The Lingering Lessons From Great Ormond Street

IMAGE: MORGUEFILE.COM | Lingering Lessons Of Great Ormond

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). 

The Legacy Of My Friend, The Warrior Woman

IMAGE: THE MOTHER LOAD | The Legacy Of My Friend, The Warrior Woman

Although I don't feel the usual upbeat sense of creativity and enthusiastic desire to pour words onto the page for the sake of good therapy, I feel it's important to make a note of this time, this strange time I'm living where my dear friend is gone. The house is quiet, there are no random phone calls, emails or text messages containing the usual enjoyable nothingness of our everyday life. There is a void now which was always filled by our wonderful female 'friendship-py' things. And it's that I'm having such trouble getting used to. The quiet. The absence of our daily, often very personal conversations. 

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!

Back Away From The Mirror (And Other 2013 Resolutions)

IMAGE: THE MOTHER LOAD | Back Away From The Mirror

Happy 2013! Our little family has had such a Christmas break this year. It's been so nice spending time at home for a change enjoying a quiet, almost empty city while everyone else is seemingly doing battle in the car park of their favourite beach side destination *wink*. Having a backyard swimming pool for the first time ever made for some lovely, lazy days with good friends, happy children, gallons of sunscreen and most importantly, copious amounts of leftovers. Which gets me to my next point. Given that the New Year is in its infancy, the term 'resolution' is still fresh in my mind and I still feel I have a fighting chance of fulfilling mine despite my continuous attempts to sabotage myself at every turn. This year, I went with the old female favourite: 

"Lose weight, get some exercise and eat less.". 

Employment, Child Care And The Ultimate In Mother Guilt

IMAGE: THE MOTHER LOAD | Employment And Childcare

 I was chatting to a girlfriend recently who is the Mum of an eighteen month old little boy and she mentioned that she was toying with the idea of returning to work, under the right circumstances. It made me remember what it was like making similar decisions 8 years ago when Miss O was the same age. For me, the decision was like solving one of those annoying puzzle tile things where you have to shift each tile around the box in order to reveal the big picture. 

Unmarried With Kids and the 2010 Judgement List

IMAGE: MORGUEFILE.COM | Unmarried With Kids

Recently I was contacted to be interviewed in a leading parenting mag about our choice to be unmarried with kids. The article ended up being a nice, objective view of both sides of the fence if you will. It got me thinking though - do people REALLY care whether or not we're married? To be honest, I figured most people didn't even know, let alone care. After reading the other side of the argument though, I'm really curious to know if people regard us differently for the choice we've made.Our families have never expressed any opinion either way - I was born out of wedlock in the early 70's so I can't imagine my parents having any kind of objection to our choice. These days however, my perception is that the right to choose marriage (or not) is yours and is no longer at the top of what I refer to as the Judgement List (cultural differences aside).

So what makes up the 2010 Judgement List? (Insert drumroll here). Yet again - parenting! And in particular motherhood and the individual choices us mothers make. Never in my life have I felt more judged, intimidated, and incompetent than when my children were first born. Roll that up with the euphoric emotions that accompany the birth of a new baby and recovery from the most physical walloping of your life and WHAM! No wonder people refer to you during that period as 'hormonal' (or was that just me?). Breast vs. bottle, disposable vs. cloth, routine vs. free-for-all, co-sleeping vs. own room, the list is endless. And even the most previously unopinionated woman will have something to say on each subject in defence of themselves or as an attack on another. Mark my words and guilty as charged. Even if I never said it - I silently judged many times (particularly when I witnessed a baby drinking COKE from its bottle - you know who you are).

So to all those mothers out there - particularly the new ones. Follow your instincts, not someone else's. Believe it or not, it's inbuilt. You know what's going to work for you - it's a tough job and you need to formulate your own plan to do it well. Take all the advice, then kick it to the curb if it doesn't suit.

That's my advice.

School Tomorrow! I survived!

IMAGE : THE MOTHER LOAD

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....

IMAGE : THE MOTHER LOAD | In The Beginning

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.