mummy

The summer term has started!

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The Easter holidays are done! When school closed today was the day the children should of gone back. I’ve said it before but I actually enjoy having them at home.

I did a lot of my own Planning as I feel it’s super important to keep them learning and wanted to give ‘proper’ home schooling a go. So I have used YouTube, Pinterest, Twinkl and just general google searches to find out what my children ‘need’ to know for their current age and how to teach it.

Something I have found that I feel maybe hasn’t been picked up or perhaps, in a class for of 30 kids hasn’t been noticed is that my son Joey (5) is really advanced especially in Maths. He can easily do addition and subtraction (faster then my brain haha) so I’ve decided to jump in and start multiplication. I’ve delved into the knowledge of phonics!! I didn’t even realise this was a thing until Joey started school. He is beginning to read a lot more confidently and his writing is improving. All of this is through one to one attention.

Penny (3) should be starting her 15 hours of nursery from today. There wasn’t a space for her in the current school Joey is at until September so she wasn’t going to be starting anyway but I figured I would give her snippets of learning along with Joey for however long I could keep her attention. Now she has been very behind when it comes to her speech due to hearing difficulties, the by no means has ever held her back in anything. We sat down today and I wrote a P and she instantly copied me! That was easy (phew) I kept her attention for around 5 minutes (I guess I’m pretty boring) and then she went for break and never returned. Oh the beauty of home school.

I have done some research into home schooling and what it’s really like but have found that many of the Facebook groups etc are quiet unwelcoming in the current situation and are very quick to say that this is not ‘true’ homeschooling as a lot of it is still teacher led! Through my research I found that homeschooling works best of you don’t turn your house into a school. So I took the approach today of trying to make a game out of almost everything we learnt. My favourite part of the day was when I read a story and Joey acted it out as I read it. It made such a difference and was a lot more fun then just sitting and reading a book. (Btw reading is my absolute favourite thing to do but 5 year olds like to move) I’m still in the process of building new ideas for mummy school as I call it!

We were loud today, we learnt in the garden, we took a break exactly when we needed it and we enjoyed learning with a difference. I’m just trying to embrace what’s been sent to me and really use this time to build on my children’s education but in my own way. I would love to hear and read about other people experience, even if you do it full time!

Thanks for reading

Amy x

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Raising tiny humans!

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I think one of the hardest things you will ever do in your life is raise a child. There are so many things you have to take into consideration. I think one of the most important things to think about is that you are raising a future adult and you have to think that this very start of their lives is going to shape them as a person for the rest of their lives.

When me and Tony first became parents we often discussed how we wanted to raise our children. One thing we both said was that we wanted to raise free spirited children and I think that anyone that personally knows our children would agree that our children are certainly that!  We want our children to be who ever they want to be, We want our children to love whoever they want to love and we will support them down any path they choose to take. The only thing we ask from them is that they are kind, Polite and respectful.

I have become more and more aware that how we speak to our children is going to be how they think in the future if that makes sense. Sometimes I feel that we as adults don’t always take in to consideration how our children may be feeling. For example if you where angry about something and someone came along and screamed at you, That would probably make you even more angry. So if our children are angry then us coming along and shouting at them is going to make them even more angry, But if we talk to them in a calm and understanding voice chances are they will calm down. Don’t get me wrong I am far from the perfect parent and I do sometimes forget all I have just said and shout, After all I am only human, but I try my hardest to make sure that I show them the respect for their feelings I think they deserve. I realize that in the blink of an eye I’m going to be faced with two stroppy teenagers with the weight of the world on their shoulders. We all remember those years where we are really half child, half adult! I’m sure just as I did my children will get into trouble, make questionable choices, face fall outs with friends and also get their little hearts broken. I want to use the time I have now to show them that if they mess up mummy isn’t going to hit the roof and that together we can face anything. I want them to know we can talk about anything and that I will support them through everything.

Raising tiny humans certainly holds a lot of thought but I know that all we can do is our very best and I hope my tiny humans will live a long fulfilled life achieving all that they want to with me and their Daddy by their sides. 20180603_143138

Amy  x

 

Date night!

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Well we have made it to date night!! So far Penny hasn’t caught scarlet fever and Joey’s antibiotics have kicked in and he is feeling much better. So I have packed them up and will soon be taking them to my Mum’s house.

