Today is one of those days, theres a pattern emerging! Its the end of the girls 2 nd week at pre-school and now the initial buzz is wearing off here comes the tiredness! They have been so excited at night that bedtimes have been hard work and after 5 stories and 12 “Tickle me’s” your own eyes slowly close and the next minute you wake up wondering where the hell you are ( yes I mean what planet!). Luckily though the twins are asleep and finally resting but you’ve just lost an hour to the land of snoredom! Thats 1.5 hours really as you spend the next half hour wondering where to start to get through the 100’s of jobs needed to be done before bed time and dreaming of the things you would really like to be doing with your time instead of tidying the kitchen for the 4th time that day, or picking up barbies for the 15th before the precious shoes get lost, whilst putting the kettle on for a much needed cup of the black potent stuff just to realise you were meant to be at a rehearsal an hour ago!
Juggling! One of the things we do best. That fine line between looking after the children and yourself as much as humanly possible. Now we all know children are hardwork and most of your dreams and ambitions have to fade into insignificance for the first few years as you struggle to survive on an hourly basis due to lack of sleep, proper food, no time to even shower let alone get out of the house to make it to a play group (heres a tip moms if you can’t make it to the 9am groups (does anyone?!) , soft play is always open and they serve coffee and cake! But when do you realise you are just existing and turning into a machine? Now I love my children dearly and treasure every moment with them – I do mean EVERY moment! You need some time to look after you, to feed that burning desire of ambition inside otherwise you fall into a shadow of yourself. Even if its only 10 minutes – do something you love, put them in the pram and get out for a walk – I know this is a huge ball ache with little ones and for me it needed an army like precision, but its a great way to clear some headspace and get out of the house for a breath. Yes I understand your children add so much colour to your life and of course we are here to help them grow and strive to become well rounded individuals and we love them unconditionally. But how can you do that if you are not taking care of yourself? Your too tired to function and your brains stuck in one gear? Take a moment to breath, remind yourself that you are doing great. You’ve nourished 2 (or whatever) living beings and led the way to help them grow. You’ve kept them as safe as you have been humanly possible too, through all the trials and tribulations, sleep deprivation, vanishing time, teething, illnesses, tantrums, uncontrollable tears due to emotions they don’t understand (and thats not just the kids, we’re always learning!) & general crap of day to day drama, work, etc here you all are. So breath, give yourselves a well deserved pat on the back, be happy with everything YOU have gotten through and accomplished up to this moment, tell yourself you are doing great. Remind yourself of who you are and don’t let go of those drives that make you who you are and when the time is right, and the next phase begins you’ll get a piece of yourself back and learn to juggle some more!
Mommas A Mermaid 