Categories
Family

Summer School Holidays End

I love summer.

I love holidays.

However I am over the craziness of the school holidays and keen for kids to go back to school. There I said it. Lately everything is a drama, and I am so over it.

When is my turn to take a holiday?????  I have been trying to use positive thought power to attract a family holiday to Fiji maybe, or possibly a working holiday just for me to Queensland or Melbourne. Who knows… I am just dreaming and putting it out to the universe at the moment.

I know a cat photo is strange to put in this post. I did look for a photo of an annoyed mum or parent. Or even kids being silly. I thought that this annoyed cat summed up my feelings and might even represent some of my facial expressions over the holidays.
I know a cat photo is strange to put in this post. I did look for a photo of an annoyed mum or parent. Or even kids being silly. I thought that this annoyed cat summed up my feelings and might even represent some of my facial expressions over the holidays.

One thing that I am not looking forward to is the weather getting cooler but one BIG thing that is making me smile is the hours that will be mine when kids and baby are at school and care.

Soon I will have some uninterrupted time. This time will be quiet. No kids yelling, no kids arguing and no baby demanding cuddles or screaming and crying. The joy of soon having two days to myself, aside from school pick up and drop off.

The girls start grade three on Monday and due to the baby being in care on the Tuesday I have organised something for me.

I’ve made an appointment to get my hair done. Yes some pamper time for mummy. It will be relaxing and so nice to do something for me and to be on my own for a change.

Are you looking forward to school going back? Are you over the kids acting feral and crazy lately? I know I am. I am longing for some lovely time to just be at home and to get things done. It could be blogging, sorting things out with the house or just sitting down and having some quiet time for me.

What are you wanting to do when kids go back to school? Let me know.

Categories
Family

Just Like Me

The other day one of the girls walked into the kitchen bawling her eyes out. She was so upset she could hardly tell me what the issue was. Once she calmed down a bit I finally learnt what the problem was.

I did initially think that she or her sister had hurt themselves and we might need to take a trip to the hospital. Thank goodness it wasn’t the case.

The kid who was extremely upset told me that she was very sad that Amy Pond and Rory had died. For those that are not aware of these names or characters, they are in Doctor Who. Yes my girls take after hubby and I with their love for the Doctor.

Amy Pond and Rory Williams, from Doctor Who. Image found on Pinterest.
Amy Pond and Rory Williams, from Doctor Who. Image found on Pinterest.

I tired so hard to make her feel better but she kept on saying things about Amy and Rory like they were real people…… OH gosh… what do I do now???? She is a sensitive little bunny and these things upset her. I was like her as a child.

Yes there are moments that I get frustrated at behaviour and then realise that I am exactly the same. Do you do this too?
Yes there are moments that I get frustrated at behaviour and then realise that I am exactly the same. Do you do this too?

One thing that I did say was how about we watch the next episode to see what happens….So I will do that with her to see what happens next. From memory all works out well….but she does not know that.

Although I was shocked at her attachment and upset for the characters of Doctor Who, I had to think back to what I did when I saw this episode for the first time.

I did the same thing. Yes I cry and get very upset. I do the same thing when one doctor dies and he morphs into a new person…. I get to love and like the doctor and I don’t want them to change at all…However it does change and therefore it means more upset from me and now from one of my girls.

It got me thinking about that saying “That awkward moment when you find yourself being frustrated with your child…For behaving just like you.”

I am getting annoyed that she gets upset easily…however I have completely forgotten that I do the same thing. It is major to a child if their favourite characters die in a show or a book. It is very upsetting as an adult too.

I made sure that we had cuddles and kisses and talked about it, she felt a bit better after some nice mummy cuddles.

Have you had moments that your little ones have pushed your buttons to then realise that their behaviour is exactly like yours? Let us know what happened.

 

Categories
6 years and beyond

Misplaced Fitbit Flex

UPDATE: The kind people at Fitbit are replacing my Fitbit Flex for me. How lovely and exciting. Yes as you might guess I have not located it and been sad ever since I lost it. My device should arrive soon, and pictures will be posted when it does.

Have you ever put something down and cannot remember where you put it? I have and it happened to me yesterday. YES, I have misplaced something important. Admittedly I was tidying up, tired and thinking about dinner, tomorrow and all the other things that I need to do and obviously not the task in hand.

What have I misplaced? Well that would be my Fitbit Flex. Yes, my new wonderful device that monitors my steps. The Fitbit had emailed earlier that day telling me that its battery was running low and it needed a charge (Yes the Fitbit emails you to tell you to charge it – very cool indeed). I knew where it was and it was sitting on my side table next to my bed. Right, I know where it is, I will deal with it later.

