Tag: mummy

Categories
Pre-School

Glowing Report

Yesterday, James and I attended the girls first parent teacher afternoon (I keep on wanting to say parent teacher night). I know it is normally night time, but I suppose pre-school is an afternoon time frame. I suppose it could be afternoon, not sure as I have not done the school thing as yet and pre-school is our first encounter with a school like system, other than our time at school.

You will all be pleased to know that both children are doing extremely well and the teacher would like to start the process of teaching them to read and to write. We got the impression that this is left to when the child is older, but as the girls seem ready she would like to give it a go and see how it goes. One thing that we need to do more of at home before learning can commence is play word games with them to know how letters sound, what words start with what letter. Once the girls have more letters at their disposal the game and learning that the school wants to do will happen.

The pre-school has cards and they get the child to recognise a letter and put the letter to a word, so if the word was “Cat”, and if the letters were “AT” and there was a C or say a B available, then the child might spell either cat or bat, depending on which letter they pick.

The girls are recognising letters and numbers quite well, however not sure how many they do know and if we are at the point of forming word/words. We have been practicing today and Julia was getting some things right and others all mixed up. She got annoyed and said, “I want to get it right!” I told her there were heaps to learn and it doesn’t matter if it is wrong and there is nothing to worry about.  Lillian also found it a bit hard to understand why it was all wrong and she just ended making up things, C is for Bed, D is for Pillow and more strange things.

I can understand from their point of view it is frustrating as there is a lot to learn and it is not making much sense, early days still and no pressure, they are smart little bunnies and they will get it soon.

One thing that the teacher was very impressed about is that you tell girls something and they say it well, do it, and remember things. Language, fine motor skills, and other skills seem to be on track or above. We are very pleased indeed. Not only are they doing well with what the school is teaching them, they are making friends and seem to popular as well, could have something to do with being cute little twins or just down to personality.

Do you find that your child is hungry for knowledge; Lillian has wanted to go to school since she was one years old. She did not understand why she could not. I hope the appetite lasts throughout their life and they learn great skills. As I told their teacher, we are not fussed if they go to university or become doctors or lawyers, we just want them to have a skill and be able to work, provide and be happy with what they do.

Did you get good outcomes from parent afternoons/night s? Did they help? We did ask if there was anything we could do to help, other than helping with the letter recognition we are on track. However I was prepared for any area of improvement if need be. Sometimes the girls are not the best at sharing, or doing things on their own, this has gotten a bit better due to school, but as mentioned was armed to think that there could be something else to focus on. If you did get a report that an area was in need of improvement or more guidance, how did you deal with that? Send in your comments.

Categories
University Study

Exam disaster

I have sat my university exam and was not pleased. It was very difficult and more than I expected it to be. I had notes available and did not have some that I should have had. To top it off, I was ill, and faced mathematical questions that I was led to believe that I would just have to name the formula or way to figure it out but not actually figure it out – I was very wrong.

I had to complete questions that I thought I could do in the time for the exam and hope for the best. Passing this subject needs to happen as I would like to graduate next year, I don’t want to have to do this subject again. I am very keen to finish this degree.

Although this was stressful and I am very worried about the outcome, at least now I don’t have to do any more university work, until next semester.

Not keen on next semester and yes there is another exam to do. Next semester is Contracts Management. I know I am doing this to myself, it sounds terrible, however everything is all listed in a contract and if you know where to look you can uncover everything. So I thought it would be a good skill to have.

I have alerted my teacher to my possible poor performance and the issue of being ill while undertaking it and also before during study. So we will see. I just want to pass.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Mental or Not?

The government has implemented a new program to test three year olds for signs of mental illness.  This new program will start from July 1, 2012 and will be run by GP’s with the standard health check for kids; it is a voluntary program that allows parents to go to the doctor with any concerns.

The idea is that behaviour/issues will be noticed and help will be found for these children.  However I am a big believer in labels and kids will be marked as early as three years old for being shy, upset, and anxious or other things and some or all of these things kids grow out of, some might not, but most do.

According to Jill Stark who wrote “Mental health checks for preschoolers” that is published online at Fairfax’s Essential Kids website, the program:

“…will consider behaviour such as sleeping with the light on, temper tantrums or extreme shyness as signs of possible psychological problems.”

