Good morning everyone :) I have donned my Hazmat suit (well, my dressing gown actually) and am braving Mat's shed again this morning to chat to you all...must mean I love blogging with you guys or something! I see that his penicillin experiment is still going strong, despite me telling him last night that the medical world has advanced beyond this and I am more than happy for him to bin the whole mug! Not surprisingly though, that hasn't happened. I honestly can't believe how messy and gross this shed is; I am almost inclined to clean it up but I know it wont be appreciated. In fact, I would get in trouble for sure for throwing out something "important" that looks like rubbish to me. Besides, I have too much work to do inside after such an unproductive week.

That brings me to an important point...

Dear Cleaning Fairies,

If you are reading this...GET TO WORK! There's washing to be hung out and folded, beds to make, dishes to wash, floors to clean and don't even get me started on the state of the gardens! I have faxed my change of address form to you many times before but still, you manage to avoid coming to my house to clean. I strongly advise you to review your administration team because clearly there is a weak link there somewhere and it is severely impacting on your productivity and repeat clientele.

Regards,
Kate

Fingers crossed the Cleaning Fairies are surfing the blogosphere today and see my post :)

Before I go, I'll give you all an update on Elliott. His hand is slightly better today...the burns have blistered but he doesn't seem as bothered by them which is great. I was chatting to my dear friend, Shaz, who is a Vet and she advised that I dress the wound with honey (any honey will do) and a sanitary pad (yep, I'm talking a Libra ultra thin...wings optional) and some medical tape. I gladly put all my faith and trust in Shaz's medical advice so I will go shopping for some supplies today and dress E's wound right up. Mat rolls his eyes when he comes home to Elliott wearing high heels and bangles...I wonder what he will think of a sanitary pad taped to his hand lol :)

Have a beautiful day xox

PS - Just as I was about to publish this blog entry, Sophie calls out from inside "Mum, I made my bed!" My goodness, maybe the Cleaning Fairies didn't hear me but someone must have :)

What a day!

Oh my goodness, what a shocking 24 hours I have had...hence the delay in getting today's post up in a timely fashion. In fact, I am braving Mat's shed, and a possible need for a tetanus shot, to bring you today's blog. He has this archaic computer in his shed (doesn't even have Word on it) to view YouTube videos as he rebuilds cars by night. It is so gross out here...bugs, dirt, empty Jack Daniels cans all over the place and my favourite, the penicillin experiment he appears to be cultivating in a half empty coffee mug right beside where I am standing. Yuk!

Anyway, onto the last 24 hours of nonsense. You know how I planned to get a whole lot of stuff done yesterday? Well, I didn't. Nothing. Not a thing. Elliott was having one of those days where he was injuring himself left right and centre and needed constant attention. Just simple things like pulling toy baskets off shelves and banging them into his head, falling backwards off his bike onto the concrete and banging his head, dropping a little glass jar of my hay fever nasal spray and cutting his finger on the broken glass, and also catching his fingers in every door and drawer that he opened! It was just one of those days. Oh and then last night, I somehow managed to break Mum's laptop that I have been borrowing ever since I broke my laptop and PC on the same day!!! So today the computers went to the doctor and the only Internet access I have is in Mat's shed.

Before I was due to take the computers to the computer doctor, we had just returned from swimming lessons and my hair was a frizz ball. I decide to straighten it before going out in public so I did my hair, turned off my straightener and popped it on top of the bathroom drawers. Normally I close the straightener and lock it but today I was too focused on getting the computers out of the office and guess what I hear...screaming, oh horrible blood curdling screaming from poor Elliott. I knew straight away what he'd done and I raced out of the office to help him. Blocking the hallway and my passage to rescue Elliott was the timeout chair, the baby walker and Sophie on her bike. I pulled poor Sophie forwards on her bike with such force that she went riding, involuntarily, across the family room floor. I raced to Elliott, scooped him up and ran his poor little hand under cold water for as long as I could keep him there. I felt awful and am so mad at myself! He has burnt along the pad of his thumb and half way across the palm of his hand...he must of grabbed a good hold of the darn thing! So, after running his hand under water, I took him to the chemist, howling of course, and they gave me some cream and Nurofen to sort him out. We got back to the car and I drugged him up immediately and lathered his little hand in burn cream. He screamed. Poor, poor little guy!!!!