We are so excited to go out and actually enjoy a meal and not have to inhale it. I think its so important to have some time for just us and to actually have a conversation that isn’t interrupted by one of our children. I always get a bit anxious leaving the kids. Even though I know they are in good hands with my Mum I just like to be there to tend to their every need! I think this is maybe the second time I have left Penny even though she is almost 15 months, She has been such a bad sleeper but I am sure I will miss her more then she will miss me. Joey is very excited to go as he has been stuck in the house most of the week with scarlet fever.

I’m going to go and check their bags for about the 100th time now to make sure they have everything they need haha!

Thanks for reading!

Amy x

 

 

The Lurgy has us trapped!

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So scarlet fever has only been in our house for like a day but we are so board stuck in the house! We have coloured, Played, rested and watched disney films. Joey doesn’t have an actual fever today so I think he is feeling a little better but he is covered in a bright red rash that feels like sandpaper. I’m still waiting to see if it hits anyone else, Penny is very grumpy today so it makes me wonder if she is starting with it.

I find when I am stuck in the house its really hard to motivate myself to get anything done. I’ve attempted to write a list of things to do but so far it’s been unsuccessful. Its Tony’s last night at work tonight then he has four days off, I can’t wait for him to be off! I’m still hoping that we have a chance to be able to get out on our date night.

keep your fingers crossed for me!

Amy x

Scarlet Fever has hit!

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Its official our house has been hit with the lurgy! Joey started last night with a temp and red throat then by this afternoon he was covered in a rash and had a bright red face. Luckily our doctors are very good at seeing children and we managed to get him a doctors appointment. So now it’s just a watch and wait to see who gets it next! Hopefully nobody. We are also facing the difficulty of getting him to take his medicine! WOW! the scene he made about it was some show. He was screaming very loud for a kid with a sore throat, It was like some sort of exorcism. To be fair to him I did have a little taste to see what all the fuss was about and Jeez does it taste vile. whoever invents some kind of chocolate flavored medicine for kids will be a very rich person some day (P.S please credit me for the idea if you invent it haha)

Its just our luck that he has come down with this now as we have a date night booked for Friday. I know, I know it’s selfish of me to think but we never ever go out just the two of us and whenever we book something you can guarantee that one of our children will get ill. I have my fingers crossed that he will be better and that Penny somehow manages to avoid it all together.

Pray for me haha

Amy   x

It’s that time again!

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Its that time again where the kids are in bed and my Husband is on nights. I often look forward to these nights, some proper alone time to do what ever I like no interruptions. The reality is I’ve battled bath time and bed time alone and boy that can be hard work! I’m now sat here thinking about what the hell we did before we had the kids. I’m definitely the kind of Mum that is desperate for a break but the second I’m alone I miss my kids (yes even when they are in bed)

How easy was life before? Or should I say how boring was life before? I can’t even really remember what our house looked like pre kids. How did I fill up my time? It’s so funny how you just adapt to life changing without even realizing. I was saying to my husband today when I just had Joey I used to think wow how fast must I have done the shopping when I just had myself to think about, How easy was it for us to just jump in the car and go out for tea. Now we have Penny I often think how easy was it to just take one child out or tidy the house with just one child. I remember when Penny was first born the mission I thought it was to get them out the house and now its all just natural to me.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is man my life is boring without my Husband and kids haha. I’m going to go now and watch trash T.V and tuck into a tub of Ben and Jerrys and try and enjoy the peace while i can.

Thanks for reading.

Amy  x

 

Messy house = Happy house

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Some days i get so over whelmed by the need to have a clean and tidy house! You know what i’m talking about right? The day you clean your house get dressed and everything looks beautiful nobody pops round. The day your house looks like its been through a blender and you haven’t even looked in the mirror yet (Never mind put a bra on) is the day everyone decides to spring a nice surprise visit on you.

After having two kids I decided that its impossible to live in a ‘show home’ my two can make a mess faster then the speed of light. I’ve given up trying to follow them round picking up every toy they drop. I mean how many times a day do i really want to shove that same dinosaur in a draw? How many times do i really want to clean my conservatory doors just so someone can come along and lick it (yes i said lick) or rub their sticky little fingers down it. Once is enough for me just before bedtime when its time to relax! Even when the house is tidy there is always a dolly or a shark hanging about somewhere. I climb in to bed at night and there will be some kind or Pokemon shoved under my pillow.

