I’VE been a bit of a hot cross mum lately. Princess Ella has been testing my patience to the point I’ve had to resort to ringing Easter Bunny. At this stage, Easter Bunny won’t be visiting our house due to someone misbehaving (at this rate, not for the next 10 years).
Usually I wouldn’t stoop so low, but with the end of daylight saving, 4am starts to the day and Baby Holly popping two teeth at once and going through Wonder Week 26, I veered off the path of good parenting and picked up the phone. I will, of course, ring him back and invite him to drop off some eggs. I am not that mean.
The real problem is two-fold. Firstly, there’s a little girl who’s not getting enough attention because mum is always throwing her boobs about breastfeeding Holly or trying to get Holly to sleep. I try my best to do as much craft, drawing, “hairdressers”, telephone calls to Dorothy the Dinosaur and hide and seek (with the bonus of getting five minutes shut eye under the bed) as I can. However, for her, it’s just not quite enough.
The second problem is, dare I say it, me. Romina from Martyr-hood put it best when she said
“ how you feel about yourself, actually reflects in your own children’’
and that
“anxiety is contagious’’.
This struck a chord with me because, well, the reason Ella is a grumpy pants, is because I’m a grumpy pants. Time for new undies, I say.
After reading many blog posts about mums being grateful for their lot in life, I’m determined to change my ways. Naomi of Seven Cherubs has started a Happiness Project that I’ve jumped on board and I’ve already posted by first edition in Maxebella Loves’ I’m Grateful For meme.
So Tuesday morning, as I set off on the road to get Holly’s six-month immunisation shots (yes, more reasons to jump for joy), I decided to get up and get happy.
So I started singing at the top of my lungs – always guaranteed to make me feel better. I belted out a stellar rendition of Play School’s Ning Nang Nong where the cows go bong and the monkeys all say boo, and was halfway through Der Glumph went the little green frog one day when I realisedd Ella wasn’t even in the car with me.
A little embarrassed, I quickly flicked on the radio and got rather disappointed by some bumpin’ grindin’ pop tune with no melody. It was at this point I realised how old I was. Back to the Ning Nang Nong.
The end result was, however, that I’d released the beast and felt much better. I’d recommend it too. And if that fails, there’s always chocolate. Although, I’d better go ring Easter Bunny first.
So come on, sing it with me…
How do you overcome “challenging’’ days with the kids? What makes you feel good?
Read about the follow-up phone call to Easter Bunny.
Oh there seems to be rather a lot of this going on at the moment. The kids must have all been talking and are ganging up on us parents!! Some days are just hard work in the mummyhood and frankly I have no answers – just live through it and know it will get better :O) Loving the Ning Nang Nong – it will be in my head all afternooon at work now!!
Hmmmm. Let’s see if we can’t find out where they’re hanging out and conspiring!
And apologies for getting the Ning Nang Nong stuck in your head. Probably not what you need as you’re going about your work day! LOL!
I love the Ning Nang Nong. I always loved Noni and Jon singing it together 🙂
John and Noni were my two favourites as a kid. John’s jokes (sprinkled with a bit of adult humour) were classic! I think Rhys Muldoon is definitely the new version of John… 🙂
Music is my sanity bringer too. Some days the only way I can get work done is to sit at my desk with headphones and while singing over the children’s programs.
hehe! Yes, it’s amazing what a song can do for your mood! 🙂
Gosh, I totally get this! x
Feeling your pain too, Louisa. Hope things are improving at your end! 🙂
Oh my goodness I take each day it is comes. I’ve learnt not to place so much pressure on myself – which was a lesson I needed to learn the hard way. Also chocolate helps. In all seriousness it does – it releases feel good endorphins and has an almost valium effect!! haha!!
I’ve also learnt to apologise to my little people and explain to them that mummy isn’t perfect and sometimes she gets cranky – but it has nothing to do with them. I understand that it is a complex notion for such young children to comprehend, but I feel in the long run perhaps they will understand. Also, as much as humanly possible I try to take them out and do fun things with them – so it’s not always about housework and shopping and all of the boring stuff. My eldest actually began showing symptoms of anxiety herself and that is when I had to change my ways. It’s a concious decision that needs to be made everyday. Today will be a good day. Sometimes it’s not a good day, and my husband will come home to me sobbing – but I just treat those days as right off’s and start again the next day. I figure just as long as they know that I love them and that I am trying the very best that I can, it’s ok to see mummy as a human every once in a while. Perhaps it will even do them good – perhaps allow them not to place so much pressure on themselves when they come of age?? Who knows, it’s all a learning curve 🙂 It’s comforting to know that we are all in this together xx
Too true, Romina. One of the best things about being part of this mummy blogosphere is learning that we all do feel and experience the same things.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head by saying “just as long as they know that I love them and that I am trying the very best that I can”. Even after ringing Easter Bunny, that night Ella offered me the biggest cuddle and told me she loved me – as she does every night. That’s really important to me. Kids are pretty forgiving too, I think.
I know there will be more cranky pants days to come, but it’s all a work in progress. And as you say, it allows them to see we’re human and not super mum.
BTW, there’s quite a bit of chocolate being consumed here!! 🙂