Close up of my Fitbit Flex. You tap it to show you the dots. The dots represent how many steps you have done. A full row of dots indicates you have completed your 10,00 steps or more! Half way shows that you have done at least 5,000.
Close up of my Fitbit Flex. You tap it to show you the dots. The dots represent how many steps you have done. A full row of dots indicates you have completed your 10,00 steps or more! Half way shows that you have done at least 5,000.

Hubby then asked while I was up could I get his Pebble Watch as it needed a charge. I then remembered that my Fitbit needed a charge also. I went to the bedroom to get both items. I gave hubby his watch and who knows where the Fitbit went! I now cannot find it.

I thought that I put it on my desk that I had since tidied and had the charger ready to go. Now I just needed the device to charge. This has been the quest of today and last night. To find my Fitbit Flex. Today I have had no luck. My aim tomorrow is to find it and in the process clean a bit of the house. I have a fear that I might have had garbage in one hand and things to keep in the other…. could I have thrown it in the bin?

Garbage night is soon, and before I will go through the garbage to make sure that I have not thrown it out, as that would be very bad news if I have! Best to check before the bins go to the tip.

What is the worst thing that you have misplaced? Lost or cannot find? I wish I could go back in time and find where I put it…. would hypnosis help? What would I do to make me go back to that very moment in time? I don’t know how to do this, so think getting stuck into every area is the way to go. I just hope that I have time to do it all. I am going to prioritize on the bins, and certain areas that will be more likely to have this much loved and missing device.

I just cannot believe that I have lost it in my own house when I went to go get it! I must be sleep deprived if I am doing things like this!

Send in your stories so I don’t feel so bad about this silly act of tidying.  If I cannot locate it I will have to replace it. 🙁

Categories
3 years and beyond University Study

Good behaviour & feel good fairy where for art thou?

Today is not good, still not well, although kids seem to be getting better. However, no one is doing anything mummy is telling them. It is a tiring day and indeed week. I am so tired that I decided to have a rest until the screams of kids made me get up and tear them off each other.

We went to playgroup to get the kids to run around and exhaust themselves, although this is not the case as they are running around like mad things as I type this post.

Julia off shopping with her teddies in her pram, and Lillian is shopping in the bedroom, while closing and opening the door. I am sick of the arguments, and would just like to have someone put me in a room for time out and they can mind the kids.   Cannot wait for bed time tonight or at least time for when I can be by myself for a time.

My list of woes today and really for the week:

  • Lillian has a red rash under her nose due to rubbing, licking and having a cold. She will not let me put paw paw cream on it, moisturiser and I am worried it will get worse.  She will not put it on herself, and it is a big fight to get her to do anything about it. If I do get some on her lip, she rubs it off as soon as I get it on.
  • Blowing of noses – is getting better, but Lillian especially is rubbing and making her rash worse.
  • Not listening.
  • When I tell them not to do something the reaction is upset, crying. Then it is hug me, carry me and be with me all day.
  • No one is resting even when they look like they will fall asleep. When they do go down for rest time they are screaming, arguing and just making more problems. This is mostly due to them being overtired and sharing a room.   Why can’t they just lie down and have a sleep.
  • Asking for a certain food and then not eating it, and now they are saying they are both hungry. It is currently 3.30pm; I am not feeding them heaps of food for them to then not eat dinner.  So no snacks until dinner.
  • Julia refusing her cough mixture, she thinks it is yucky. It is not bad, but not as nice as other medicines she has had. If she would only let me give it to her, she would not cough so much. She let daddy give it to her this morning but refuses me to do it all. I am so over this.
  • Not getting any house cleaning and especially university work done. The university assignment is a worry and I am sure will get done, but it is on my mind.

So my worries and annoyances are nothing unusual. So now I need the good behaviour fairy to come and fix the kids, and then the feel good fairy to come and make us all better.  This will make sure that they are in school next week and then mummy can have a break and get some much needed work done.

Have you had days or times when your brain is overloaded, you have kids at you, you are sick and tired, and really just want to go to bed or pack it all in? The girls are now watching soothing play school. I swear there is a subliminal track in this show that makes kids be quiet and nice. Pity I cannot have this bottled in a spray and use it at will.   I hope your day and week as been better than mine. Crossing fingers that the weekend will be better with the husband home for help. Send in your comments about your trying days or weeks.

Categories
3 years and beyond Uncategorised University Study

Good behaviour & feel good fairy where for art thou?

Today is not good, still not well, although kids seem to be getting better. However, no one is doing anything mummy is telling them. It is a tiring day and indeed week. I am so tired that I decided to have a rest until the screams of kids made me get up and tear them off each other.

We went to playgroup to get the kids to run around and exhaust themselves, although this is not the case as they are running around like mad things as I type this post.