I for one would not want to bring my kids for a check-up to then have normal behaviour seen as possible signs of mental illness. I do understand that early diagnose for kids that need help is essential and I applaud any program that helps families and especially these kids. However I worry that kids who are just being kids will clog up the system and not give the time for kids that really need the program.  Unless my girls give me any sign to worry, which has not happened and I think not, I will not use this service.

Another worry for me is who is this information shared with? Schools – pre-schools, primary, secondary, universities, future work places, and the list can continue. Is giving the child a label going to hurt the chances of recovery if there is an issue? I do know that finding out what ails you is helpful, as then you can work to fix it, and I do agree.

However for me it is like telling a kid that they are stupid and then hoping that they achieve. When I was at school, if you were not good at maths you were put in the dumb class. Teachers gave you easier tasks and did not attempt to teach you what you really should know, for example algebra. If these teachers did not tell you were dumb/stupid and spent some time teaching you in different ways how to understand the maths problem, then this would lead to kids getting better at maths and achieving.

What are your thoughts to this new program for mental health checks for three year olds? Currently it is a voluntary program, but what if it becomes mandatory?  I for one would not want to have to go and do it, some things are just private. Although, I do think that this service is great for people that really need it, and I hope they can access the service that should be for them, not the average kids who are just being challenging children. Send in your thoughts?

Categories
3 years and beyond

The aliens did it

Green Alien
Green Alien

Today we have learnt that it was not the girls being messy it was the aliens. I am not sure when they have visited us and where they are hiding, but Lillian has confirmed it was indeed aliens and not herself or Julia that is responsible for the mess.

When daddy was in their room asking for the girls to tidy it up, Lillian turns away and put her head on an angle. Daddy said it was very mysterious the way she did it, and then she told him about the aliens.
He lost it and just had to laugh.

I asked Lillian about why she was not helping clean up a mess that she helped create, and she quite seriously told me that it was not her that did it, it was the aliens. I asked her when they arrived, and what they looked like. She told me that they were green, and by this stage Julia was in on telling me that they were green and trying to describe them, mainly I just know that they are green, naughty and messy.

Having this ability to have a great imagination is I believe a great asset and a tool that can help you in your line of work, writing, acting, or just having a fun. I do hope that the girls never lose the ability to have fun and to have a make believe world.

Is it due to Lillian having a vivid imagination about outer space? Or just a very active imagination for a three year old? She was calm and serious in telling me about these naughty visitors and the goings ons.  Or is she just trying to shift the blame? Would mummy and daddy believe there really was someone else responsible for the mess and chaos? I think she hopes so.

Has your child got a vivid imagination? Do they make up wonderful stories, and if so what are some of them that have made you laugh and think how clever the story and detail was. Send in your comments.

Categories
Creative

Painting and tent building

Daddy and Lillian in tent
Daddy and Lillian in tent

Today it has not stopped raining, so another indoor craft day I think. What to do to keep the little monkeys busy? The fun for today was painting and tent building.

I set up the dining room for painting. Sheets of paper were organised as was the paint, water and brushes. To make it easier for each child I put the paint into muffin/cupcake tins.  Lillian painted a great picture of a platypus and footprints, Julia painted a platypus and a jungle with footprints, very creative pictures indeed.  This kept the girls entertained for a couple of hours, enough for me to tidy up the kitchen.  A big mess was made, but it is all okay as it will wash off clothes and furniture.  If you don’t use Crayola paint you should as it washes out and you can be confident that it will come out of clothes, walls and other things. Crayola have textas and other items that are washable and I have found these great as well, the girls tend to colour their faces, legs, and other body parts, so it is nice to know that it will all wash off.

After painting the kids hands, faces were washed. A change of clothes were needed for kids and also to mummy as I got dirty as well. Then daddy and the girls built a tent in the living room. The tent was a space for books to be read by daddy and puzzle making time.  Tent was made with 3 dining chairs and a sheet.

 

As I write this the tent is still up and kids are busy creating more works of art using their pencils and textas, with Wallace and Gromit playing in the background.  What have you been up to this long weekend. I know that hubby is a bit sad that it is raining and wet, he wanted to do some yard work. Maybe next weekend it will be sunnier.

