and burped I swear close to 20 times before finally calming down.
He had been crying for only about 10 minutes before Izzy was practically begging that I take him home. The kids enjoyed playing with him the next day but, just in case I didn't already know, Zay felt the need to let me know that "we don't want another baby, we are happy with our family how it is, huh mumma?".
Well if you insist little buddy, if you insist ;-)
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
The Dummy
I have to get this out, so please forgive me. I have two points to make today.
1. Judgment
As a parent (I use the word Parent rather than Mum because I acknowledge that, although it may be on a smaller scale, fathers experience the same things as mothers do), I feel judged, inadequate, like a failure about 56% of the time. Other parents, society, sets standards that they expect us and our child/ren to follow and sometimes, when those standards aren't met, it's hard not to experience these feelings. There is so much that can be said on this matter, but I have just one example that I would like to share with you today.
The other month I bought my 2 year old son, Bay, a dummy.
He gave up his dummy around his first birthday, maybe earlier, and so it had been over a year since he had used one. I bought the dummy because we were suddenly having so much trouble at night with him. I was at the point where I was just exhausted and would have don't just about anything to get Bay to sleep through the night again. I was desperately hoping that the dummy would bring Bay some form of comfort in the night.
When I handed the dummy to Bay he started acting like a baby. He got down on his hands and knees and started crawling around making "wah" sounds while trying so hard to keep the dummy in his mouth (which looked like quite the challenge). He was simply adorable!
Instantly I wanted to tell a few of my closest friends about Bay's cute behavior but held back for a bit as I was thinking "what are they going to think/say when I tell them that I bought my 2 year old son a dummy?".
I was actually feeling, from the moment that I had picked up the dummy in the supermarket, incredibly guilty. I was considering not giving it to him at all. But the guilty feeling didn't come come from the knowledge that I was buying something that I thought was going to improve my child's sleep routine, It came from standards set by society and the fact that by even considering buying the dummy for my 2 year old son, I was not meeting those standards.
Now these girls, as I mentioned, are close friends of mine and so I really shouldn't have even thought twice about telling them about Bay and his new dummy, or about being judged by them. But I did.
In general, we are always judging others, whether or not we actually mean it, and knowing this makes it hard to believe we aren't going to receive the same treatment.. even from those we know and trust.
By allowing ourselves and our parenting to be molded by others, are we, in turn, allowing our children to miss out on their own basic needs, in this case, an item of comfort?
2. Dependencies
I believe children grow out of their dependencies when they are physically, emotionally and mentally ready. Why should we force it on them? Most adults keep their mobile phones on them constantly and whether they realize it or not, it usually provides them with some form of comfort.
How would you like it if your mobile phone was taken from you? I'm sure for many this would result in a small feeling of loss, even loneliness. I know that I personally don't feel comfortable at night when I am home alone and cannot find my mobile phone (I don't have a home phone).
Or how about if you were scared of something? The dark maybe, a spider, a storm and something had something that would provide you with comfort, like say a torch, bug spray or headphones, but refused to give them to you because they believed that you were too old? I bet that wouldn't go down too well with you. So why should it with little ones who have no understanding of 'too old'?
I have never seen an adult walking around sucking on a dummy, have you? So doesn't that prove my point here?
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
1. Judgment
As a parent (I use the word Parent rather than Mum because I acknowledge that, although it may be on a smaller scale, fathers experience the same things as mothers do), I feel judged, inadequate, like a failure about 56% of the time. Other parents, society, sets standards that they expect us and our child/ren to follow and sometimes, when those standards aren't met, it's hard not to experience these feelings. There is so much that can be said on this matter, but I have just one example that I would like to share with you today.
The other month I bought my 2 year old son, Bay, a dummy.
He gave up his dummy around his first birthday, maybe earlier, and so it had been over a year since he had used one. I bought the dummy because we were suddenly having so much trouble at night with him. I was at the point where I was just exhausted and would have don't just about anything to get Bay to sleep through the night again. I was desperately hoping that the dummy would bring Bay some form of comfort in the night.
When I handed the dummy to Bay he started acting like a baby. He got down on his hands and knees and started crawling around making "wah" sounds while trying so hard to keep the dummy in his mouth (which looked like quite the challenge). He was simply adorable!
