Parenting is hard work!

We're having a bit of a tough time at the moment with the kids. Elliott is not settling well; I think he may be coming down with something. However, he has only slept through the night on a handful of occasions and is 12 weeks old. I don't think we realised how lucky we were with Harrison who slept through the night at just 6 weeks.

The calm before the storm. The boys enjoying a bath together before Harrison knocked the phone out of my hand and into the bath. Cue tears from everyone and a not-so peaceful, calm bedtime! 

Harrison's behaviour has also become progressively worse over the last month to the point where he bit Elliott today. Seriously?! My mother bear instinct kicked in and I was so angry with him; he spent the evening in his bedroom. I hope it has the desired affect as it's not normally something I make him do. I'm doing my best to make sure he has special time with me as he's been through a lot of changes recently - starting school, new baby, new puppy etc. but it's hard to enjoy that time when all he does is roll around and talk about wee/poo/penises/bums. What is it with toilet humour?! Please say I'm not the only one with this problem!

As well as the misbehaving children, the husband has taken it upon himself to advise me that all I do is sit at home all day doing nothing. Afterwards, he says he's joking but I truly believe he thinks I sit on the couch with a coffee and magazine, watching Come Dine With Me all day long. I mean, I wish- right?! I'm lucky if I get to eat my lunch without a baby balancing on my leg.

His comments reminded me of this picture, showing a mum who has truly done nothing all day. Maybe I should give that a go? I honestly don't think I could do nothing, particularly the cleaning; it would drive me mad! I wouldn't mind but when I am at work (teaching) I complete 11 hour days, so he must know I'm not a lazy person. In fact I'm the opposite; I often do too much and burn myself out. Maybe I should make a  video of my whole day, then he might change his mind.






Everyone tells me to ignore him but this topic is a real bug bare for me. STAY AT HOME MUMS DO NOT DO NOTHING! We work our arse off all day. In fact, it's a 24 hour job - more full on than teaching. There's an expectation when you're at home that the house will look perfect at all times and dinner will be prepared when your spouse arrives home. This isn't always possible when your 4 year old bites your 3 month old and decides to have a 3 hour tantrum.

I kind of love what this guy has to say about it:

What did you do all day?

It's a little controversial but I think he makes his point well.

All that being said, I love my boys so much. Everyone goes through rough patches and I'm sure in a few weeks time things will calm down. Fingers crossed!

I hope this post can relate to others out there. Life isn't perfect and parenting or adulting in general can be hard. There is no 'one solution fits all' in life. We need to appreciate each other and know we are doing our best; after all, everyone is winging it!

Have a lovely rest of the week.

Alice
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Let's talk about baby weight

So as you may know I had baby 10 weeks ago and we went on our first family holiday at the end of October. It was one of those awkward situations where none of my pre-pregnancy summer clothes fit and I didn't want to buy a whole new wardrobe as I knew I'd be losing the baby weight, so I just took my maternity dresses and some leggings with baggy tops. Bad idea as I felt uncomfortable and too hot! I'm not complaining too much though;the weather was amazing and it gave me the perfect opportunity to buy a couple of outfits while out there!

Anyway, one sunny afternoon we moseyed into the town of Albufeira to have a look round and visit the beach. Elliott needed a feed so we stopped at a bench and Pete began to feed him. Being the magpie that I am, I saw a shop with pretty things, got distracted and wandered over to it. For some reason I took the now empty buggy with me, auto pilot I guess. A man outside his restaurant trying to persuade custom said to me "Where's the baby?" "Haha" I responded "I knew I'd forgotten something!" His response absolutely dumbfounded me "Expecting another?" "No!" I snapped back and walked off. Now I was wearing my JoJo Maman Bebe maxi dress which is figure hugging. However, does this random man have the right to ask me, when he can see I have a small baby as it is, whether I am pregnant again? I think not.

These pictures were taken 3 months apart. Yes the tummy is still there but so is the happy, healthy baby boy that my body grew and protected for 9 months! 

I don't understand why people feel the right to ask this question of anyone. Would you go up to someone who you think looks poorly and say "got cancer?" I think not (my mum had cancer - horrible disease!) I mean maybe people do, but it's not appropriate. What is happening to our bodies is our business and if we choose to share it then that's fine. Up until that point I was actually feeling pretty good about my body; I didn't put on as much weight as when I had Harrison and I was proud of what my body had done, producing 2 beautiful children, something I know not all ladies are lucky enough to experience. This was a bit of a blow though and it knocked my confidence.

Mums, we need to look after ourselves and our bodies, but in our own time. If you have just given birth or are pregnant, your amazing body is growing and protecting that child of yours - that is a miracle. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I am now back at Slimming World, a place I feel confident I will loose my baby weight, as I did with Harrison (I would absolutely recommend it!) but I did it in my own time.  I am a true believer that there's no point rushing weigh loss. I see so many people going for it with these fad diets with milkshakes and god knows what and all they do is pile on the weight, plus some more, once they quit. I took 2 years to loose my baby weight with Harrison but it stayed off. As long as we mums are looking after ourselves by eating well, exercising (a given when you're a mum - am I right?) and drinking plenty of water then that's all that matters. Our body is like an engine and if we're not looking after it, it will fail and we won't have the energy we need to look after our kids; that's just not on.



So I suppose what I'm trying to say is: mums you're bloody amazing and beautiful. Don't let anyone tell you different and rush you into loosing baby weight; do it in your own time and try your best to be happy in your own skin. Think of all the positives that amazing body of yours has given you and if you ever start to feel down, take some time for yourself; have a pamper,  buy yourself an outfit you feel sassy in because trust me, if we are happy and healthy, it'll rub off on our children.

If you've had a similar experience to me then please share, I know I won't be the only one!

Have a lovely week!

Alice
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