 

 

Categories
Creative

Playdough and collage Fun

This June long weekend has been wet and cold. What do you do with kids with this kind of weather? Yesterday the hubby and I made some wonderful playdough, blue this time instead of the pink that is constantly requested.  We used the recipe from McKenzie’s Cream of Tartar for playdough as it gives a nice smooth fluffy feeling, I used to use the recipe on the side of the food dye box but have found this one with cream of tartar is far superior. The recipe calls for you to put it over the stove, however we just put hot water mixed with the food dye and mixed it in a bowel and added more flour if it needed it.  I urge you to give it a go; I think you will be very surprised at how brilliantly it turns out.

I have a box, called the “collage box” that keeps decorations, paper, glue and other things that can be stuck on paper to decorate it. I have taken to keeping paper that is pretty and other cute things for later collage masterpieces.  We did a bit of collage and had the box out when the playdough was used. The girls got creative with their snowmen and added sparkles, eyes, and other things to make unique pieces of art. Both snowmen are still on the dining room table to dry out.

Let us know what you think of the girls wonderful art, I think it is just very clever and creative, however I am their mother and supposed to think that.

Playdough Snowmen
Playdough Snowmen

 

What have you done on a rainy day to keep kids entertained? Do you have any great craft ideas? Send in your comments.

Categories
3 years and beyond Potty Training University Study

Holding on longer

Both girls are doing very well with the potty training, and I suppose you could say that the training is nearly done. The next step is to have them get up during the night to go to the toilet, and we are not at that stage yet, both girls are heavy sleepers so end up sleeping through it all and we are still in nappies for night time sleeps.

Yesterday we went out for a picnic and the girls lasted over 3 hours without needing to go to the toilet, a great achievement. However Julia then announced in the car on the way home (only around the corner from the house) “We should have brought the potties mummy”, I asked why, and then she said, “I just did a wee wee”. Oh well she did a good job hanging on so long.   We thought it was funny that the blame was pushed back to the parents. It is our fault that the potty was not there and she had an accident.

Her chair in the car had to be taken out and cleaned, and now is all dry after being in front of the heater last night and this morning.  Daddy and mummy are very impressed at how good both the girls are doing with holding on. For my birthday we went to lunch and the drive to get there was over 20mins and they were so good and no accidents, I asked if they needed to go when we arrived and both said no. We managed to order lunch and half way through eating Lillian said she needed to go, so I took her. Once back Julia said she needed to go, so I took her as well. The trip back was accident free and the girls were very good and waited until we were at home to go to the bathroom.  A week ago we went to lunch at the same place and the girls repeated the same things, no issue and no accidents, they are doing very well.

I have a feeling that being at pre-school helps as they see other kids and are exposed to a bathroom at their height and it is easy to access. We have managed to go to parks, trips, playgroup (I bring the potties as there is only one toilet and if others are using this the girls might not be able to hold on), and shopping.

The girls are sometimes dry in the mornings but mostly not. I have read that this means they are not ready to transition to undies for night time sleeps. It will eventually happen, but what do you look for to see if your little one is ready? The link for Toilet training – staying dry at night from the Victorian State Government has fantastic information that will help anyone questioning if their child is ready or not. If they are ready, it gives some great tips and preparation for the parent/s.

Have you transitioned to night time potty training? How has it gone? I know it will be soon, maybe at the end of the year or next year for us. I don’t want to rush it if they are not ready. I am very pleased at how the girls are holding on longer, and very independent with going to the bathroom during the day and before bedtime.  Send in your comments and any tips or tricks that have worked for you.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Not helpful

Today I encountered a most unfriendly and rude soul. Not sure if it was a bad day for her or if it just her way. Read below to see if this has happened to you.

I was out today at an indoor play area. I got talking with grandparents while their grandchildren played. Mine were playing with the eldest child. I was holding on and on, but could not anymore; I had to go to the toilet. Before I got up the mother of the kids came back. I stood up and walked over to their table and said, “I am just going to the toilet, just in case something happens with the girls, if you can keep an eye on them that would be great?” It was met with a strange look like I was talking a foreign language and then she said, “So what do you expect me to do?”, I then replied, “I was just saying that I was off to the toilet and in case the kids were upset and they wondered where I was, that’s all.”

