It's Gone Before You Know It

I was putting Miss T (aged 8) to bed the other night, and as I tucked her in, I noticed a frown on her face.  Instead of the usual happy smile, she looked worried.

What's up love?  What's wrong?

Silence.  The frown deepened and the bottom lip quivered.

Tell Mummy.  What is it?

With that her face disolved into sad tears and jumbled words.

I'm really scared that when I have a baby, it's going to really hurt.......

What the?  Where did THAT come from.  Seriously you are only 8 years old child, why are you even thinking about this!

A few days before, the kids and I were having a chat about babies, about how wonderful it was being pregnant with each of them.  How they kicked me inside my belly, and how they moved around and generally had a big party in there.

I haven't even really spoke to her about "how exactly" each of them came out, only to say that they were born and they were beautiful.  That discussion is for another time when she's older, and I'll be honest, but kids talk at school, and discuss all matter of things so I'm not surprised this has been mentioned and has somehow stuck in her head.

I sat on the bed and hugged her and said "yes having a baby does hurt a little (cue the gentle approach for now), but it mustn't be so bad if I went back again and again and had THREE children", what do you think?

She thought about this and agreed.  Her sad face softened and she relaxed, content with this explanation......for now.  It's amazing how little minds work, how they take everything in and try to make sense of what they are simply too young to understand.

Childhood is so fleeting, really. One stage leads to the next and before you know it, they are teenagers, sulky one minute and hilarious the next. 

I look at photos of how my children have grown, and blossomed through these stages, and I hope they will look back on fond memories of their childhood full of love and laughter and contentment.

And they will smile.

Hello February

 Here we are, it's mid February, and January is just a distant memory.

I managed to get all three kids back to school with everything on their booklists, and each one had a hat, so I'm winning. As Miss D (aged 13) is now in high school, they are all catching the school bus, which will be a novelty for about two months.

I've been working alot, and on my day off, I enjoy cleaning, sweeping, feeding baby guinea fowl and guitar lessons! Can you sense a hint of sarcasm? I actually do enjoy spending the day at home, getting things in order and sorting piles of stuff (remember - Organise - my word for the year!)

As it is with only one day free in the week, the day goes fast with unfinished jobs, but I've given myself one hour each Tuesday for guitar lessons, and I'm loving it. I need to find another hour somewhere to fit in a gym workout too.


I've been baking as well!  The kids love coming home from school to fresh baked goodies. My daughter said to me last week "mum, you're baking AND ironing, who are you"?  Well on Tuesdays I'm a domestic goddess, baking, ironing, and sweeping, usually in my pyjamas.  I do get dressed to meet the school bus, just in case the driver wants a word.

I'm thinking of a new blog makeover, it could be a freshen up, or a whole new style.  A different colour (maybe a dreamy white) with a little green of course.  Any ideas?  Should I keep the girl?  Should I use cute farm photos at the top?  Decisions must be made!

Organise My Mud Room

You may remember my recent post about the one word I've chosen to represent this year.

Organise.

A shiny new word with endless possibilities!  I'm happy to say that I'm already embracing the word and I'm feeling quite excited about it!

Over the weekend I dusted off the old computer desk and dragged it from the shed to the house, and it fitted perfectly in our mud room.  What's a mud room you ask?

Many Suburban American houses have a mud room, a casual, generally secondary entryway intended as an area to remove and store footwear, outerwear, and wet clothing before entering the main house. As well as providing storage space, a mud room serves to increase the cleanliness of a house proper.

A house proper!  I like it!


Our mud room is a small room we have at the top of the stairs, leading from our garage.  At one end of the room is the laundry and at the other end is a doorway, which doesn't actually have a door, rather some country fretwork, leading into the dining room and the main area of the house.

This room is perfect for our computer desk and work station, for a notice board to hold our calendars, school reminders, bills to be paid, invitations, sporting notes and general crap, that until now, sat in disarray on a bench in the pantry.

Opposite the computer desk we will have an area with hooks and space for school bags, coats and hats and boots, and each child (and grown up!) will have their own place to store bits and pieces to stay organised!

I love this room, and it's starting to take shape.  Now to find some wall hooks......