Right now though, he is soundly asleep and so is Sophie. Hopefully when he wakes, a lot of the pain will be gone and my guilt will have subsided just a little. A valuable lesson learnt by both of us today :( 

Sleep....oh sleep

I am having one of those days where there is just so much to do that I don’t even know where to begin! Housework to be done, errands to run and phone calls to be made…so here I find myself sitting to type up my blog (seems like as good of a place as any to start my day J)

What a laugh, did I just say “start my day”? Considering I have been up three times to the kids through the night and eventually up for the day about four hours ago, perhaps this isn’t technically the start of my day. I’d have to say that that is the one thing that comes as the biggest shock when you become a mother…the utter lack of sleep! Once you have a little human in your life, they will dictate if and when you can sleep for years to come. If they wake up with wind pains, you’re up too. If your toddler wets the bed at 2am, you’re up too, changing them and the sheets. If your 4 year old wakes up after a nightmare about a crocodile snapping her cuddly toy away, you’re up too. No matter what the reason for their waking, you will be the one there to soothe them back to sleep and make them feel safe again…regardless of how exhausted you might be. Then there is the off chance hubby wakes up as you creep back into bed post child settling. He is oblivious to the fact you have been up endlessly and announces “Can’t you sleep babe? I know what we can do…” nudge nudge. Good grief, they have no idea!!

This situation brings to mind a poem I came across by Kerri Sackville who is an author and columnist for Mamamia. It is called “Let me go the f*** to sleep: A wife’s lament” and I warn you, there is some use of very coarse language.   

The kids are finally in bed
With sweet relief I weep.
I go up to the bedroom.
Time to go the f*** to sleep.

In only seven hours my
clock radio will beep.
I need to catch each minute
of my precious f***ing sleep.

It’s been a long, hard day
of work and chores and problems deep.
I cannot wait to get to bed
and go to f***ing sleep.

I tiptoe through the door and
to my bed I softly creep.
Don’t want to wake the hubby
who – thank god – is fast asleep.

I slide beneath the sheets
and fall into a crumpled heap.
I close my eyes then hear a voice:
“Hey babe, are you asleep?”

I lie there very still and then I
start to count some sheep.
I’m hoping he will take the hint
and let me f***ing sleep.

Just as I drift into my dreams
his hand begins to creep.
He thinks it’s time for making love!
It’s time for f***ing sleep!

He snuggles in and nuzzles me
and out of bed I leap.
“Don’t even f***ing THINK of sex!
I want to go to sleep!”

He looks at me so hopefully,
his boxers torn and cheap.
“I bet I can convince you
that you’re not ready to sleep!”

I shake my head and climb back in
and lie on pillows deep.
“There’s not a chance in hell,” I say,
“now let me f***ing sleep!”

“We never do it anymore,”
says hubby. But he’ll keep.
Quite frankly I don’t give a f***.
I’m already asleep.

So spare a thought today for those exhausted mothers out there and the evening battles that are raging…battling to get kids to sleep and battling off unwanted advances from their husbands!! Sleep, sleep oh precious sleep, how I miss you so.  

Inspirational Monday

Good morning everyone J I have it in my mind that today’s Motivational Monday piece is going to be less about motivation and more about awareness. In particular, awareness of how we treat our loved ones and those close to our hearts. I came across this particular writing that I think puts my thoughts into words very well:

Family

I ran into a stranger as he passed by, “Oh, excuse me please” was my reply.
He said “please excuse me too, I wasn’t watching for you”.
We were very polite, this stranger and I, we went on our way and said goodbye.
But at home a different story is told, of how we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal, my son stood beside me very still.
When I turned I nearly knocked him down, “Move out of the way” I said with a frown.
He walked away, his little heart broken, I didn’t realise how harshly I’d spoken.

