www.mummyoutnumbered.co.uk

Archive for the ‘Blogging’ Category

So my mission has begun!  The World Aid Walk was my starting point at 20km and now my hubby and I have put our entries in for The London Marathan 2011.  Bit of a leap up I admit from a walk to a 26 mile run, but I now have a goal to aim for which is exactly what I need.

I always have good intentions when it comes to exercise and start off well, it slowly dwindles though when boredom sets in and no results on the baby belly I’ve been left with can be seen!

I know there’s no guarantees we’ll even get a place in London next year, but for the next 5 months until we find out in October if we have or not, I’m going to act like I have and train my (not so little) butt off.

So, watch this space.  My training has officially started tonight and god help anyone that gets in the way – this ladys on a mission and won’t stop until her legs tell her too!

Wish me luck! :0)

Why is it that after 3 children, we still haven’t got it right?

We should be experts by now and know exactly what to do for a long blissful nights sleep.  In actual fact though we’re the total opposite.

Our 11 month old refuses to sleep at night unless in our bed being cuddled by one of us.  Shattered doesn’t even describe how tired my husband and I are.

The nights are always the same routine.  They start off promising with a milk to go to sleep then straight in his cot.  After that though you can literally set your watch by him before he wakes again – 45 minutes to be exact!  The rest of the night then consists of him being wide awake until we decide to go to bed too.  If he then falls asleep and we try to transfer him to his cot he seems to know instantly and screams the house down!

The controlled crying technique has been attempted but usually ends up with him throwing up, and screaming so much he stops breathing and starts turning blue!  My heart just stops when that happens and I end up shouting at him ‘breath, breath!’  Getting him to sleep after that happens is then the last thing on my mind!

Maybe we’re just meant to have awkward kids with regards to sleep amongst other things!  My eldest 2 aren’t exactly the best at going to bed still, and usually get up at 5:30am even in the winter when it’s pitch black outside.

Don’t worry, I shall be reminding all 3 when they’re teenagers, (and I’m having to drag them out of their beds in the morning,) just how much hassle they were!  In the meantime though I’ll continue to walk around in a zombie-like trance, looking like death with lashings of make-up on to conceal the truth! ;0)

Any tips or help gratefully received for just one nights peaceful sleep!

My little man wide awake at midnight!

Right, own up, who did it?  It’s really starting to grind me down now.  One minute it’s empty, then the next it’s full!  I clear it all chuffed with myself that it’s finally sorted and done, then before I know it – BOOM!  As if by a terrible force beyond my control it appears again!…  What am I talking about you may wonder? – The joy of my life of course… IRONING!!!!!

With five of us in the house now, my once lovely wicker laundry basket is showing the strain, and bits are falling off under the weight of dirty clothes.  Generally speaking if the washing up baskets full, it’s because so is my ironing pile!  As far as I’m concerned what exactly is the point of doing more washing because when it dries where does it go?!  Oh yes, on my already overflowing, ready to topple heap of creased clothes of course!

The cycle is endless!  I wouldn’t say I’m a lazy person but the never-ending whack of my darling hubby’s shirts is enough to make me wish I was Edward Scissorhands at times just so I could snip away so there were no more to iron!…  Sound good to you too?  I bet it does!

Many thanks to Peggy from Perfectly Happy Mum for tagging me and passing this challenge onto me.  After searching for hours through so many photos, and getting that lovely feeling remembering certain times and places, I’ve managed it but narrowed them down to 2 instead of 1 (sorry couldn’t resist!)

So here they are

My Antiguan Paradise

This photo always makes me smile. Its of my husband and son in Antigua a few days before we got married over there.  Just looking at it again makes me smile because I was with my little family in a stunning location with everything to look forward to for the future, and about to become a wife!

Me and my boys

And this photo is my future.  My 3 gorgeous little men… need I say more?!

I wont tag anyone for this, but if you would like to do it go ahead.  It’s lovely to look back on photos to brighten your day, especially with the bad weather we’ve had!

Well, next year when I see Father Christmas I will be giving him the biggest cuddle and kiss he’s ever been given.   Thanks to him my little man is now clean and dry at last!

The special ‘big boy’ pants that were left in his sack by him for Christmas day worked wonders, and there is now no need for pull ups in my house!  Yes, you heard me correctly… at 3 years and 8 months, and after the blood, sweat and tears from a year of unsuccessful attempts we’ve done it!!!!!  I honestly didn’t think it would ever happen.  I had images in my head of having to explain to the education board,  how there was no way he could possibly start school in September, unless there was a willing teacher to take charge of the wet wipes and nappy bags to do the clean up job when called upon.  I’m sure that conversation would have gone down a treat!

