threelilprincesses.com

Category: Life and laughter

Kisses from daddy. Well, Kiss Biscuits, at least.

By The Bloke in The Shed

Li’l Holly has had to play second fiddle in a number of ways. For me as a dad, brutally honestly, I simply have not had the chance to bond with her as I did with our first born, Princess Ella. It’s second-child syndrome.

Ella and I spent a vast amount of days alone giving mum a break. It was fantastic. Hence, we know each other completely (which can also be a negative because we also know how to push each other’s buttons).

Li’l Holly’s arrival in the world coincided with mum stopping work, an increase in my work-life responsibilities and throw in a big sister for good measure.

Normally, when Holly and I are together and mum is having some “mum time”, the baby of the family also has to compete with Ella for my attention …. let me tell you, not many successfully compete with Ella in the attention stakes.

Yet this month saw Holly and I spent our first true day together. Ella was in care, I was on holidays and mum needed some time to do PR and blogger stuff, so Holly and I got the chance to spend the day alone. It was nothing short of fantastic.

Li'l Holly showing how to make a Vita Wheat magically disappear – if the seagull doesn't get it first

It’s not to say we weren’t close before, but we haven’t had a chance to forge the incredible bond Holly has with her mother. Whether by nature or nurture, Holly is one strong-willed individual. Where Ella warms to people and people warm to her instantly, Holly almost looks at people as if assessing their entire life history. It takes a lot to earn her trust.

While I love her with all my life and every breath she takes, that day alone I know helped us grow our relationship as father and daughter immeasurably. Or, it could have been the awesome Kiss Biscuit we shared at the local bakery? Whatever. Long may it continue.

Do your children get dad and daughter/son time regularly?

February 16, 2012
Alphabet Photography Challenge – F

This was the hardest challenge we have had to face yet – finding something that started with “F” to share. Luckily we have smart boys. They soon found lots of things that were in our bus, plus some yummy morning tea. How many things can you see that can be eaten, looked at and devoured?

By Lisa Wood

Lisa and David Wood live in a motorhome with four of their five boys. If you would like to connect with their amazing journey, head over to New Life on the Road!

Don’t forget to head on over to the Alphabet Photography Challenge page, where you’ll find a series of “look and find” photographs to help your child learn the alphabet.

Linking up with My Little Drummer Boys’ Wordless Wednesday. Click on the link to check out more photo posts.

February 15, 2012
This mothering gig is tough

This has to be one of the most emotional weeks in motherhood. And sadly it’s only Monday. If only someone warned you it was like this.

Last night was the first time I didn’t even attempt to breastfeed Li’l Holly before bedtime. I couldn’t see the point. It seems her days of boobie juice are now behind her. Give me the real stuff, Mum. I’d be OK with it if it was my decision. With Ella, I chose to start weaning her because I was finding it too difficult balancing it with work. Now, it’s Holly’s decision. And I’m not sure I was fully ready.

Then, this morning, I farewelled my li’l girl as she headed off for her first day at big girl school. She got up at 6.30am, came bounding into the bedroom and asked if she could make her big girl lunch now. One day she’ll pine for those fully cooked childcare lunches again. For now though, a ham and cheese sandwich is just the most exciting thing in the world.

When we arrived, she walked into the classroom and ran straight for the computer. Five minutes later, she was darting for her friends – to tell them all about her sandwiches, probably. There was barely time for a kiss and a goodbye. I guess I should be thankful she has readymade friends due to half her childcare room choosing the same school.

As The Bloke in the Shed, Li’l Holly and I got back in the car, The Bloke asked the one question I hoped he wouldn’t ask: “Are you OK?’’ And then it started. The tears fell. My heart felt heavy. My li’l girl. She’s all grown up. Fully independent. Gone off to big school. Doing up her own shoes. Organising her own lunch. Wiping her own bum. Well, that’s another story, not likely for the blog.

I can tell you, it’s pretty darn quiet around here today…

How did you cope on your child’s first day of school? I hear it doesn’t get easier either.

February 13, 2012
What the heck are stage presents?

Princess Ella and I are very similar – apart from the fact I have great hair. We bond over singing, dancing, drawing, music, craft and preening my great hair.

Only yesterday we spent the afternoon making special letters for each of the kids at childcare she won’t see again after this week. Tomorrow marks the last day of childcare before she graduates to “big girl school’’.

However, there’s one little thing that is fast becoming “our special bonding moment’’. The one hour-long block that is just for us to talk about the things that connect us most. It’s Young Talent Time and the singing and dancing.

Ella is a 7pm to bed person, but on Sundays I’ve been allowing her to stay up until 7.30pm. We talk about what performances we liked best, who we thought should have won, how good (or bad) the singing was and why the dancing worked (or didn’t). I try to encourage her to look at the negatives of a performance constructively – rather than just “that was terrible, Mum’’.

It’s also been a chance to share some of my (limited) singing and dancing knowledge from years of lessons. Like when the rock guitarist performed on Sunday, I was trying to explain to her about “stage presence’’. “But where are the presents, Mum?’’ Failed on that one.