While I lay awake in bed, God’s still small voice came to me and said,
“While you were dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use, but the family you love, you seem to abuse.
Go and look on the kitchen floor, you’ll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers he brought for you, he picked them himself, pink, yellow and blue.
He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise, you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes”.

By this time I felt very small, and now my tears began to fall.  
I quietly went and knelt by his bed, “Wake up little one, wake up” I said.
“Are these the flowers you picked for me?” He smiled “I found them, out by the tree.
I picked them because they’re pretty like you. I knew you’d like them, especially the blue”.

I said “Son, I’m very sorry for the way I acted today, I shouldn’t have yelled at you that way”.
He said “Oh Mum, that’s OK. I love you anyway”.
I said “Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue”.

_______________________________________

I know when I read this piece it really got me thinking about the way I talk to and treat my beautiful family. All too often I see the kids as being in the way or somehow being a bother, but when I read this poem, it made me stop and think. I thought about the damage I am doing and the hurt I am causing when I am concerned only with my own agenda (eg – getting dinner cooked like in the scenario above). So this week I am going to make a concerted effort to be less focused on the task at hand and more focused on the reason the kids are under my feet or demanding my attention. Are they feeling tired, sad, lonely or do they have something exciting they want to share, or do they need some praise for a job well done? Whatever the reason, I am going to enrich their lives this week by focusing on their needs…well that’s the plan anyway, my tune will likely change when I am trying to get dinner sorted this evening so I can be out the door by 6:30 to go to Circle!

I hope you got a lot out of this piece and it gives you the chance to think about the way you react to your loved ones and their actions. It was a real eye opener for me! Happy Monday J      

The morning after

OK, so it is the morning after my first Reiki experience and I have to say that it was amazing! My dear friend, Mrs S, was the one doing the Reiki and oh my goodness, you would not believe the heat coming from her hands!! The moment she put them on me I felt the heat and energy being channelled and my solar plexus chakra began bubbling away. The solar plexus chakra is located just under your breastbone and is responsible for your emotions (you know that butterfly feeling you get when you are nervous…that occurs in the solar plexus chakra). It is not surprising that the energy was immediately drawn to this particular chakra because between my depression and my general feeling of being an emotional basket case, my emotional centre most definitely needed some attention!

Several messages from Spirit came through Mrs S during the Reiki and I experienced a whole range of emotions…crying, overwhelmed, relaxed, empowered, excited and did I mention crying? Lol. Not blubbering mess crying but tears were just welling up and rolling down my cheeks that were totally beyond my control. As I said, it was an absolutely amazing experience that really must be felt to be believed.

So it was less than 12 hours ago that I had my first Reiki session but already I have noticed a few things...I woke up from the soundest sleep I have had in a very long time. Normally my dreams are awful and wake me up or I stir from the noises the kids make or from feeling too hot, but last night I didn’t stir once. I slept solidly through the night! What a great feeling J Then upon waking this morning, my stomach is noticeably less bloated. For ages I have had a horrible bloated belly causing me lots of discomfort, but today it is just gone! My belly is flatter, no horrible wind and honestly not an ounce of discomfort at all!  

Emotionally I am feeling a lot calmer and more relaxed and I feel like I could handle any challenge that’s thrown at me today. The best part though would have to be the way the kids seem really drawn to me. Elliott is not one to seek out affection and definitely not one to have cuddles but this morning I have been lucky to have several cuddling and kissing sessions with him. It is wonderful! Then Sophie came over to me after breakfast and climbed onto my lap for a cuddle. We snuggled for a long time and then Soph said “Oh no, we’re stuck with glue! We’ll have to stay like this”. How gorgeous! I am just loving it J

I hope these positive effects keep up for quite some time because I am feeling fantastic. I am amazed at how far reaching the impact of the Reiki is proving to be and improving elements of my being that I had not even imagined (ie-my bloated stomach). It really is amazing and I highly recommend seeking out a Reiki experience of your own J Happy Friday xox

Here's hoping!

