Surviving half-term!

Are you able to get outdoors this week? We're trying our best even if it is for muddy walks and a quick go on the swings. So far we've been to the local park twice (as shown here), Bicton Park, Haldon Forest, and today we somehow found our main trip out was to Tesco's. I need inspiration!!

To work or not to work, that is the question

To all my fellow Mummy readers this will be a familiar question. It is such a prevalent topic in our Mummy conversations and often sparks passionate views. While some people long to be able to stay at home with their children, others crave to use a bit of their creativity in the workplace.

Many of us would like a little bit of both. A part-time job which feeds the soul but allows us to be there for our children. Many of us don't have the luxury of choice: necessity decides for us.

I've been in a few different situations throughout the five years so far of child-rearing. With my first child I had to put her in nursery aged 10 months and return to work in a job I didn't love. Whilst it was nice to do something other than be with my precious baby 24/7 it did affect our relationship and I came to resent having to go to work. Luckily I got into a better situation and landed a job which I loved and felt valued in, and was able to work from home part-time. That really was the best of both worlds, and during that time I had my second child. Shortly afterwards the job came to an end and I was forced to face the question of what next. I had been so spoiled with working from home that I couldn't imagine having to step into an office or shop environment again.

Ever since my first child was born I had also been working on a side project to run my own business selling maternity and baby clothes (www.serenity-baby.co.uk). Fortunately I was able to turn my attention to that and attempt to make a living being self-employed. It is a bumpy ride, and I do periodically go through the cycle of other possible options. Should I go and get a 'proper' job? If I did, the cost of childcare would probably not make it worthwhile... What would the impact on the children be? What better paid job can I convince my husband to take so that I can stay at home?

So for the time being I'm clinging to the dream of having my cake and eating it. I'm at home with the children 24/7, but I also run my own business. There is a strong possibility that I'm not doing well at either being a parent or being a business-woman, but one has to have hope. There is also just a slim chance that I can show them that Mummies can succeed in the workplace and also that Mummy is (sometimes) there for them. I'm choosing to dwell on the positives of tasking my brain to economic challenges rather than pondering the reality of shouting "Mummy's busy - go and play" :-)

So for all the Mummies out there who are facing tough decisions, remember there is no right or wrong. Every scenario has its positives and its shortcomings. Good luck with making those decisions!

Cute sleeping baby

I'm working on some longer meatier blog posts, but today here is another self indulgent proud mummy photo!

My eldest two are having swimming lessons and thanks to a sleepy Harrison I have a few minutes peace and quiet sitting in the car with my coffee. Gotta love the naps!

What are your plans for half term? It would be great to have some inspiration...

Babies' first steps!

My youngest child, Harrison, turned one year old last weekend. That year seemed to whoosh past before I noticed, and I did feel a little tinge of sadness that my last baby is now growing up! The day after his birthday he took his first steps and there has been no stopping him since.

The last few days he has stood firmly on his two feet and then gingerly stepped forward until reaching the safety of a wall / chair / mummy. Cue much applause and cuddles!

Here is Harrison enjoying a birthday outing to the Science Museum in London. Thanks to a tip from old friends we discovered the somewhat hidden 'garden' area in the basement with loads of sensory activities for curious little people. This wall has different textures for the children to touch - including the feel of wellies!

Apparently letting your child be barefoot helps them to steady themselves ready for standing and walking, which is a good thing as Harrison has a tendency to shed socks given half a chance.

How did your baby surprise you when he or she turned one?

First days at primary school

Like children up and down the country, our daughter started primary school last week. So far she has loved the experience and is bubbling with excitement each morning to get dressed and get going. She knew all of the other children in her class from pre-school and play-dates, and had been regularly visiting the school as part of pre-school activities, so the transition was as smooth as it could be.

Letting go of Mummy

We are now well in to the second week and I'm taking some time to reflect on where we are and what we still need to work on. Although she appears to love school, my daughter is reluctant to go in to the classroom without me, and sometimes clings on to my clothes to try and take me in with her. I've tried rationalising with her, bribing her, threatening her, comforting her and walking away from her. Although some of these strategies have enabled her to get in to school for that day's education, none offers a happy or lasting solution. 

At the moment my plan is to take her inside the classroom every morning to help her unpack her bag and hang it on the peg. After doing that the children are expected to go back into the playground until the bell rings. At this point they need to leave their mummies and go in for their lessons. My deal with her is that I'll go inside with her for the unpacking and then when the bell rings she needs to go in without me. This morning she made it near the door and then waited for the teacher to gently push her in.

I've been lucky enough that my husband is around during the day so I've asked him to take some time from work to look after our 2 younger ones this week to enable me to focus some attention on our daughter. Hopefully after some focus this week then from next week I can be a bit tougher about letting her go in with her friends but without me.

Dealing with homework

The other issue is that she now brings home daily homework. There are books to read and discuss as well as words to practice. For the first couple of days she was very keen to do this as soon as she arrived home, but now we have settled into a pattern of reading the stories before bed. Our daughter is very happy about this as she is getting much better one-to-one time with Mummy. Once her two younger brothers are in bed, she snuggles up with me to read her story of the day and practice reading the words she has been given. I have been making an effort to set aside this time rather than try and rush her to bed and get on with all of my own tasks. 

Hopefully the initial enthusiasm from parents and child won't diminish too much! Let me know your trials and victories with the new school term. Thanks for reading :-)

Scrap-booking

We're moving house. In three weeks time. One of my many distraction techniques from the reality of packing and cleaning has been to start a scrapbook project with the children. I bought 3 notebooks and have dug out all of the cards, wedding invitations and personal notes which I don't want to throw away. My eldest two children and I have been merrily cutting, gluing and sticking. This is a great rainy day activity!

Mummy & daughter day

My eldest child is starting primary school next week, and so we are finally here at the last week of our summer holidays. I have three children and they are fairly close in age with my middle one aged 2 years and the youngest 10 months. Since the baby was born my daughter hasn't spent much time just with mummy, even though we have all had so many happy family times together. I've written elsewhere in the blog about how her behaviour has been getting more challenging throughout the summer holidays. So, I decided to give her some one to one attention and take her out for the afternoon whilst my husband looked after the other two.

She was so excited when I first mentioned the idea, that she looked ready to burst! Our plan was a fairly simple one: take the 10 minute train ride to the nearest city of Exeter and have a wander round the shops followed by coffee for me and cake for her.

  

We spent a lovely few hours together doing not very much, but with me trying hard to listen to her and chat with her rather than constantly be distracted by other children / work / housework. Her comment on the way home was "we didn't have time for much fun today did we because we had to do all that shopping!" So I guess there really is no pleasing some people :-)