Kids seemed fine and I went to the toilet, she was a B#$ch. What is one to do when you are there by yourself with 2 kids? If there was a staff member around I would have asked them like before, but there was none to be seen. Talk about attitude….. It was like she was thinking she was mother superior and I was beneath her.

I for one have minded other kids while the parent went to the loo or to get a coffee if the place was unmanned. Why is it a reach to think that this might happen? There a lot  of responsibility associated with the role ( by this I mean, she did not have to do anything other than watch them). My kids were playing with her eldest and were all having fun. Was just concerned leaving them as I did not want to think mummy was leaving, they might have gotten worried or there could be an accident and at least the adult knows that I am coming back. Other things like people taking my kids without me knowing who you are do come to mind, if this person who did not help knows I will be back soon she will not allow someone to come and claim kids that are not theirs (well that is what I hope).

I for one don’t have family support to take kids or mind kids while I go and do things or at least leave them in the play area while I race to the bathroom. I think maybe some people who have help don’t know what it is like to have none.

One friend I mentioned this to, suggested it is sad that the lady was unhelpful and the loss of community that this indicates. I agree with this wholeheartedly. Why is it that we cannot help each other out more, especially if you are mum alone with kids and you need to urgently go to the bathroom?   Send in your stories of what has happened to you.

 

Categories
3 years and beyond

Accident prone

Yesterday I was searching for a toy under Lillian’s bed. I had to move the bed to get to it. I then bent down to do something and my thigh met the end of the bed at speed, and it hurt badly.  You can be rest assured that tears, swear words were uttered. I am now sporting a massive sore bruise that is telling me it is there constantly by throbbing.

To top it off I have a mysterious bruise on my arm that I have no idea where it came from and today I cut my finger on a tin. All of these injuries are located on my left side, so that is not good but at least it keeps the right side safe, as I am right handed.

Just cannot believe how sore the bruise on my leg is and how silly it was to have done it. Have you had a day or days when you seem to have accidents happen to you or part of your body?  If so what side has coped it?   Why does it seem that when you do one thing others happen as well?

Categories
Katoomba and Weather

Want to be somewhere warm

It is freezing here. We are facing about 3 days of severe wind with possible wind speed to get to 115km or more per hour. Last night I just laid awake and listened to the scary wind and hoped that the house did not end up like the one in the wizard of oz.  I am from Queensland and miss the beach and the warm weather. Why is it that we have to have a freezing cold winter, why can’t it be unusually warm? I know I live in the Blue Mountains and it is cold so what do I expect. A girl can dream of warm days at the beach, the current day dream is for the whole family to hope on a plane and go to Fiji or Queensland to a resort and to be pampered and be warm at least.

It has been windy all day and raining all day, from a drizzle to heavy rain. Just being out for a couple of minutes I feel the cold wind go straight through me… maybe I need to invest in warmer jackets and pants?

This afternoon when I picked the girls up from school it was raining, just getting a bit wet, I could not feel my hands. Not feeling hands did not help putting kids seat-belts on.

Current temperature is:

  • 4.5°C
  • Recorded min: 2°C
  • Recorded max: 3°C
  • Feels like: 0.6°C
  • Humidity: 98%
  • Rainfall since 9am: 11.2mm
  • Wind: S 18km/h
  • Wind gusts: 32km/h

However for most of the day it was about 2 or 3 degrees but felt like minus 4 degrees.

I hope you are all keeping safe, warm and that you are o.k from the strong winds.

If you have any recommendations for warm gloves send them in. My hands get so cold that I cannot feel them, not good as I fear that it will get worse. It is only day 5 in winter and it is so cold.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Costs of childcare

I don’t know about you but it is expensive to put kids into care.  Having two kids at once does make it more expensive, you have to double everything. In the news today there was a lady saying that she pays over $100 a day for child care (I would say for the cost she is in the city), I am assuming that is for one child. I would say that would need to be doubled for two kids.

Her theory of going back to work is a good one; she is trying to keep current in her chosen field. The more years you are out of the workforce the harder it is to get the next job.  I do agree with her, although I don’t want to go through all the stress and headache of putting kids into care to do a job that I do love, to not earn any money for it. With the rate of say $100 per day for one child it would not be a viable choice for me at all.