I woke up today with an overwhelming sense of “I don’t want to do this”. Elliott was screaming and fussing from the minute his eyes opened and Sophie decided she would test my patience with every move she made. By 6am I had lost count of how many times I had said “Sophie, leave your brother alone!” and “Oh Elliott, give it a rest!” Things turned from frustration to laughter when I discovered Elliott in his room having the time of his life…he was emptying the baby powder all over the floor and gleefully stomping in it. What a sight! All I could do was laugh and enjoy the moment because after all, it was only powder J

By 9am our house was abuzz with activity because we hosted Mum’s Group here today. It was a really great morning and I am surprised how well the kids got on considering there were six of them stuck indoors thanks to the rain! They played with playdough and danced around to loud music like crazy kids, but the most fun they all had was playing babies in Sophie’s room. It was really just such a great morning.

To make today even better, I am heading over to a dear friends house tonight for a Reiki session! For those of you who are unfamiliar with Reiki, here is a brief overview of what it is all about, that I picked up from www.reiki.org:

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.

The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words - Rei which means "God's Wisdom or the Higher Power" and Ki which is "life force energy". So Reiki is actually "spiritually guided life force energy."

A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you. Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing.

So with this in mind, hopefully tomorrow I will be reporting to you all how fabulous and reenergised I feel. It will be my first Reiki experience so I am not too sure what to expect but I am looking forward to it like you wouldn’t believe! I am hoping this might be a great tool to utilise in getting my life on track and in a place where I want it to be. Fingers crossed and I will let you all know how it goes tomorrow xox

Busy busy busy

Hello everyone J Todays post is being put up a little later than usual because we have only just got home. After swimming lessons, we headed over to a friend’s house for a catch up and a play. It was lovely sitting back having a chat…wait a minute, did I say sitting back?

Lol, who am I kidding? We didn’t sit back! With two Mums and four kids aged between 1 and 4, there was no sitting back for more than 5 minutes at a time. One amazing skill that you fast learn as a Mum is how to have a fluent conversation with constant interruptions. Before kids, the disjointed manner in which I now communicate would have driven me mad, but now I can easily have a conversation in sporadic blocks of speech intercepted by jabbering kids, fight mediation, nappy changes and general child related happenings. Of course, it works best when it is with another Mum because we are on the same wavelength!

The fact that it is 1pm and I am only just sitting down to type up today’s blog has me thinking about being busy. When did we all get so busy? I don’t know about you, but I feel like I am constantly over committed, over scheduled and overtired! I spend so much of my time doing things for other people and things I feel I have to do that there is little time for me to engage in the things that I actually enjoy! I really want some time out. I really just want a good couple of weeks where I have no commitments beyond those that are completely necessary, and no obligation to be anywhere or do anything at a certain time. I know I have control over this but it is actually quite challenging to implement. Have you ever tried to drop off the radar for a week or two…it is so difficult! I did some research and here are a couple of tips that might be able to help us all slow down a little…

1.    Take time out at least once a week to be present with your family. No phones, no internet, no technology, just quality time with your partner and kids doing something you will all enjoy.

2.    Celebrate everything with your children. They may be 4 years old today, but they will never be that age again. Moments are fleeting so take the time to hug your kids, read with them, play with them and be genuinely interested in them.

3.    Bring out the fine china. Stop saving things for a special occasion because life is the special occasion. Use crystal glasses to have your water in at dinner time, use your fancy tea cups for an afternoon cuppa on your own and burn that beautiful candle that looks too nice to use…it is a candle, light it up!

4.    Give gifts on random occasions just because you can, not because you have to. A handmade gift, a card, a heartfelt letter or even flowers are small gestures that come from the heart. Reach out and let someone know how special they are to you.

5.    Laugh. Just laugh, stop taking life so seriously…no one gets out alive anyway J     

6.    Stop! You don’t always have to fill your time doing “things”. It is a really great idea to just stop, sit and breath…even meditate if you can. Seriously, just learn to stop.

I hope these tips will help you slow down and smell the roses…I know I am going to try a few! xox