Every 3 weeks or so,when my husband is home, I fall asleep during the children's daytime naps and wake up 3-4 hours later. This always seems so bizarre to me, waking from such a deep sleep that hours have just disappeared without my having had any idea.
After a nap like this I can then see just how tired I've been. I have now woken from one of these monster naps to find that my husband has taken the children out. I am alone in the house that he has cleaned and I feel well rested. As a reward to my husband, I may even have a conversation with him tonight!
Saturday, 30 April 2011
5am... AGAIN!!
Have you ever repeated the same mistake over and over again expecting that one time soon you will see a different result?? That is me. Not across the board - I try to learn from my mistakes but there is one mistake that is my constant downfall.... giving Miss 2 a bottle in bed.
I know myself, I know my children but for some reason, it's always worth the punt that this time will be different. The fact is, that at the end of a long day by myself, I can justify this punt, even give myself a little praise that I wasn't too hard on myself. The problem is that in breaking the pattern, I AM being had on myself and really my daughter too when she has to (again) learn to settle herself without the bottle.
I wish that the sleep battle was not at the end of a day when my resources are depleted but the fact is that it is at the end of the day and maybe i need to try and keep some energy for that time.
Maybe I should put my Master 3 into a room and let him watch a movie while i read to her and get her settled... easier said than done with my 3 year old - that's a punt in itself. I think that 2 children and 1 parent will always be a battle of sorts. It is even occuring to me as I write this that maybe my aim has been to get them into bed as quickly as possible and maybe my focus should be on trying to allow them to learn how to sleep- again easier said than done but maybe it's something i could work on when i know i will help for a few days to establish this pattern? will let you know how it goes...
I know myself, I know my children but for some reason, it's always worth the punt that this time will be different. The fact is, that at the end of a long day by myself, I can justify this punt, even give myself a little praise that I wasn't too hard on myself. The problem is that in breaking the pattern, I AM being had on myself and really my daughter too when she has to (again) learn to settle herself without the bottle.
I wish that the sleep battle was not at the end of a day when my resources are depleted but the fact is that it is at the end of the day and maybe i need to try and keep some energy for that time.
Maybe I should put my Master 3 into a room and let him watch a movie while i read to her and get her settled... easier said than done with my 3 year old - that's a punt in itself. I think that 2 children and 1 parent will always be a battle of sorts. It is even occuring to me as I write this that maybe my aim has been to get them into bed as quickly as possible and maybe my focus should be on trying to allow them to learn how to sleep- again easier said than done but maybe it's something i could work on when i know i will help for a few days to establish this pattern? will let you know how it goes...
Thursday, 28 April 2011
chilling out
I always find that after 2 days of pre-school, my children are much harder to please on a Friday than any other day. I am always torn on these days because as much as i want to reconnect with my children after 2 days of limited contact, I find it so hard to be around the constant crying, bickering and whinging that is doubled, tripled or quadrupled on their first day back at home.
today, as it is raining, i opted to take them to Lollipops, a local children's indoor play centre. We had a great time with the odd period of poor behaviour including 2 bites... damn, I really thought I may have avoided that one. Even so, i would still rack this up as a positive morning.
I was expecting that this would lead the way for a really good, long sleep but again, things have not gone as planned... 1 1/2 hours later we are awake, not quite refreshed enough and still whinging and cranky. Hmmm.... think I will just open the back door and let free play reign. I am at the stage where I want to do fun things with the children but I am too tired to think of something wonderful and too impatient for things to not work out the first time.
Maybe i should let Fridays be Fridays and not put so much expectation on them, afterall, not every day has to be wonderful and with toddlers, when does anything work out the first time??
today, as it is raining, i opted to take them to Lollipops, a local children's indoor play centre. We had a great time with the odd period of poor behaviour including 2 bites... damn, I really thought I may have avoided that one. Even so, i would still rack this up as a positive morning.
I was expecting that this would lead the way for a really good, long sleep but again, things have not gone as planned... 1 1/2 hours later we are awake, not quite refreshed enough and still whinging and cranky. Hmmm.... think I will just open the back door and let free play reign. I am at the stage where I want to do fun things with the children but I am too tired to think of something wonderful and too impatient for things to not work out the first time.
Maybe i should let Fridays be Fridays and not put so much expectation on them, afterall, not every day has to be wonderful and with toddlers, when does anything work out the first time??
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
cleaning up
'babies' at pre-school. Gives me a chance to catch up... if only briefly.
Why does it take all day to get our house clean and back to normal and only an hour or so for it all to go back to chaos?? I would say the mess is one of the hardest things to live with, my husband thinks a plastic house would be wonderful - one that can just be hosed off at the end of the day, ready to start again tomorrow.
I love my children's creativity so i really don't want to put the pencils, paper and crayons away but i am dying for extensions to the house so that we can actually have a place for everything. Do we put books etc away so that the house is clean or do we have them accessible so that the children are free to imagine and play as they choose? Maybe there's a halfway point that I should try to develop - maybe when I'm a little less tired??
Why does it take all day to get our house clean and back to normal and only an hour or so for it all to go back to chaos?? I would say the mess is one of the hardest things to live with, my husband thinks a plastic house would be wonderful - one that can just be hosed off at the end of the day, ready to start again tomorrow.
I love my children's creativity so i really don't want to put the pencils, paper and crayons away but i am dying for extensions to the house so that we can actually have a place for everything. Do we put books etc away so that the house is clean or do we have them accessible so that the children are free to imagine and play as they choose? Maybe there's a halfway point that I should try to develop - maybe when I'm a little less tired??
Monday, 18 April 2011
new day!
this is a bit of a practise run. not sure how this works so am going to throw myself right into the middle of it and have a go. I love reading back on our lives and reliving the memories so am excited to start recording this information online.
I love my 2 very active little people. My 3 yr old boy is a hurricane of emotions - sometimes very difficult to understand and to communicate to but he is the sweetest child. My favourite time with him is at the end of the day when we lay in bed and read books. He is still, cuddly and so so facinated by whatever book we are reading (from the solar system to elephants) He has an amazing memory and imagination. he tells me funny little facts months after he hears them and always makes me laugh at his very unique view on life.
My 2yr old girl is calmer and less willful but still a handful in her very own way. She loves cuddles, loves songs and loves clothes. I am so grateful to have such a spirited, happy and energetic soul to spend my life with. She is the cheekiest little lady with a grin to match, playing tricks and filling the house with laughter.
But you've caught me on a good day...
well, that's a good start - will see how we go from here
I love my 2 very active little people. My 3 yr old boy is a hurricane of emotions - sometimes very difficult to understand and to communicate to but he is the sweetest child. My favourite time with him is at the end of the day when we lay in bed and read books. He is still, cuddly and so so facinated by whatever book we are reading (from the solar system to elephants) He has an amazing memory and imagination. he tells me funny little facts months after he hears them and always makes me laugh at his very unique view on life.
My 2yr old girl is calmer and less willful but still a handful in her very own way. She loves cuddles, loves songs and loves clothes. I am so grateful to have such a spirited, happy and energetic soul to spend my life with. She is the cheekiest little lady with a grin to match, playing tricks and filling the house with laughter.
But you've caught me on a good day...
well, that's a good start - will see how we go from here
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