Mother's Day

"Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My Mother."

-Ann Taylor

Mother's Day for me is a time to look at my children and appreciate all the lessons that they give me.
Each and every day I learn something new about myself and about the people who have chosen to share my life.
They teach me lessons about patience and understanding, lessons about how to laugh at myself and how not to take myself so seriously. They also teach me how to live in the present moment, and be.

A friend of mine  recently blogged about 'Counting my happy' and by reading this post it made me  sit and really think about the things in my life that I have to be grateful for - the things that make me happy!

On this Mother's day entry I'll share some of the child centered things -

Giggles from a sleeping child
Kisses and hugs unprompted from your children
Snuggling up on a rainy day
A homemade card, or present
Sharing a new experience and seeing the wonder on their faces
Watching your child play without them knowing

All of these things make me smile just writing them down. I am truly grateful that my children have chosen me to be their mum, and I am grateful to, to my own mother for having taught me right from wrong, and instilled a lot of the values that I still live by today.

And, to  all you dad's out there:

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."

-Author Unknown

I thank you my husband for doing just that, and helping me raise such beautiful children.

To all you mums out there I wish you happiness and joy.

The good old days ....

Have spent the past week introducing my children to the joys of childrens' programming when I was their age.
we are currently working our way through all the Mr. Men series with Arthur Lowe, and the original Paddington.

Ah, extreme youth and innocence ... and they seem to really love them!

And Here is Paddington ...

That episode of Paddington was first aired in 1975 - someone pass me a Milky Bar!

The things I NEVER thought I would have to do ...

Having kids when I was a child seemed like the easiest thing in the world.
You fed them, changed them, put them to bed and played with them.
NOBODY told me about all the gross stuff you would have to deal with!

For example being asked to clean things up that you don't want to, knowing that just some hot water is not going to shift it (I've tried!).
You have to pause, grit teeth, smile at child to reassure them that everything is okay and nudge offending objects, and spills down the drain. Then lots of anti-bacterial hand wash!

That is nothing in the life of a SAHM in terms of cleaning. In no book did it say do not feed child X, as X will lead to severe cases of diarrhoea and vomiting, the need to redecorate the house and have it fumigated.

However I am here to say that it does pass and one day they too will learn the pleasures of parenthood as I cackle hysterically in the background.

I love them dearly and wouldn't swap any of the experiences that I have had for the world even if sometimes it has to be done with anti-bacterial spray and a mop!

Time dimentional shifts and cooking dinner...

I am a huge Doctor Who fan. Does that make me a nerd? Perhaps!
The reason that I mention this is because if there was one question that I could ask him as a SAHM it would be explain why it takes two hours or more to cook a meal, and only 20 minutes to eat it?
I mean seriously, how is it possible?
And just to add insult to injury how is it that the reverse can also happen? How can a five year old child take 20 minutes to eat one mouthful of food? Surely after that amount of time there is no longer anything of substance left to eat! After five minutes it should just slide down her throat.

Also while we are on the subject of time, where does the three hours between 1pm and 4 pm go? Every day this time of day seems to take on the quality of 20 minutes. I sit down after feeding my hoard lunch, wash and clean up, and then it's time to feed them again. How?

I wish these time shifts could be controlled ... imagine how fantastic life would be ...

The alarm goes off and the five minutes extra of snooze time feel like two hours of lie in! Doing  the laundry suddenly feels like it only took five minutes!
Grocery shopping now can be done in what feels like ten minutes flat!

That would be awesome ... :0)

100 years of International Women's Day and my 40th Year on Earth

As I sit here and write, trying to find my voice, today is a momentous day in the Women's movement. Today we celebrate 100 years of recognition for what we do.

Yet, I wonder how different things really are in the past 100 years.

Today women are still persecuted and treated as second class, we are expected by society to earn a living as well as raise children. We are the ones to blame when the child rearing goes wrong. We consider ourselves failures when we choose to look after our children and not work, sticking to the edge of society as "Stay at home Mums", overlooked and dismissed by ourselves and our peers. Rape, abuse, and self loathing are at a new all time high amongst women, and self image at an all time low.

I myself struggle often with the choices I have made of staying at home to raise my children, and take responsibility for their well being and education. I wonder if I made the right choice - if I should have stayed in my well paid job, brought in an extra income, should have sent the kids to school.
Even my parents, educated and free thinking, ask me regularly when I am going to get a job.

And then I look at my children - really look - and know that I am doing the the right thing and that society can go screw itself. I see and hear and feel the joy and the laughter that bubbles out of them. Their thirst for knowledge is immense, and their sense of humor vast. The smallest thing can set my daughter giggling causing a chain reaction that ripples through the rest of the family.
It is her on this day that I want to concentrate on, it is her that I want to keep her sense of self and fierce (although at times frustrating) sense of independence. No one can make my daughter do anything she doesn't want to do. Added to this wondrous spirit is also a sensitivity so deep and profound and an empathy that is way beyond her years. I am proud to call myself her mother.

How long will they be at this carefree stage? As long as I can keep it there for them. They are my children and as such deserve the very best - and that very best is me.

They say that change begins at home - I believe that to be true. I too can cry at the atrocities that the world brings, and weep for the innocent - but what of my innocents? If I cannot protect my own, then who will?

So I salute you, every mum that has made the choice to stay at home and take responsibility for their kids - may you live long and prosper and help to grow a generation of people who have confidence in themselves and knowledge of who they are and their heritage!

And to those who work, I salute you too, the choice is often not there for you - know you are strong and can make a difference in your child's life by acknowledging them and loving them as much as possible.

A cliche but, Children really are our future, so let's make sure that those young men and women will lead us into a world of true equality, not the pseudo one in which we currently live.