Such is life… 14, August 2009
Posted by babychaos in General Wittering, Mini Me, baby stuff, slightly grumpy.Tags: baby care, baby in the house, being a mom, being a mum, child care, children, motherhood, whinging
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Junior made it through lunch to have a long nap today.
On one level, I was delighted, I had stuff I wanted to write and as I’d been walking with him in the buggy for two hours this morning, I was, frankly, a tadge pooped. Writing aside, a sit down with a cup of tea, the first catch up on my blog for months and other general on line timewasting was also on the cards.
First, though, a lot of chores to do.
You can guess the rest can’t you?
Yeh, chores done, bum on sofa for approximately one millisecond and the wee man wakes up. Am I refreshed and ready for an afternoon of stimulating and enthusiastic child care for the little fella?
No.
Ah.
The thing that really gets my goat is that if I could manage to put a load of washing on without every single fricking shirt, pair of pants or sock turning itself inside-out I’d save the futile ten minutes I spend reversing them, in hope, before I put them in and the other twenty minutes (takes longer when they’re damp) I spend reversing the little bastards, again, when I come to put them on the line.
Ah-ha! I hear you say. Why not put them in the washer inside-out, then they’ll turn the right way round.
Alas, no. The little bleeders simply remain reversed. ‘Still, I suppose it’d save me 10 minutes of completely pointless, if hopeful, activity.
Then there’s the unco pegging. How much of a monumental spacker can a person be at putting out washing? Can I not peg out a line in under about fifteen minutes and after 12 years of marriage can I not manage to peg out a sheet flat, first time, rather than twisted in the middle?
No.
Arse.
Half an hour to clear up lunch, half an hour phaffing about trying to find the last pillow case which, of course, had got lost in the bottom of the duvet… half an hour washing my hair – total waste of time, frankly, it still looks crap and it’ll need doing again tomorrow – and bang the little man’s awake.
On the up side, he’s burbling right now so I should get 10 minutes to regenerate and do this before I need to slip back into Mother Mode and nip upstairs.
That’s what being a mum does, it gives you OCD about minutes, nay seconds of your time. You resent the time it takes you to have a wee… It’s completely hilarious how mad you become… however much you actually enjoy the child care bit – and Mini BC and I have a great time together – you get totally obsessive about the minutes you have to yourself.
Strange.
It’s fun though. Watching a one year old go about his daily business is very amusing. They are such eccentric little creatures… or maybe that’s just mine!
On a work note. The book got another rejection. Pants! Started to send it to agents in April, I’ve only done three. I’m going to be about ninety six before I’ve got through the first stage (agents saying no) and onto the second stage (submission to all and any publishers likely to be interested – at the same time, thank god) and get down to the third and final stage, which is what I know I will actually have to do, publishing it myself.
Not so hot… 22, June 2009
Posted by babychaos in General Wittering, Mini Me, Small Scale Disasters, baby stuff.Tags: children and colds, colds, ill kid etiquette, ill kids, looking after children
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Wee man has a cold. He’s had them before but this one is a real humdinger. He is awash with snot which is a first he threw off flu in a day. Last night he woke at 8, 10, 11.45, 12.45, 2.35, 5.00 and 6.30. Even though we took it in turns I have never been so knackered in all my life.
I have put olbas oil round his bed, a pillow under the matress one end – fairly pointless though because he sleeps as if he’s been thrown in, rather than traditionally with his head at the head end and his feet pointing towards the bottom. It takes about an hour and a half for his nose to fill up and then he starts to cough and wakes yelling.
He’s eating very little.
Poor little soul.
Not sure what else I can do. Giving him paracetamol for kids to bring his temperature down and we had a nice hot bath before bed – nothing like steam to sooth the sinuses. Tonight, so far, he’s woken at 8 so I guess he’s on the same programme. Currently breathing down the monitor like Darth Vader.
Cancelled his music class for tomorrow. There seem to be two schools of thought on ill kids. The first is take them anywhere because if you kept them at home when they were ill you’d never leave the house. The second is that it’s rude to give your germs to every one else. I’m with group two but then I’m a stay at home mum, I’m not sending my child to nursery which seems to be a very efficient way of ensuring your child suffers from every single possible illness it can have, back to back.