Julia off shopping with her teddies in her pram, and Lillian is shopping in the bedroom, while closing and opening the door. I am sick of the arguments, and would just like to have someone put me in a room for time out and they can mind the kids.   Cannot wait for bed time tonight or at least time for when I can be by myself for a time.

My list of woes today and really for the week:

  • Lillian has a red rash under her nose due to rubbing, licking and having a cold. She will not let me put paw paw cream on it, moisturiser and I am worried it will get worse.  She will not put it on herself, and it is a big fight to get her to do anything about it. If I do get some on her lip, she rubs it off as soon as I get it on.
  • Blowing of noses – is getting better, but Lillian especially is rubbing and making her rash worse.
  • Not listening.
  • When I tell them not to do something the reaction is upset, crying. Then it is hug me, carry me and be with me all day.
  • No one is resting even when they look like they will fall asleep. When they do go down for rest time they are screaming, arguing and just making more problems. This is mostly due to them being overtired and sharing a room.   Why can’t they just lie down and have a sleep.
  • Asking for a certain food and then not eating it, and now they are saying they are both hungry. It is currently 3.30pm; I am not feeding them heaps of food for them to then not eat dinner.  So no snacks until dinner.
  • Julia refusing her cough mixture, she thinks it is yucky. It is not bad, but not as nice as other medicines she has had. If she would only let me give it to her, she would not cough so much. She let daddy give it to her this morning but refuses me to do it all. I am so over this.
  • Not getting any house cleaning and especially university work done. The university assignment is a worry and I am sure will get done, but it is on my mind.

So my worries and annoyances are nothing unusual. So now I need the good behaviour fairy to come and fix the kids, and then the feel good fairy to come and make us all better.  This will make sure that they are in school next week and then mummy can have a break and get some much needed work done.

Have you had days or times when your brain is overloaded, you have kids at you, you are sick and tired, and really just want to go to bed or pack it all in? The girls are now watching soothing play school. I swear there is a subliminal track in this show that makes kids be quiet and nice. Pity I cannot have this bottled in a spray and use it at will.   I hope your day and week as been better than mine. Crossing fingers that the weekend will be better with the husband home for help. Send in your comments about your trying days or weeks.

Categories
3 years and beyond

No more yelling!!!!

I must say it is hard dealing with two 3 year olds when they don’t listen, think things are funny when they are in trouble, break things, keep on doing things that you tell them not to do, and test you in every way imaginable. It is also does not help that I cannot just hand them to someone and say, please I need a break, and you deal for a while. However that said I do try and deal with it well, but there are times that I do lose my cool and yell. I know that this is not a good thing to do, but it does happen. I am sure everyone is in the same boat. Lately I have experienced others yelling, and it brought home that I too need to change what I do, and make the house a calmer place to be. My aim is to have a nice calm house, with no yelling.  I know. We will see if it can be done.

Lately I have been trying to see if just explaining nicely in a calm voice will help more than yelling. It seems to be but as I said I do have my moments that I get very angry and frustrated like everyone. I have been trying to tell them that if they act the way they are acting then the visit, or playgroup/play-date will not happen. This seems to be helping as they are very keen to go out and have adventures. They are realising that if they act up they will not get the treat of going out; it is sad that you have to bribe the child to behave themselves.

Below is a quote from an article called, “Yelling at kids – the effects“, that is on Kidspot.com.au

“Talking in anger to your child is likely to affect his emotional development if, as a direct result of what you’ve said, he no longer feels you love him unconditionally or that he is safe and secure. Your child needs to feel your support and guidance, which will help him build the confidence to attempt new things and continue to grow in areas where he is already confident. If he feels anxious about being personally criticised or ridiculed, he will be less willing to takes chances.”

When I was young my father yelled and acted out a lot, when he wanted something done he yelled and screamed and got very angry. This affected me, when teachers would yell or pressure me for answers to questions, my mind went blank. I just could not tell them anything. This made them think that I was not smart. Teachers then did not try to teach me as you were in the dumb class. This is not the case now (getting distinctions at uni), but I am sure if it did not happen, things might have been different.   I am noticing that I don’t want to have the girls in that type of environment or create it either.

It is hard when you are feeling stuck, you are on your own, no help and it is a constant that never lets up. I always thought that work was hard, but now after kids, work is easy, give me a paid job anytime. As the primary care giver it is a tough job and if you have no assistance it is doubly tough. So if the kids are not listening or doing anything that you have told them to do, what is the answer? Here are some links that might help.

What do you do to keep calm in your household? How do you get your kids to listen to you? Are you trying not to yell, what are your techniques?  Send your comments to me and we can all share and learn from each other.