I came to the conclusion that a messy home can be a happy home. Toys are all over, So what? Our house has had a dinosaur fight going though it today, There was a Pokemon battle in my kitchen and Peppa Pig and her family came for a tea party. We built towns out of bricks and we knocked them down. The bathroom had turtles swimming in it and some sort of prehistoric shark made a big splash in our bath. Try and keep your house tidy with all this going on Haha. Like the cheesy saying goes ‘please mind the mess, the kids are making memories’ its so true and any of your surprise visitors should understand this. Your kids wont remember a tidy house but they will remember the fun and the games. So Put that dettol down and leave those pots to soak a bit longer. Let your childhood imagination take over and enjoy those little children while they still want to play with you (you wont be cool for long haha)

Thank you for reading

Amy  x

But what do you do all day?

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Taking on the role of stay at home mummy has been a lot harder then I thought it would be! As a child it was my dream, When all my class mates where discussing how they wanted to become nurses, vets and beauticians all I could think was how much I wanted a family. I know weird right?  When I started a relationship with Tony it became clear very early on that we wanted the same things a strong marriage and a couple of kids (and dogs) added in. Perfect!

When Joey came along we decided that I would only go to work a day a week for a bit of extra spending  money for us. We had worked out the costs of child care and we couldn’t justify spending the money I would earn on someone else raising our child. When Penny came along we decided that i would give up work all together and become a stay at home mum.

So what do I do all day? Watch daytime T.V with my feet up drinking tea right? Haha far from it! I get dragged out of bed at around 6 in the morning, normally by Joey ‘Mummy can we go downstairs? Mummy can we go downstairs? Mummy can we go downstairs?’ I make breakfast and rush around getting ready for the school run. My days are then filled with washing, cleaning, naps, crying (not always the kids ha), playing, laughing and just lately becoming a referee! It’s a continuous cycle of never getting a minute to myself even when going to the toilet I normally have a child watching! Its mentally hard some days but you know what? I wouldn’t change it for the world! I feel like we only get so long in life with our children before they are off spending their evening and weekends with friends and their days are filled with school. We might not have all the money in the world, We live in our cute little two up, Two down and we have holidays in England not abroad but I know I wont look back and feel like i missed out on a thing.

I have to give full credit to every Mum out there that goes out and works! I know when you get home you have all the Jobs I listed above to do! I honestly wouldn’t have the drive to do it after a full days work! You are all amazing and deserve a medal. I also Know that not everyone is as lucky as me to have the choice to stay at home and that must be so hard. At the end of the day being a Mummy is all about doing whats best for our family and no two Families are the same.

Thanks for reading!

Amy   x

 

The A word

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I had people saying ‘its all in your head’ Do you honestly think I want to feel this way? – Sonia Estrada

 

I’m going to start my posts with a tough subject the anxiety! lets get it out the way so to speak. Mental health is still such a taboo subject even though I bet more then half the population suffers with some sort of Mental illness. We can’t see it so that makes us uncomfortable right? I really hope that it can change one day and I believe the more people that speak out the more this will happen.

I think I’ve probably always been a bit of an anxious person and prone to being/feeling depressed. My big problems started when my daughter Penny was born, she rushed into this world after a very fast 40 minute labour (ouch) a little beautiful bundle of 7lb 7oz love to complete our little family. Two weeks later we woke up one day to her not seeming herself she was red hot and we where unable to pick her up without her making a painful cry, my motherly instincts took over and I knew something must be seriously wrong. I took her temperature to see a result of 39 degrees on my new born baby that’s when the panic set in. We rushed her to A&E only to be to told of a long wait to even be assessed but we acted fast and managed to get a doctor to see her. She went through a lot of tests including two painful lumber punctures and then we where given the news nobody wants to here. Our gorgeous girl had sepsis! Thankfully we had caught it very fast and with a weeks stay in hospital and lots of antibiotics she made a full recovery. We always call her our tough cookie now. 

Something had changed in my mind now! I had these two beautiful children, How could I ever face life without them? I’m sure every mother has had these kind of thoughts before but mine just went to the extreme. I didn’t want to take my children out into a world where people could touch them and give them germs. I began avoiding places and not going out so people wouldn’t want to hold Penny etc. I started waking up every morning with this awful sinking feeling in my chest, the kind you get when you know you have a horrible day ahead of you but all that was ahead of me was a day with my two beautiful children. With the help and support of my family I went to the doctors and started treatment taking medication that I call my zest! They are my zesty pills because they bring my zest for life back (most days) 

A year on from here I still struggle daily and a couple of times it has all become to much and I have had to have my zesty meds upped, I have also decided that its time I started some talking therapy to help me overcome my issues and eventually create my own zest for life without the need for medication. I’m so lucky to have the support I have at home and I hope reading this can encourage other people to be strong and not be ashamed to speak out when and if you are struggling. 

Thanks for reading! (sorry it was a long one) 

Amy  x