Instantly I wanted to tell a few of my closest friends about Bay's cute behavior but held back for a bit as I was thinking "what are they going to think/say when I tell them that I bought my 2 year old son a dummy?".
I was actually feeling, from the moment that I had picked up the dummy in the supermarket, incredibly guilty. I was considering not giving it to him at all. But the guilty feeling didn't come come from the knowledge that I was buying something that I thought was going to improve my child's sleep routine, It came from standards set by society and the fact that by even considering buying the dummy for my 2 year old son, I was not meeting those standards.
Now these girls, as I mentioned, are close friends of mine and so I really shouldn't have even thought twice about telling them about Bay and his new dummy, or about being judged by them. But I did.
In general, we are always judging others, whether or not we actually mean it, and knowing this makes it hard to believe we aren't going to receive the same treatment.. even from those we know and trust.
By allowing ourselves and our parenting to be molded by others, are we, in turn, allowing our children to miss out on their own basic needs, in this case, an item of comfort?
2. Dependencies
I believe children grow out of their dependencies when they are physically, emotionally and mentally ready. Why should we force it on them? Most adults keep their mobile phones on them constantly and whether they realize it or not, it usually provides them with some form of comfort.
How would you like it if your mobile phone was taken from you? I'm sure for many this would result in a small feeling of loss, even loneliness. I know that I personally don't feel comfortable at night when I am home alone and cannot find my mobile phone (I don't have a home phone).
Or how about if you were scared of something? The dark maybe, a spider, a storm and something had something that would provide you with comfort, like say a torch, bug spray or headphones, but refused to give them to you because they believed that you were too old? I bet that wouldn't go down too well with you. So why should it with little ones who have no understanding of 'too old'?
I have never seen an adult walking around sucking on a dummy, have you? So doesn't that prove my point here?
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
Not so perfect
A few days ago I had a realization. I realized that I'm an adult, this is my house, they are my children, this is my life and I can do what I want. Now, being 23 this realization may have come a little late, but i did realize that I don't have to be perfect, neither does my house and neither do my children.
I mentioned this to Logan and he just had a laugh at me. He says that he has been trying to tell me this for years (which is true), but he doesn't realize quite how serious I am, quite how much this means to me. I feel like I have woken up from a tired, stressful daze! I have spent years being OCD over everything.. my house, my car, my kids, my husband and myself, and suddenly it's like a whole weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Today, for the first time in about 6 years, my kids toys are on the floor, also a blanket and a few cushions are in the middle of the lounge room floor. And guess what? I'm cool with it! Wow! Usually I would be freaking out over the mess and pulling my hair out but today? Today I'm writing a post. Because you might think this sounds incredibly silly, but to me it is an amazing feeling. For the first time in so so long, I am not stressed about how the house looks or how the children are behaving and it is just making everything feel so much easier.
I believe it is making my children feel happier too.
The reason I don't refer to my children by their true names
This post was originally a part of my A little about me & my family post but I felt that it was so important that it needed it's own post.
The first thing you may notice, if you know myself or family personally, is that on my blog I name my children with pseudonyms. Names that are not their true names. The reason for this is privacy. I intend for this blog to be a very personal place for me to write and in doing so I need my children's privacy to stay intact. At the time of writing this, my children are 6, 4 and 2. Currently anything I write about them here or anywhere on the Internet, any information I give out to you, does not affect them. But that wont always be the case. When they are older and start using the Internet, and their friends use the Internet, it will then become, to a certain supervised extent, their choices as to what will be publicly given about themselves. It would not be fair to them, for me to just hand over any information I like, and if I did use their true names, their friends would be able to just google them and find all this information at their fingertips.
For this reason I ask that if you know my children, please, do not refer to them here, or anywhere that I have not, by their true names.
Thank You.
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
The first thing you may notice, if you know myself or family personally, is that on my blog I name my children with pseudonyms. Names that are not their true names. The reason for this is privacy. I intend for this blog to be a very personal place for me to write and in doing so I need my children's privacy to stay intact. At the time of writing this, my children are 6, 4 and 2. Currently anything I write about them here or anywhere on the Internet, any information I give out to you, does not affect them. But that wont always be the case. When they are older and start using the Internet, and their friends use the Internet, it will then become, to a certain supervised extent, their choices as to what will be publicly given about themselves. It would not be fair to them, for me to just hand over any information I like, and if I did use their true names, their friends would be able to just google them and find all this information at their fingertips.
