Category Archives: motherhood

April 28, 2012

Day Zero – Month 19 (April)

On the 19 September 2010 I started a Day Zero list: a place to record your goals, discover new challenges, and gain motivation to achieve them. I have a list of 100 things I want to do over 1001 days. The list is due to be competed by 16 June 2013.

Life with two children is hard. I knew it would be but it’s really hard and I don’t seem to have much time for much besides looking after children. There are also lots of fun times though and I’m never happier than when we’re all snuggled up in bed or on the sofa together.

I currently have a 5 and 25 month old. Their needs seem to be similar – constant attention, regular meals, nappy changes and constant entertainment. I can’t quite believe I have two children in nappies who are both teething. This has meant lots of sleepless nights lately, especially as we’ve just taken the sides off the toddlers bed which he seems to regularly fall out of throughout the night.

Anyway, I didn’t write an update for March so this update covers the last two months:

 

3.     Move house

We’re spending all our spare time looking online for houses then visiting them at weekends. We still want to move this year but are struggling to find an area we’re both happy with.

20. Get Edward christened

We’re working towards getting both children christened this summer. We have godparents, just need to sort the date, outfits, party, etc!

22. Bake 10 different gingerbread recipes. This was easy and when I stopped to count them up I have easily exceeded my aim of 10 recipes:

25. Buy a new Orla Kiely handbag

I’ve managed to do this one AGAIN by buying another beautiful Orla!

38. Do at least one geocache a month for a year

We love geocaching and I’m happy to say we’ve managed this goal. Wherever we go we make sure to see if there are any geocaches, this is great free outdoors entertainment!

39. See Keane play live

My tickets to see Keane in June arrived today which makes me very happy.

74. Pass driving test

I passed my test back in February but today I managed to pluck up the courage to take my husband’s automatic out, not bad considering I learned on a manual. This has also made me happy as it brings me a step closer to being more independent.

 

I thought I had lost a bit of momentum with my Day Zero list but going through my list has made me realise I’ve done a lot more than I had thought!

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April 11, 2012

Competitive mums

Like a scab that can’t be left alone I follow someone on twitter that I shouldn’t. We are complete opposites but we are both mothers.

She does nothing but boast about her child. To be fair she works hard to give him the best. He goes to a good nursery, has his name down for private school, has beautiful toys and clothes.

I’m a stay at home mum of two. I run myself equally ragged but cooking, cleaning, taking trips to the park and dreaming up messy activities.

She goes to gigs, concerts, weekend breaks in Europe and has membership of a private club. I arrange playdates, go swimming, take trips on the tube with my train-mad son and get to meet the likes of Upsy Daisy, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Paula Radcliffe.

I blog and tweet about my children because I’m proud of the little things they do. I want to share and equally remember. Why do her tweets seem so boastful and over exaggerated? Is her 18 month old really counting to 20, just like he said his first word at 4 months, whilst my son is only just stringing two or three words together? Can her son really ride a bike whilst my son loves his 3in1 scooter?

Does it really matter or is it just showing off to compensate for the fact she’s chosen to work full time? I’m not sure why it bothers me so much. I know I’m probably a bit jealous. My clothes are milk splattered, my tummy is saggy, and I can’t walk across the carpet without standing on a piece of Lego. For sanity’s sake I’ve deleted her from my twitter account. I figured life is too short.

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February 26, 2012

Stories of Motherhood

stories of motherhoodOne of my favourite dates in the year is Mother’s Day! There’s something rather lovely about celebrating mum’s and I remember celebrating my first Mother’s Day just days after my son was born a couple of years ago. I really don’t expect a present from my two this year (a day off from nappies and bottles would be enough – I hope my husband is reading!).

Published in time for Mother’s Day on 18 March, Stories of Motherhood, the latest title in Everyman’s Library’s Pocket Classics series, celebrates all aspects of motherhood. This beautifully packaged anthology gathers together more than a century of short fiction, ranging from lyrical to satirical, realistic to fantastic, and hilarious to heartbreaking. The diverse array of authors write memorably about mothers – having, leaving, loving and losing them – with authors including Barbara Kingsolver, Alice Munro, Willa Cather and Colm Toibin.

Lydia Davis and Harold Brodkey explore dizzying encounters between young mothers and their newborn babies, while Colm Tóibín and Lorrie Moore portray adult children grieving for their lost mothers. Ron Carlson probes the forging of a bond with an adopted infant; Barbara Kingsolver gives us a sparring mother-and-daughter pair whose overlapping pregnancies lead them to common ground, and Aimee Bender offers a loopy fable of maternal connection in which a woman gives birth to her own mother.

This is a lovely gift to give to any mother, old or new. It is published on the 8th March 2012, priced £10.99.

 

Disclosure – we were sent a copy of the book to review.

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