Your Natural Calling (A Tale Of Career Confusion)..

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Do you ever feel as though you've missed your natural calling? Is the career that you're in, something you kinda fell into, seemed to be pretty good at, but not necessarily the thing that lights your fire? Do you often have the 'what if' conversation with yourself about the choices you made when you were at the beginning of the career crossroad? I do. Since having kids, I've given a great deal of thought to this because quite a bit of re-assessment happens if or when you decide to return to work as a parent.

Friday Thoughts From A Random Mind

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Miss A this morning: "Mum....do you feel a lot like yourself today?"
Me: "Well, yes actually I do. Do you?"
Miss A: "Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

*looks at me like I've gone mad then skips away*

Um - what just happened? .....

39.98....

IMAGE : MORGUEFILE.COM | 39.98

As I enjoy my last few days of my thirties, I'm reflecting upon the many things that have changed within me over the past decade, which I'm sure will go down in my history as my most significant, life-changing and challenging era. If only we had the chance to go back to our younger selves and tell them some home truths about the wisdom you gain as the years peel away. So, in the spirit of being a 39.98 year old, my open letter to myself reads as follows:

My Private Freedom Of Choice - We Chose Private Schooling

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There is a debate raging in many online forums and TV panel programs currently which tends to get me a little worked up. Although I'm not an expert in the field of its data analysis or the indeed the official pros and cons, I feel very strongly that I'm in a slightly judged group; I've often considered public comment in the past (usually in response to comments made by the Jane Caro audience), but I've never followed through due to the inevitable backlash I'm sure I'd receive. Instead I've done the cowardly thing and 'unfollowed' Jane in social media, not at all because I dislike her (I quite like her in actual fact), but because of the narrow - minded comments from some of her virtual audience members that usually accompany her campaign messages. 

Sunday Thoughts From a Random Mind

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Miss A slid into bed with me this morning and announced that she'd had a lovely dream about eating spaghetti (food often features rather heavily in her consciousness). Before I had time to answer, she asked me the following:

"Mummy, did you have a dream about picking up a friendly worm?"

"Or did you dream about a giant broccoli tree that you needed lots of stools to reach the top?"

Um, no I didn't. But I like the way you think.

Tales Of Public Humiliation (Parenting 101)

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I was reading an article recently about the most embarrassing moments people have experienced with their kids and the more I read, the more I found myself scoffing at the stories, knowing that if there had been a competition my four year old would have won in outstanding fashion. 

The Lingering Lessons From Great Ormond Street

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Wow. Has anyone watched the BBC documentary, Great Ormond Street? It follows the day to day ups and downs of a children's hospital in Britain and it's enthralling and heart - wrenching all at once. If you ever need to re-group and find that sense of appreciation for the fortunate life you lead (if indeed like me, child illness is not a part of your world), this is the program to watch (complete with the aloe vera tissues - you'll need 'em). 

Are We There Yet?!! My School Holiday Mantra

IMAGE: THE MOTHER LOAD | Are We There Yet?

Okay - need some serious, urgent school holiday therapy. STAT. Breathe in and out with me. Repeat. A little better, until someone comes and asks me for the 23rd time if they can have a chocolate biscuit. Nonetheless, breathe again.

My kids are officially driving me NUTS. It's mid January and we have exactly 19 days left before the school routine kicks back in.  We're having some nice lazy days at home, getting good rest, sometimes swimming, eating and supposedly enjoying each other's company. While it sounds good in theory, something's wrong - GET ME OUTTA HERE! Who are these noisy, lecherous, demanding creatures who require loud, inane conversation with me at every possibly moment of the day??! A moment's peace - PLEASE!

School Tomorrow! I survived!

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Yep - I think I may have just come out the other end of the school holidays with all my faculties relatively intact! I'm lovingly gazing at a fully stacked school bag and freshly pressed uniform, silently celebrating the fact that she becomes someone else's responsibility between the hours of 8.30am and 3.20pm each day! Is that bad? Yes, I know. 

But since day one of the school hols (which seem to have begun around the turn of this century - was it really only 7 weeks ago??) she has literally been counting the days until school returns. Either the 'Entertainment Director' in our family needs to be sacked (me), or she just LOVES school THAT much - I suspect, and I sincerely hope it's the latter! So it's a fond farewell to the severely slack bedtime routine, the sleep ins, the trips to the beach, the chocolate frogs and more often than not average snack/ meal choices and hello to Grade One, complete with two new front teeth. Oh and the appallingly contact-covered text books - how in God's name does one become skilled at using contact? Just how many hours do you need to log before there are no bubbles or creases???? At least now I know that contact CAN in fact be delicately removed if need be. A worthy skill I would say, and one I will continue to use on an annual basis.

In The Beginning....

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I have a theory that the art of motherhood is a skill best shared between others for the sake of its own betterment. That being said, I certainly don't profess that it's a skill I've even come close to perfecting, despite my continuing best efforts! 

Miss O is six and actually thinks she's fourteen. That's our problem number one and the reason for much of the stuff I will clumsily spill onto this blog in the coming posts! Miss A is eighteen months - what a joyous age. I'd forgotten how much they love you at this age - you can do NO wrong and I'm now keely aware that the pedestal you're on soon decreases in size! But for now, I'm lapping it up.