For this reason I ask that if you know my children, please, do not refer to them here, or anywhere that I have not, by their true names.
Thank You.
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
Toilet training - The start
When I picked Bay up from daycare last night, his teacher told me that in the Sr Kindy room, they don't supply nappies like they did in the other rooms, and she offered to start working with me in getting Bay toilet trained. I had been thinking about toilet training a lot for the last 6 months, and while I have encouraged him to sit on the potty from time to time, it never really got us anywhere. He grew to be comfortable on the potty which was great - when it came time to toilet train Zay we had a fair bit of trouble even getting him to sit on the potty - but he just never did a wee and I didn't want to push him as I feel it is important for little ones to be 100% ready.
So after some thought I decided now seems like a good time to get started; Bay complains that his nappy needs changing as soon as he soils it and is interested when we use the toilet, especially when his big brother does and he is at the point now where he understands his bodily functions.
The daycare help is extremely important in this as he is there four times a week. We hope that the other children using the toilets there would encourage him to use the toilet too.
Today is Bays day off daycare so after dropping Izzy and Zay at school, Bay and I took a trip to Big W to buy his first ever pairs of jocks. He wasn't really interested while at the store however when we got home and I pulled them out of the packet he was instantly excited and started taking his pants off. After selecting the perfect pair (grey with little cars that say 'beep beep' and 'vroom vroom', Bay put them on and was just so proud if them.
He tried standing at the toilet first but that wasn't working for him even though he was busting because he had to stand on his tiptoes (the stool is just a tad too high to be used at the toilet) and I believe that he just wasn't relaxed enough because after running back to the toilet and trying for the fifth time in 5 minutes he finally decided sitting on his cool Disney Cars potty would be the best plan and he did a wee straight away.
We have only now been home for an hour and he has already done a wee on the potty twice! The first time was his first time ever!! Woohoo!!
He's now laying on the sofa looking like he's going to go to sleep, this toilet training thing is exhausting for little ones!
Well I think it is pretty safe to say that it is going rather well so far! So proud of my mini man :-D
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
Tuesday 25 February 2014
You win some you lose some...
So I've pretty much spent this whole day, this day that was supposed to be spent on my assignments, blogging. On the plus side, I have this cool new blog to share with the world.. and I got to use my new skills in HTML to add that lovely menu bar so that you can access my recipes on a separate blog from here, which is pretty cool..but on the downside, I am no closer to finishing my website for my assignment then I was 24 hours ago.
Yeah, Shit.
Ah well, you win some, you lose some hey?
And right now I should be getting ready to take Izzy to the doctors to see what the sore on her eye is, but I'm still sitting here instead. Tapping away at the keys. It will all end in a mad rush no doubt, but I honestly just cannot be bothered getting up! I did try talking Logan into taking her but he says that wouldn't be fair because he picked the kids up from school so even though I dropped them off I guess it is still my turn.
I'm not always this lazy I swear (or maybe I am..)!
Oh and after taking her to the doctors I have to pick up Bay and then organize something for dinner. For a person who loves organization, I really am not doing too well right now.
But hey, I added that menu bar! All by myself. Yep, I'm proud.
So proud infact, that I required not one, not two, maybe not even three, but more like four high fives from the husband. Yep, four, cos that's how cool I am today.
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
Yeah, Shit.
Ah well, you win some, you lose some hey?
And right now I should be getting ready to take Izzy to the doctors to see what the sore on her eye is, but I'm still sitting here instead. Tapping away at the keys. It will all end in a mad rush no doubt, but I honestly just cannot be bothered getting up! I did try talking Logan into taking her but he says that wouldn't be fair because he picked the kids up from school so even though I dropped them off I guess it is still my turn.
I'm not always this lazy I swear (or maybe I am..)!
Oh and after taking her to the doctors I have to pick up Bay and then organize something for dinner. For a person who loves organization, I really am not doing too well right now.
But hey, I added that menu bar! All by myself. Yep, I'm proud.
So proud infact, that I required not one, not two, maybe not even three, but more like four high fives from the husband. Yep, four, cos that's how cool I am today.
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
A little about me & my family
Some of you may know me, if not in person, then from A Little Bit of Everything. If you do, Welcome to my new blog. If you don't, well, Welcome to my new blog!