Here are some articles about childcare:

I know child care workers are underpaid and not appreciated enough. My girls bloomed with the two years they went to child care; however we could only manage to send them for one day a week. This one day cost us nearly $100 for just the day for both the girls. I think the workers need to get paid more; however I don’t see how this increase won’t flow onto parents.  The issue I have with child care and parents especially mothers returning to the workforce is the cost and the issues around it. The government is losing out on a great number of skilled workers who are in the same boat as myself, would like to do a part time role or say part time in the office and the rest from home. However due to non-flexible arrangements, no family support, high child care costs, and probably other things I have not listed, working is out of the question while kids are young.

Is it practical for you to go back to work?  I for one would love the change and chance to shine again in the corporate world; however it is not possible for the major reason of childcare costs, family support, and also the fact that I would like to stay home until the kids are at least at school. Even when they are at school, as the primary care giver you only have the window of school hours barring any sickness, and of course you have to drop tools when school holidays roll around.

Now the kids are in pre-school that is a cost and it is as stated times two, adding child care into the mix is not possible for us at the moment. I for one don’t understand how women and some fathers do it.  How do you work for the sole purpose of paying the child care centre? What do you do if the money you make is not enough for the bills for the centre? How does factoring in the travel , clothes, food and all the extras for the job help with the fact that child care costs are deducted from your salary?  If I got a job in the city, I would have to hire a nanny or carer to mind kids before school and after, to drop and pick up from school and to also to wait until I got home after work. This would add to our costs, especially with pre-school and commuting to the city.

I do think it is great women are doing work as well, and would like to know how you do it all.  I find it difficult with two kids and not working in a paid job.  Tonight, on the news there was some talk that the government  will help with the costs for child care workers, I do agree this would help, although if and when it will happen is another thing entirely. It is sad that we cannot pay them more and have reasonable fees that will allow parents to go to work and to have kids in care. Send in your comments on how you manage to find the cash for child care and manage with a part time/full time job.

Let us know your thoughts. Why not continue the discussion on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

 

Categories
3 years and beyond

I love sleep

My brain is active with things that I want to achieve, however I am just so tired and exhausted. The reason I feel like this is I am currently getting over a bad cold/flu, not sure what it was actually. Probably was the flu as I had fevers and cold sweats, I know too much info. Now I am fine but still tired and find that I am not thinking 100% clearly, so still must be getting over the germs. Another reason for being tired is two very active three year olds to look after and to entertain.

Sometimes I think it might be the lack of sleep I have had since the girls were born. People say it is hard to catch up on sleep and if you are constantly interrupted or do not sleep well this can not help. Maybe this is one of the other reasons, I am still sleep deprived due to having kids and looking after them. I don’t see this changing any time soon, I think I might have another 14 years of this if they leave home at 18. With the world the way it is and expectations of children to walk into a dream job without working from the bottom up, my kids might be back to live with us after moving out of home. So maybe my sleeping days will be numbered after they are 18 as well?

Some sites that might help if you struggle with losing sleep and being tired:

  • According to Scientific Amercian’s article, “Can You Catch Up on Lost Sleep?” states that if you miss sleep you acquire a sleep debt, to repay this debt and to feel less tired and better, you need to go to bed when tired, try and add extra hours each night and in months this might help.
  • Great articles about sleep and helping to get to sleep by sleepwriter.com

As I write this my eyes are heavy and I am thinking of bed. I am now off to dream sweat dreams in my comfy bed and to hopefully catch up from my sleep debt.

Do you have issues with being tired all the time? Has kids made it hard to grab a break or a nap to help this issue? When night time comes are you just wanting to curl up and go to sleep? I know I do. Sounds so anti social but that is so exciting for me at the moment, going to bed and being allowed to sleep in. Send in your comments.