As you can imagine I’m so happy with him.  I thought now that was done I wouldn’t have to be worrying about toilet issues again for at least another 2 years with baby number 3.   The thing is though, I’ve now encountered a new problem…  Wee!  The smell of it hits you as soon as you walk into the toilet or bathroom when little man has been.  I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where it was coming from.  I made sure the toilets were flushed, his trousers were still dry and the floor had no puddles either.  After still being none the wiser I was totally confused.  As he’s only just new to this toilet using lark, he’s a sitter rather than a stander for the time being.  This should theoretically mean no mess from the sprinkling winky!

After puzzling over the problem, I decided to find out the old-fashioned simple way and spy!  He’s not one for an audience when he’s on the toilet, so it wasn’t an easy job, but now with the smell of wee seemingly embedded in my nostrils,  I have my answer – he’s a side sitter!

Instead of moving his step to in-front of the toilet so he can reach, he just leaves it on the side where it’s normally moved to by his older brother.  Therefore when he’s sitting he’s facing the wrong way which means he has got a sprinkling winky which is aiming straight for my tiles, and being the helpful child that he is, he seems to be giving them a wash for me in the process!  As thoughtful as this is of him, I’ve explained that he needs to make sure he sits on the toilet straight.  Boys being boys though, I may as well talk to myself!

So there you go, now you know why my toilet smells of wee…  Anyway, must dash. If you need me anytime soon I’ll be the mad woman with the dettol spray and kitchen roll on hand waiting to spring into action to catch the drips!

So, the new year has already begun and I’ve decided there is going to be some changes that come with it too.

This year I’m going to concentrate on me.  Yes, I’m a mum of 3, and my boys will still come first no matter what, but after that it’s me, me, me!

I’m a totally unsociable cow – there, I’ve admitted it.  If people invite me out I already have an excuse stored in my brain to give them straight away without even thinking about it.   A lot of friends  just don’t bother asking me anymore because the answer has always been no.

One of the reasons for this among others is I just hate leaving my children.  I could count on my fingers the amount of times in 5 years I’ve left them.  I’m like one of those obsessive mothers I promised I’d never be.  I know deep down they’ll be fine without me, but my stubbornness of people thinking I may need help, or the guilt of leaving them stops me everytime.

Another reason is I’m a complete and utter hermit which I know doesn’t help.  I go out if I have to, and try not to if I don’t.  Yes, I do the school run, go to the shops, take the kids to the park, but anything apart from that I rarely do.  It’s not that I don’t want to or anything but I have an irrational fear of doing new things.  I get a sicky feeling in the pit of my stomach when situations are slightly different to me or the unknown.  I’ve always been the same since I was a child.  I’ve fainted in exams, been sick in inappropriate places and had panic attacks too.   For these reasons especially I know I have to push myself this new year and  make a change.  I think it’s about time I remembered that before I was a wife and mum, I was a friend, and that’s something I still want to be if they’ll still have me…   So for my sanity wish me luck because 2010 is going to be a less scared, more sociable me for everyones sake!

Well what an eventful Christmas!  I don’t know about the kids being tired, I feel like I haven’t slept for a week!

The fun started Christmas eve when our 3 year old decided bedtime really was not an option for him.  When making a sneaky run for it out of his bedroom, he slipped on the wooden floor and went head-first into the corner of the stair-gate.  The bump on his forehead emerged before our eyes, and the screaming of ‘Leave me alone’ and crying went well on until 11pm.  When he finally drifted off to sleep I sat next to him with a bag of frozen peas on his head in the hope it would lessen the lump and bruising for the photos Christmas day.  That was pointless looking at his poor head now!

Anyway, the fall obviously didn’t effect him too much because both boys were up at 5:30am.  The magic of Christmas through a child’s eyes is lovely to see.  The look on their faces was a picture in itself when they saw the treats left for Santa had gone, and Rudolph had taken a bite out of his carrot.  By the time they saw their sacks filled to the top my eldest was literally shaking with excitement!

Half an hour later with paper strewn everywhere along with cardboard galore and instruction manuals aplenty, we had 3 very happy little men.  With my DH doing the cooking this year, it was up to me to make up all toys for 3 boys at the same time with them getting increasingly frustrated that I didn’t have more pairs of hands! By 10am I was ready for bed again!