Ah well, at least now I understand why the wee lad who gave it to him – who I thought seemed a bit whingy – was… well… a bit whingy! Mini BC is a cheery little chap but even he seems to be feeling a bit sorry for himself. Let’s hope he throws it off fast!
Ah the joys of motherhood.
I’m still alive… 19, June 2009
Posted by babychaos in General Wittering, Mini Me, baby stuff.Tags: being a mum, being knackered, motherhood
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But man, I am shattered. Wee man is now one year old. Where in the name of heaven did the time go? He is an absolute scream, full of energy and always laughing – except when he’s having a tantrum because I’ve said no to him or taken him away from something he wants (electrical cables, the DVD player, that kind of thing)! I love that he never stops even if, sometimes, I wish he would stay in the same place for say… five seconds. So I could have a rest. I spend most of the day trotting after him and distracting/moving him when he gets somewhere dangerous. When I pick him up the legs are still going.
He crawls around back arched, head and shulders up, smacking his hands down on the floor like a minature silverback gorilla. It makes me chuckle.
Being a Mum is brilliant but I am completely knackered. You may not hear from me for years!
Are you a lonely mum? You can end the drought… 1, May 2009
Posted by babychaos in General Wittering, Life and living, Mini Me, baby stuff, handy hints.Tags: coping with motherhood, loneliness of parenthood, lonely mothers, mother alone
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My poor brain has been an arid place recently. On the whole, being a full time Mum is good but intellectual stimulation is thin on the ground, conversations tend to be interrupted and mostly revolve around mini BC. This is natural and picking other people’s brains, discovering how they cope with phase x, y or z is how I find my way through the maze of motherhood.
The way to cope is to make sure you go out a lot, make lots of phone calls to people on speakerphone, keep the e-mails coming etc…
A few weeks ago, though, it got me down. I was very lonely. My mobile was broken which made communication tricky, most trysts are arranged by text. None were getting to me. The hormones, the knee and the SPD were tricky – still too much relaxin in the system – and I was blue. In the company of my small companion all day, I felt strangely isolated.
“Radio 4.” Said my Mum. “Seriously, you won’t believe the difference it makes.”
It’s good, I know. It’s always been on in the background at home but it’s always distracted me from the conversation or from writing so I’ve always turned it off. What can I lose if I try it?
In my precious spare minutes I research digital radios on the web. They are all very small or very expensive. I narrow it down to two, both about £70, a Roberts solar powered one or a Freeplay. Eventually I find the Freeplay one for £65 (with the postage and VAT in) and plump for that on the grounds that on Amazon, it is mentioned as having slightly better sound quality than the Roberts one.
Today, charged and ready, I switch it on. I listen to a history of thalidimide, an interview with a successful and very interesting TV producer, a report into whether or not Olympic Committee officials should have a special lane to themselves in 2012 and a little bit of news.
It is like oxygen. It is like water. My parched brain thirstily drinks in the information as if it had been dying. I hadn’t realised how starved of stimulation it was until now. I feel different, lighter, happier and a lot less boring, I have things to talk about now which are not small, blonde and very cute… I feel normal, in a very good way.
Yeh. Radio 4. I recommend it.
More Babychaos… 8, April 2009
Posted by babychaos in General Wittering, Humour, Light Fluff, Mini Me, baby stuff, careers.Tags: children, kids, living with kids, motherhood, parenthood, parenting, the joy of parenting
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A week ago, having finished my submission for a literary agent, honed it, toned it and generally agonised over it my Sister In-Law – who works in publishing – kindly volunteered to read it.
Seeing the enormous size of my synopsis – it’s a complicated plot – she recommended I ring the agency I was approaching to check if they had any particular length in mind when they said “short”.
Eventually I took my courage in both hands and did. It rang, somebody answered and before either of us could say anything Mini Me shouted.
“NANG!!!” At the top of his voice.
There was a surprised silence.
“I’m sorry, this isn’t a prank call. That was my son. He’s a baby.” I said.
Oh happy day when she laughed! Luckily they are happy with a longer synopsis, the point is that it should be free from waffle. If there’s lots to say, that doesn’t matter.
Phew again.