Categories
3 years and beyond

The Toddler View

The “Enjoying Your Toddler” class was very interesting. The two main points for me were:

  1. How you talk to your child – Language is very important. If you as a parent say, “Stop doing that!” The child thinks, “What is that?”, or the parent might say, “Stop touching that!”, and again, what is that to the child. So the tip here is to say, “Stop touching the DVD Player/Computer”, make sure that what you are referring to is named.  This way there is no confusion on what it is the child should stop doing.This I do, however the girls seem to keep on going back and doing it anyway. I was asked what I do to try and stop this behaviour. I end up having to remove the child from what I don’t want them to do, and this happens repeatedly. Hope to get other ideas on how to deal with determined children and this behaviour.
  2. We did one exercise where one of us stood on a chair and held the hand of the other who was kneeling to pretend that they were the toddler/child. This was to mimic the way we treat kids when we have to quickly get to the shops and other outings. Only after 2mins or less my arm was hurting and I can imagine that it is a scary view of your parent if they are angry. It was brought to my attention very quickly that trying to be at their level is very important. I do this quite often and try and make sure that I knell down to explain things and to have chats and just be with each of my girls. However this cannot happen when you are out and about, holding hands when crossing the road or on the footpath, trying to hold your hand bag and other items.

Although I felt that I do the things mentioned, it is good to remember to always try to be at the child’s level, and to put things in a context that a child can understand.   Kids are not adults and as mentioned today, it is like they are from a different planet learning our ways as new members of our society.

Do you find that you seem to do everything right, and still you don’t get the outcome that you had hoped?  I am keen to see what next week will bring, as it deals with discipline.  What are your techniques to explain things to a child or tell them not to do something?

Just an example, last Christmas my mother told Julia that she had a nice sun dress. She looked puzzled and said “This is not a sun dress! It does not have a sun on it!” Yes she was right it did not have a sun on the dress. My girls and I suppose others kids take things so literally. We might call it a sun dress but it might be called something else entirely by the child.   This example shows how what you say to a child can be misunderstood or just lost. Choosing how you explain things and what you say can help fix some issues. I am keen to see how it will help in our household.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Enjoying your toddler?

Tomorrow I start the course called, “Enjoying Your Toddler”. Not sure if this course is aptly named, I have thought of alternatives. “Surviving Your Toddler”, “How to get your toddler to listen to you”, or “How to discipline your toddler”. These alternates titles is what every parent would rather call the course, although I do agree I would like to enjoy my children more, so maybe this title is the better one.

I am not sure what to expect from this course and I am keen to learn some new techniques to help deal with two wilful, stubborn, very active three year olds. Who knows. If I get one or two tips from this course it might help out and be the answer to some issues we have been facing currently.  The girls seem to be running amok and all over the place. I really think it is down to their age and the fact that they are exploring new things at school and through friends, testing boundaries at home is getting exhausting.

I will make sure to bring a notepad and a pen to take notes on any tactic that will help me out. If I do get a great tip I will let you all know, you never know it might help others as well.  Have you done any parenting courses? Have they helped? Or were they a waste of time?  If these courses were winners with you, what was the major thing that you got out of it?

Hopefully by the end of the course I will come out enjoying the kids more and have more skills to deal with issues. Thanks to Jeanette the coordinator of playgroup for bringing this course to my attention.

Categories
University Study

Busy with uni

Hi all, I am very busy working on the last assignment for university so have not posted lately. Sorry about this, however after assignment is done will post some more and will keep them coming.

Keen to get this long stressful assignment completed, then tutorial questions to do and study for the exam. Then after that I will be very pleased it is over for another semester.

Although I am working away at assignment and kids, I am really looking forward to my day off tomorrow and of course my birthday on Sunday.

Hope you are all well and more posts will start next week after uni assignment is done and submitted.

 

Categories
3 years and beyond Pre-School

My free time = 5 hours x 3

Do you ever have visions of getting everything on your to do list done? Well I do, however not all does get done. It is a frustrating situation but I suppose with kids and other things going it is understandable that this never occurs.  However it does get frustrating that some things still are a work in progress and are not finished.

It might be just me but once kids go to pre-school, I have it in my head that I have the day. No I don’t, I just have the magic hours between 9.15am and 2.45pm so I need to get whatever I need to do done in that window.

Lately I have found that the more I have to do, not much gets done. I end up doing bits and pieces of something and then never getting through a task completely. I am using my Swiss cheese approach, just doing each problem bit by bit, a hole at a time. Maybe this is the answer and I should just be content with this. I have been doing what I can do in the time available however with a brain that is overloaded on tasks, I find it hard to concentrate on just one thing lately. Have you had this issue? Or is it just me.

