How To Be A Good Parent......

The year is 2012, which means several things. It's 20 years since I settled permanently in Australia. It's 8 years since I first started dating my husband (then boyfriend obviously) and it's 10 years ago that I became pregnant with my eldest daughter.

10 years.....wow!

10 years ago today - the date memorised, I peed on a stick and those two little blue lines appeared. I remember it as though it was yesterday. A rush of emotions; disbelief, shock, trepidation, fear and joy....pure, simple, unadulterated joy. I had always been one of those people that hurtled toward parenthood, that made the decision very early on that 'When I grow up I wanna be a Mummy' and here I was pregnant...with my first baby.......all of my dreams, hopes and aspirations collided at that point.

Right from the start my focus was on my baby. I was obsessed about proper nutrition, exercising gently and even 'educating' the tiny little person growing inside me. I was one of those people that put headphones on my burgeoning belly and played Mozart...cringing now at the memory.

I read everything......and I mean everything about healthy pregnancies. Problem is that pregnancy is the easy part, it's when little bubs emerges that the 'real work' begins.

So, here I was tiny babe in arms and a big, bad world that I had to bring her into. Scared shitless doesn't even begin to cover it. But, in my typical obsessive style I did everything I could to become the 'Best Mum Ever'

Every waking moment, every second of every day was spent with this lovely, little person. I was devoted to the extreme. I cuddled her every time she cried, I freaked out at every little scrape and bruise, I obsessed over every little scrap of food that passed her lips.....poor bloody kid.

With my second pregnancy I relaxed slightly, I craved hash browns, eggs and bacon and ate them. I didn't read nearly as much. I rescued the poor child from listening to classical music.

When he arrived I was a bit more laid-back. I didn't carry-on about every squeak and whimper. He grew and thrived without me freaking out.

And so to child three. As you all know by now, relaxed doesn't even begin to cover it, she eats dirt, licks the dog, enjoys the cat's biscuits, plays in toilet water and thrives. Absolutely thrives.
She's independent, feisty and intelligent....they all are. But it surprises me that my parenting has changed so much, from obsessive to laissez-faire and everything in between.

What have my children taught me over the past 10 years? To be a good parent. To relax and enjoy. To care and love........To be the 'Best Mum Ever' for my children.

My greatest accomplishment!!!!

Disorganised Chaos!

One of the many things I've resolved to do lately is to be more organised; with four children, a husband who typically works 7 days a week and a slowly growing menagerie of animals, I live in a a state of what I can only describe as "Disorganised Chaos". It doesn't help that I'm allergic to housework and have a memory like a sieve.
    I've always aspired to be one of those "perfect" Mothers, you know the ones, immaculately groomed - not a coiffured hair out of place, faultless makeup and gorgeous clothing that hasn't been stained with baby vomit or gone through the wash with a load of towels.
   These "perfect" Mothers have perfectly behaved little darlings with impeccable manners; unlike my rag-tag bunch of monsters. I feel like I've spent the best part of the past ten years teaching them the virtue of etiquette, keeping their hands, feet and other implements to themselves and the good  old "do unto others ...blah, blah, blah", all of these things seem to have gone in one ear and other the other with my children.
 And my house! My house is the epitome of a disaster zone! Endless rooms of clutter, excess toys & the never-ending, mountainous pile of unfolded washing. My couch is regularly painted with Milo and yogurt and my walls display the latest artwork from my creative toddler. It doesn't matter if I spend a whole day cleaning and scrubbing every conceivable surface in the place....it's all back again the next day. I'm sure that these "perfect" Mothers have "perfect" houses to match their "perfect" children.
   Another area that I need to be more organised in is my kitchen. I like to think that I'm not too shabby in the cooking department, the mess I leave afterward however leaves a lot to be desired (thank goodness the Man of the house is wonderful at cleaning up my kitchen disasters). When opening my cupboards you are at risk of being buried under an avalanche of appliances that don't work and when I do create a meal or bake something delicious it may taste good but it's not always pretty. Why can't I be one of these women that can bake a perfectly raised cake or whip up a cordon bleu dinner without breaking a sweat? (or anything else in my kitchen?)
  However, the more I think about it the more I can convince myself that the "perfect" lifestyle is not for me. Do I want to spend all day everyday cleaning up my children's messes when I would much rather be making the mess with them? Do I want to spend hours applying makeup and grooming myself when I could be spending the time enjoying my children's laughter and frivolity? Do I really have the time to spend perfecting each meal when I would much rather watch my children enjoy eating my messy creations? I may be disorganised but I am happy to be that way. Slightly ruffled, always smiling, a little bit perplexed, that's me.