family – Just Another Manic Mum Day

Motherhood

As we are now days away from welcoming our brand new baby in to the world, I’ve taken some time to reflect on life and how much it’s changed since becoming parents.

I adore being a mummy, I truly do. I feel a swell of pride in my chest with every new and funny thing Noah does. But some days, I also still feel a longing for the woman I was before children. Free time to do with as I wish; read, bath, tv, nap. Free time becomes a thing of the past once children come along as even when they’re at childcare or just out with grandparents for example, you fill your “free time” getting those urgh jobs done that are impossible with children around or you just think of how much you miss them when they’re not there.

None of this is to say that I don’t thank my lucky stars every day that I was blessed with my children. But let’s keep it real, parenting is hard. You’re not “you” anymore, you don’t get to decide what you do with your days, weeks, weekends.

I am looking forward to baby arriving, I’m so excited to meet them but I’m also quite scared as to how I’ll adapt to a mummy of two.

Check back with us in the near future to see how we’re getting on x

Pregnancy, second time around …

So, if you’ve read my last blog post “Is it just us?”, firstly, thank you and secondly, you’ll see that we are expecting our second baby. Now, I knew it would be different this time round as I already have Noah who needs so much of my time, love and attention, but I can’t believe quite how difficult some days have been.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I knew it would be harder just because I can’t just nap when I need to like I did with Noah. I have to make sure I’m making time for Noah and completing all those “parenting” tasks that suck up the majority of your evenings and weekends. So by the time I sit down after the tea, bath, bed routine is done, I’m absolutely exhausted. Some nights I’ve gone for a warm bath, others I’ve just taken myself off to bed but then I feel like I’ve not had any time with Tom at all. How do you navigate life as a heavily pregnant mummy/wife/full-time worker/friend and fit it all in while also looking after yourself?

Another thing that worries me, is how this is for Tom. He is also having to think about life as a family of 4, whilst also doing the lion’s share at home and with Noah some days. You can find his thoughts on awaiting baby number 2 right here.

Is it just us?

Any other parent feel like it’s just you? Just your child creating a MASSIVE scene any time you go anywhere? Your child still not potty trained? Your child who will NOT eat veg.

I know it’s not just us, course I do. But it’s hard not to feel like it sometimes, especially when the judgey eyes of “perfect parents” fall upon you … because of course their child is utter perfection.

I just feel like you’re never really prepared for the things parenting throws at you. People say “parenting is really hard” but I don’t feel like you can fully understand how hard until you’re fully immersed in it with no clear cut direction on how to get through.

World Book Day – 4th March 2021

I have been an avid booklover since being very young. I’m pretty sure my parents have photos of a little preschool me, sat up in bed pretending to read to my teddies and I actually once heaved the full bible in to their bedroom to read it to them at about 5 years old. Just call me Matilda.

I’ve always loved Roald Dahl as an author and had many of his books growing up. George’s Marvellous Medicine was probably one of my favourites and even inspired me to create my own “medicines” in the garden… I’ll let you join the dots with that one. I even had many of these stories on cassette tape and just writing that I now feel incredibly old.

So, as you can imagine, World Book Day has always been a source of excitement for me. Especially the presence of the book fair in the school hall where I got to excitedly spend my book tokens, spending an age browsing through the shelves for that perfect read. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that my idea of a fab trip out on a Saturday morning is to head to the big library in town. My husband is just as big a book nerd as me so this is truly an epic family adventure for us.

The One Where Mummy Turns 30 …

Yep, that’s right. Last weekend I turned 30. I was actually having a discussion with my friend, who turned 30 this weekend, where we both admitted to not quite feeling adult enough to be 30 which is crazy really seeing as we’re both married parents. But, it does sound like I’ve aged about 50 years overnight.

Despite being in lockdown so all our original plans having to be scrapped, I really did have a lovely day. I was spoilt rotten by my husband and son, my family and my amazing friends. I received a beautiful video message montage, put together by my sister, which had me laughing and crying in equal measure.

May be an image of Alexandra Mulrooney, cake and indoor — My gorgeous musicals themed cake; Lemon and white chocolate flavoured heaven.

So, now what? Am I meant to feel different now that I’m 30? Well, I actually do. I feel like I’ve taken my life back in my hands. I’ve started working in my dream job. Yes it’s a training year at the moment but I am so determined to smash my way in to that role. I’ve started to take more pride in my appearance; skincare and make up mostly. With this damn lockdown finally almost over, I’m excited to get out in the world again and I want to really make the effort for that first date night, that first family weekend away. Also, we work bloody hard so why not treat ourselves now that we can.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Toy Story; The Revenge …

Good lord above, what did I do? In my former life I mean. Did I shoplift? Did I live a life of giving zero fucks about the environment by not recycling? I ask because … come on!

Look, he’s even giving me side-eye because I am daring to ask if it’s time to tidy up!

Don’t get me wrong fellow bloggers. I adore the fact that our house is a messy, lived-in family home. I’m not saying I’d change it, of course I wouldn’t. If you’ve read any of my other posts (or if you know us personally) you’ll know what we’ve been through to get here. But, every time I step on a slightly angled plastic knife, or a discarded piece of fruit (I would say plastic fruit but it’s not always the case), I cry a little inside.

Everything happens for a reason…

I’m not quite sure why I’ve chosen now to write this post. Well, that’s a lie. It is partially because I now have Noah so I can write this with a clear mind in a way that will bring comfort, hope and an aspect of realness (I hope) that others may be searching for. If I’d have written this at the time, it wouldn’t have made for very pleasant reading. I was a mess, I’ll be honest.

I also think it has something to do with conversations I’m having with The Divorced Dad (We’ll call him Dave, mainly because I’ve been listening to “The Twelve Daves of Christmas” on Absolute Radio and it’s obviously had an impact.)

Where to start? “At the beginning” I hear you say. Well of course. So,