It’s now been only 2 days since Christmas day and already the familiar phrase, ‘I’ve got nothing to do’, has come from one of my little mens mouths. With a playroom full of new toys I didn’t expect to hear that for at least another week! Nevermind, with Christmas now over, I’ve  got my 5 year olds birthday party to organise for January.  With the thought of amusing 27 of his classmates at the front of my mind, I reckon the stress of Christmas was a breeze!

Father Christmas is taking all my 3 year olds pull ups away with him when he drops off his presents Christmas Eve.  I’ve been told by him that if Santa brings him some big boy pants then he’ll go to the toilet and won’t need them anymore.

Well, this is our last resort after a year of trying every single way we can think of to get rid of the pull up pants. We know he’s capable of going to the toilet because he does once a day before his bath at night time.  Getting him to go any other time of the day though would be nothing short of a miracle.  Yes, he did right at the beginning because I suppose it was a novelty being new to him, but now I’ll watch in disbelief when he’s obviously weeing/pooing in front of me. When that happens I’m like a mad woman on a mission to get him to the toilet in time to do it there instead of me having to change another putrid nappy.  At 3 and a half now changing his bum literally makes me gag.  Its no longer baby poo we’re talking about but poo that should be flushed down the toilet straight away!

Now, when I say we’ve tried everything I really do mean it.  Sticker charts, rewards, bribery, praise.  We’ve done tick charts for the whole family, so everytime one of us goes to the toilet we get a tick.  We’ve even had a money box next to the toilet so whenever he went he’d get money to add to his collection so he could buy a toy.  We’ve let him choose his own big boy pants too, which he was really chuffed about only to get home, put them on, then after an hour or so saying he didn’t need the toilet yet, proceed to make a gigantic puddle on my lounge floor.  Thank god for wooden floors is all I can say.  My house would stink to high heaven if I had carpet with the amount of ‘accidents’ i’ve mopped up.

So my wish for Christmas is this – Please Father Christmas bring my little man some pants with magic wings on them that fly him to the toilet when he needs it!  That in itself would make my Christmas just perfect!

My house is full of runny noses at the moment, well, half  full at least.  My clothes are stiff from dried snot wiped on me while holding and soothing my little man, and with the amount of tissues we’ve gone through the past few days just us alone could probably keep Kleenex in business!

It’s always this time of year just before Christmas everyone is coughing, spluttering and blaming the cold weather for every ailment we have, while praying at the same time it’s gone by the big day when all smiles and jumping with excitement is a must for the children when they see their full sacks.

With that in mind the Calpol is stocked up in the medicine cupboard alongside the Neurofen Cold &  Flu for us so we’re fully prepared for anything we’re struck down with.  If that doesn’t work I’m sure the wine and baileys that’s in ready for Christmas should numb the pain!

Every single movement my 3 year old makes is like a professional pose.  Even if it’s just a matter of standing still, a hand has to be placed on a hip or a leg at a certain angle.  Talk about a supermodel in the making… thing is my wannabe model is a boy not a girl!  Not that this makes any difference to him though.  He has me laughing out loud the way he prances around the house like he’s come straight from the catwalk.  In fact come to think of it, he’d probably put Naomi Campbell to shame!

The funny thing about it is he’s totally oblivious to everything he does because it’s just one of his many funny traits.  To say he’s stubborn is a complete understatement which doesn’t even come close to reality.  God help any future girlfriends he may have because they don’t stand a chance of getting their own way.  No bribery or corruption works with him.  Believe me I’ve been there done that and completely failed in the process.

He is a definite ‘mummy’s boy’, which has now turned to the extreme.  If it’s not me that does everything for him it just won’t do, and anyone elses help will quite often be rejected with screaming and throwing of items across the room.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great feeling to know how much he loves me but the exhaustion of it is beginning to hit home and can be stressful and difficult with two other children as well.

With all the above in mind among other things too, and after a pretty disastrous routine 3 and a half year check , discussions with so called ‘experts’ about his behaviour patterns etc have turned out the problems we encounter with him could be more than just him being naughty and may be something more.  This idea is a sort of relief in a way knowing its not his or our fault.  The one thing I know though is this – Whatever the outcome of all these discussions, he’s our little monkey no matter what and if things can get better it would just be a bonus because we love him ‘naughty’ or not!x