I do have some time 5 hours 3 days a week, those are the days that the girls are at pre-school. Currently they and I have a cough given to us by daddy, who got it from a workmate. Not something bad, but just a little tickle. The girls seem oaky so sent them off to school, but in the back of my mind, I am waiting for the phone call to come get them. Let’s just hope that this does not happen. (I sent them due to the fact that they are playing and are happy at home; don’t seem really ill, if they were they would be home)

I have a messy house still but need to prioritise, the university group assignment is due next Monday so need to put my head down and bum up and get it done. No television just working on assignment this week. So cleaning will have to wait until assignment is done, or just a bit of tidying tonight.

Off to get my cuppa tea and start work on my assignment again. Send in your comments on how you structure your time off when kids are at school? What can you get done in the time allowed? Are you now a speed worker due to the small free time window? I wish I was.

Categories
3 years and beyond Pre-School

I must wear the purple top

Why is it when you are cutting it fine time wise, one or both of your kids has an issue with something. By issue, it could be a tantrum, or hysterical reaction to mummy telling them that they cannot wear the purple top due to it being dirty.

This issue with the purple top happened to me this morning. I had about 30-40mins to get kids dressed and ready for school. I had the bags already to go, lunches as well. I just needed to get kids dressed and then all in the car. Easy I hear you say. Well it wasn’t.

Lillian decided that she wanted to wear the purple top that was very dirty. I explained that she cannot wear dirty clothes out, while this was happening Julia decided that she wanted to wear shorts. I explained that no one is wearing shorts as it is very cold and she would be freezing.

I gave Lillian 3 choices for tops. None of them she allowed me to put on her. While I tried to put them on her, she busiest herself taking them off quick smart, after ages of crying and me being very firm and some taps to her bum she decided that she needed to listen and choose a top. She allowed me fighting all the way to put on a top. I then tried to put on a jumper and she was again hysterical and did not want it. She claimed everything was itchy. Well that is news, it was never itchy before. Oh well, decided to give her another one that might not be itchy and she still complained about it being itchy, but I persisted. She needed to wear a jumper, it is very cold.

OH, what a time spent just dressing one child! That saga took over 20mins. Then I still had to dress Julia. Julia was better about it, however insisted on shorts and wanting to wear her sandals. Again, I told her that shorts and sandals were out, that she needed to dress warm as it was cold. She was much better behaved than Lillian was, but I think that is due to seeing Lillian in trouble and Julia did not want that to happen to her.

So by the time two kids were dressed in warm outfits, it was 9.05am; I need to be driving by 9.00am to get to school in time. This morning it was not bad, however I don’t like to be late. Do you have dramas getting kids dressed in the morning or to go out? Do they allow you to dress warmly for a cool/freezing day – Current temperature here is 4.5degrees, but feels like 1.2degrees. So as you can see sandals and shorts is not a good idea.  Do you have any tips or tricks to help with a hysterical child that takes off the clothes you put on her?

Categories
3 years and beyond Uncategorised

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day

Today was Mother’s Day and in our household it was also my husband’s birthday. It was a busy day and a day that I thought that I was forgotten about, until the girls presented me with some chocolates and a print out that they both coloured. I know it was both our days, however was a bit disappointed not to be able to sleep in, however got the chance to have a nap in the afternoon.

No fancy lunch but had a great time with the girls and hubby. Next Sunday is my birthday so who knows what other surprises are in store.

We all at Mummy to Twins hope that you had a good Mother’s Day, and that you enjoyed yourself.

I found this image for the Manifesto for mums online, and was on the Lose Baby Weight facebook page – I love the first bit, “The needs of our kids are simple: Clean bums, full tummies and a warm bed”. How true is that. This image is also right that everything else is a bonus.

Kids were so tired from our big day they fell asleep in our arms, I had Lillian and daddy had Julia. We just bundled them up and put them to bed, it was the cutest thing.

I am counting down to my special day next Sunday and of course my time out for next Saturday, facial in the city is booked and will confirm it tomorrow. Looking forward to it all. Have a great day tomorrow and off to bed now too.