The days and weeks are whizzing by me so fast at the moment. I feel like I am flailing around, attempting to get things done, but not really achieving anything. I feel like I need a moment to catch my breath…. and thanks to the lovely Christie from Childhood101 I have a moment to breathe, because today, Christie is blogging for me with this fabulous guest post…

We all have them.

THOSE days when it all seems a bit much.

THOSE days when the little things get to you.

THOSE days when you feel the need to escape.

Maybe it is the mundane and routine, or the sniffles and sneezes, or the whinges and whines. Whatever it is, on THOSE days, it just gets to you more than usual.

As Mums of small people, we have to find a way to push through those days. Preferably a way that does not involve *ahem* a full milo tin and a tablespoon ;-)

So here I offer you, seven potential ways to help you get through THOSE days with your sanity still in check. After all, it is good to be armed with an escape plan or two…

Do something outside

Sunshine and fresh air work wonders when you feel the need to escape. Even a walk in light rain can be refreshing. Bundle the baby into the pram or your children onto their bikes and scooters and enjoy some time outside. Or pop everyone into the car and drive to the beach or a nature reserve, anywhere that you will find peace and the children have room to run around. I find that somehow problems seem less cumbersome when they have room to breathe and spread out.

Do something different

Look at what is making you feel frustrated, angry or upset and find a way to do it differently. You don’t necessarily need to turn your whole household upside down or throw your usual routine out the window, just find a way to tweak the problem so that you are approaching it with fresh eyes and a new approach.

Do something fun with the kids

On those days when the children seem particularly whingy or whiny, ask yourself if it is because they actually need a bit more of your time and attention. I often find that my toddler is more demanding on the days when she hasn’t had any dedicated mummy time, that time where I am not interrupted by the internet, the phone, or outside of the home commitments but am actually available exclusively to her for a period of time. If this is the case, try to break the whingy, whiny cycle by suggesting that you do something fun together. It might be playing a game of their choice, or if you are feeling really brave, why not cook together or pull out some art materials and get creative.

Do something loud

Berthold Auerbach said, “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday.” Put on some of your favourite music (preferably something upbeat) and sing and dance, with or without the children. Who can stay grouchy when bopping along to 80s pop?

Do something unexpected

You should be doing the washing, or cooking dinner, or scrubbing the bath…again! Give yourself 10 minutes to complete your chore and then reward yourself with something out of the ordinary and unexpected. Tell the family, dinner is outside tonight, with paper plates and fingers so there won’t be any washing up. Or pop some popcorn and enjoy a movie date with the kids.

Do something to make you laugh

Go jump on the kids trampoline or have a spin of a hula hoop. Play charades. Put on a home movie and laugh at yourselves. Whatever it takes to help you lighten the mood.

Do something for yourself

Have a shower, have a bath, shave your legs, paint your toenails, or even just make a nice hot cup of tea and sit down and enjoy it, whilst it’s still hot! Find something that you can do for you, even if it is just something small or just for five minutes, the key is switching off the worry about everything else for a little while and re-discovering some inner peace. And breathe.

What do you do when you feel the tension rising? What is your favourite escape plan?

{image : MahPadilha via flickr}

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Escape Plans is a post from: picklebums.com

I’ve got a bit of a love hate relationship going on at the moment…. One minute I can think of a million things I love about this house, the next it is driving me nuts.

It’s all compounded by the fact that we are supposed to have begun renovations by now, but we haven’t. It seems there is some little glitch or other holding us up yet again – this time we are waiting on a plumber’s inspection and council forms so we can apply for our building permit.

Part of me is furious about this hold up. It’s such a stupid, waste of time thing.

Council needs us to apply for a variance for our sewage system (because we are not on mains water we also process our own waste with a clear water sewage system) to make sure it can ‘cope’ with the extra bathroom we are putting in. This is so stupid – it’s not like having another toilet is going to make us pee more than we already pee. If they were really concerned they should have asked us to apply for this variance when we added another child not another bathroom….

To add insult to injury there is a missing plumbing certificate that seems to have never been issued way back when the original owners moved the house and installed the sewage. Without which they shouldn’t have gotten an occupancy certificate, but they did and now, almost ten years later, it is our problem to chase the original plumber etc etc. blah, blah, blah…

Still, ranting and raving about it won’t change things. This is part of the joys of building and renovation. It is what it is and it won’t happen any faster because I am cranky about it.