You know when you're writing something and you know there is something wrong but you just can't fix it? Or fixing it just seems like, too much, and so you know within yourself that you just have to start again, even if everyone else doesn't see it?
Yeah, that.
Just, that.
Well anyway, lets get on with it yeah?
For those of you know do not know us, HI! I'm Sami, I love crafts and the kitchen, organization and being busy. I'm currently studying, four days a week on-campus and three off, to obtain my diploma of Website Development. Since becoming a mum just after my 17th birthday, I have completed year 12 and obtained my Diploma of Business and Diploma of Management, as well as worked in a number of hospitality businesses.
My loving husband (who is not quite my husband), Logan. He is a hard worker and a wonderful father. He is funny, the coolest nerd I've ever met and holy crap I love him. Like that kind of full on love that knocks you on your arse and then just as you think you can get back up and breath, it does it again. That kind of love. He isn't around too much as he works night-shift but we get by.
My daughter, Izzy, is the eldest child, although being a good influence for her brothers isn't at the top of her agenda. She is beautiful, of course, and loud, and funny and oh so loving. She is a girly-girl but also a bit of a rough nut. And a sook, boy is she a sook! But it's okay because she gets it from her Mumma. Izzy is in year 2 at school this year and is so far a high achiever. I couldn't be prouder.
Zay is my big four year old boy. He is over-energetic, LOUD, also loving and very sooky. I guess he got it from me too. He loves to do anything so long as it's with other people as he isn't a fan of being alone at all. He just started Prep this year and is doing wonderfully. He is so enthusiastic about learning which is just beautiful to see.
Bay is my baby. He will be three in just a few short weeks and I'm having one hell of a time accepting that. He is currently going through a 'scream-at-everyone-for-everything' stage, which is just adorable as I'm sure you can imagine. Bay is a serious mumma's boy which I love as the other two have become fairly independent in their 'old age'. He just moved up to the Sr Kindy room at his daycare this year, which is totally terrible for me as it means I have to accept the fact that he is no longer a baby, but wonderful for him because it means he gets to play in the big kid playground with the cool pirate ship sandpit.
Well that's my family and a small introduction into my life. I hope to see you around here again.
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
You know when you're writing something and you know there is something wrong but you just can't fix it? Or fixing it just seems like, too much, and so you know within yourself that you just have to start again, even if everyone else doesn't see it?
Yeah, that.
Just, that.
Well anyway, lets get on with it yeah?
For those of you know do not know us, HI! I'm Sami, I love crafts and the kitchen, organization and being busy. I'm currently studying, four days a week on-campus and three off, to obtain my diploma of Website Development. Since becoming a mum just after my 17th birthday, I have completed year 12 and obtained my Diploma of Business and Diploma of Management, as well as worked in a number of hospitality businesses.
My loving husband (who is not quite my husband), Logan. He is a hard worker and a wonderful father. He is funny, the coolest nerd I've ever met and holy crap I love him. Like that kind of full on love that knocks you on your arse and then just as you think you can get back up and breath, it does it again. That kind of love. He isn't around too much as he works night-shift but we get by.
My daughter, Izzy, is the eldest child, although being a good influence for her brothers isn't at the top of her agenda. She is beautiful, of course, and loud, and funny and oh so loving. She is a girly-girl but also a bit of a rough nut. And a sook, boy is she a sook! But it's okay because she gets it from her Mumma. Izzy is in year 2 at school this year and is so far a high achiever. I couldn't be prouder.
Zay is my big four year old boy. He is over-energetic, LOUD, also loving and very sooky. I guess he got it from me too. He loves to do anything so long as it's with other people as he isn't a fan of being alone at all. He just started Prep this year and is doing wonderfully. He is so enthusiastic about learning which is just beautiful to see.
Bay is my baby. He will be three in just a few short weeks and I'm having one hell of a time accepting that. He is currently going through a 'scream-at-everyone-for-everything' stage, which is just adorable as I'm sure you can imagine. Bay is a serious mumma's boy which I love as the other two have become fairly independent in their 'old age'. He just moved up to the Sr Kindy room at his daycare this year, which is totally terrible for me as it means I have to accept the fact that he is no longer a baby, but wonderful for him because it means he gets to play in the big kid playground with the cool pirate ship sandpit.
Well that's my family and a small introduction into my life. I hope to see you around here again.
Yours in this crazy world of parenting,
Sami :-)
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