So I’m going with my theme for 2010 – Making the Best of Things.

Most days I’m not really bothered by the delay at all.
I do love this house, I love so many things about this house. Sure there are things about this house that drive me nuts. The fact that our ‘laundry’ covers over half our back door is one thing, and you know, the whole smallness thing, but really, when I think about it, there is way more about this house to love, than there is to hate.

Plus the change in timing is probably a good thing. Now that we are settled with where everyone will sleep I’m actually kind of glad that we won’t be without a kitchen, heating and the back wall and roof of our house when this baby is born. Doing the all that major work over spring/summer instead of the middle of winter really is a better idea.

Still some days I am frustrated…. I have such dreams for our little house, and it’s going to be so wonderful when it is all done, and we all have a little more room to move. So I’m not giving up. I’m still dreaming, and planning and affirming to the world about how wonderful our house will be when the renovations are done, and they will be done… but in the mean time, I am making this work and trying to remember and enjoy all the things I love about this old place.

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Making the Best of Home. is a post from: picklebums.com

The plan was to move Muski out of the cot next to our bed and into a big bed in his own room. In a perfect world that would have happened by now…. except that our world is not perfect and we still don’t have a building permit let alone that pesky extra bedroom, and it’s not likely to happen before the new baby arrives either.

So in the spirit of ‘Making the Best of Things’ we changed the plans a little, rearranged some things and visited Ikea to buy an extendible toddler bed to squeeze into the corner of our bedroom.

It’s not the perfect solution, but it will give him a good 6 months to get used to being out of the cot, not right by my side and in his own bed, before the baby arrives to take that much coveted position. Things are going to be a little squishy in our room when we add number four, storage space is at a premium already and it’s not how I’d planned it, but I can actually see it working out quite well.

It’s made me get a handle on at least some of the junk we stored in our room just because we didn’t know what else to do with it. I sorted through baby clothes and blankets (not even a July baby born into our freezing house needs 28 baby blankets!). I’ve even chucked out shoes! Of course there is still more to do on the sorting and chucking front!

So far so good for Muski too.

He chose a doona cover (with cars and trucks on it!) and helped Daddy build his bed and slept in it that night. I get up to him a few times during the night when he stirs and can’t find his dummy, but I only have to roll out of bed and stumble a couple of steps and I am right there. Much better than having to negotiate my way into another bedroom. He came into our bed at around 5am the first morning which I had expected, but the last two mornings in a row he’s slept past 8:30 in his own bed and then just got straight up!

I really thought he’d miss free access to my arm (he still has a HUGE ‘thing’ about rubbing his hands up and down my arms when he is tired or sad), but (touch wood) it seems that is not as big a deal as I’d thought. I still sit with him, and offer my arm, as he goes to sleep but he ditched his day sleep long long looooooong ago so he is usually pretty tired by the time we get to bed, which makes it quick and easy. I’m sure there will be good nights and bad, but it’s been rather trauma free.

So it turns out that this ‘Making the Best of Things’ stuff is not so hard after all… it’s actually quite good!

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Making The Best of Beds. is a post from: picklebums.com

Poof goes 2009

Hello 2010.

I got into reflection mode a few days ago. I posted my 2009 review yesterday and I started to think about a direction for 2010 but I’ve been totally out of ideas.

I desperately want 2010 to be The Year of Renovations. The year of ‘finished before this baby arrives renovations’ actually. But I’m not putting all my eggs in that basket again because there will always be set backs and changes and I’m not fun to live with when I am disapointed.

Maybe 2010 could be the year of insanity. It already feels like we will have so much going on – the girls starting school, finding ways to keep Muski busy when he is home alone, another person being added to the family, as well as all the usual craziness that we seem to attract. Despite the fact that I’m pretty sure I could achieve the goal of insanity, it’s not exactly a very positive one, now is it?

Trying to think of something positive but not perfectionist got me where I needed to be. 2009 wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t horrible either. Sure I could whinge and complain and say nothing went right, or I could smile and remember all the things that did. It just depends on how you look at things. That is a lesson I really need to learn.

So 2010 I officially dub thee the year of….

Enjoy the small things.
Make it work, make it beautiful and be proud of it.
Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful.
Rejoice in every day.

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Hello 2010 is a post from: picklebums.com