Then, when we were marvelling at the YTT team’s performance of Beyonce’s Halo, her only reaction at the end was: “The sky is green? And the ground is blue? What? That’s like Upsey Down Town, Mum. That’s silly.’’ Upsey Down Town being a popular Play School song.

The last was again during the rock guitar performance, where host Rob Mills introduces her performance by saying “she’ll rock your socks off’’. Ella’s response: “But where is she going to put them?’’ After a long and detailed explanation of what “rock your socks off’’ means, she asked: “Can I rock my socks off with my recorder?’’ Eat your heart, darling.

What’s your special bonding moment with your children?

February 6, 2012
The Shed: A strange man just played with my bits

By The Bloke in The Shed

It isn’t every day I let a strange man play with my bits. This day was not any day though and, strictly speaking, he was a doctor.

The time had come for my first medical appointment to ensure no further princesses or princes were added to our household. Here I was with Princess Kel by my side talking to a man about… well, you know… “The Snip’’.

The urologist opened with the line “well, there’s only one reason I see a fit, young bloke like you and his wife …’’. Yep, my sperm should be preparing for a road block.

I’m not sure what I expected, but I was a little surprised when our doctor started using Aussie terms I hadn’t heard or used since high school to describe the process. Did he just say “balls’’?

The most awkward bit came when he said “well, I’ll have to have a bit of a look down there’’. Scene: Kel sitting in same room behind a curtain while someone else fondles “the crown jewels’’. Weirdly, that was the part Princess Kel had the most questions about.

Kel and I had made the decision some time ago that I’d have a vasectomy after the birth of our second child. Seriously, I have been surprised at the negative reaction it’s received from some males. Things like: “What if you want to have more kids?”, “What if you get divorced?”, “You know it’s hard to reverse?’’, “You know Kellie could have a new device inserted which would last for a couple of years?’’etc. The last question actually came from someone in the medical profession.

Frankly, I’ve been shocked by all this. But I guess blokes are a little sensitive and perhaps a little stupidly protective about that whole area.

Me? Less so. Thanks to a reluctance of my “little pals” to drop, I have some horrific memories of several operations as a kid – picture trying to stretch a shoelace with your delicates attached and you’ll get a hint of what I went through. Hence, I consider myself lucky to have fathered children at all and am very content with what life has presented me.

The way I figure it is, I watched my wife suffer two troublesome pregnancies. If this makes our lives a little easier, then it’s the least I can do. I realise that the procedure is final and is incredibly hard to reverse. Fine with that. As I said, I consider myself lucky.

Our GP delivered some sound advice when he told us not to rush into it and leave it at least a year after the birth of Li’l Holly. Let’s face it, with a tired, breastfeeding wife, it’s not often during that time there is an issue in any case.

Yet, 16 months on, neither Kel nor I thought differently, but we did appreciate that time and space to reaffirm our decision. So, the operation is booked.

Why blog about it? Well, it just might just help someone out there. And besides, if your wife has been in the same room while a bloke fondles your balls, there is not much dignity left to be had.

If you have any questions about the process to this point or personal experiences let us know. Or feel free to share your experiences or reasons for your or your partner having “the snip’’.

Image credit.

February 2, 2012
When a princess loses her fairytale ending

Family bedtime reading is starting to become a little lacklustre for Princess Ella. The stories that are fully engaging Li’l Holly – Where is the Green Sheep? and Spot Goes to the Farm – are leaving Ella wanting more. So, to help with her development, we’ve begun reading a “big girl book’’ after Holly is asleep. For the moment, it’s this book:

My Treasury of Fairytales. It’s full of longer fairytale reads, which are more focused on the story and less on the images. Although, the illustrations are quite incredible. We first cottoned onto these books with the My Nursery Rhymes Book.

Her favourite from the fairytale book is Jack and the Beanstalk, which I’ve now read about 738,469 times. I think it has something to do with the “Fe Fi Fo Fum’’ rhyme, despite the fact it’s about grinding bones to make bread. She probably now believes that’s how you make bread, just like she believes breastfeeding mums provide us with cartons of boobie juice for our Sultana Buds.

I tend to try and push her towards the more harmless Cinderella, The Ugly Ducking and Sleeping Beauty. Although, the latter has garnered questions about whether Sleeping Beauty would die if a prince didn’t kiss her.

Then there’s Hansel and Gretel. As we were reading it the other night, an alarm bell went off in my head: “stop reading. This is going to give her nightmares’’. But for some ridiculously stupid reason, I continued. I have no idea what that reason was, by the way.

In the car the next day, Ella piped up with: “Do you know what I’m thinking, Mum?’’. I could have answered with “why does Superman stop bullets with his chest but duck when the gun is thrown at him?’’, but I didn’t. Prompting her to continue, she said: “I was thinking how you went away and left me and I was really sad and I cried. And I was scared you weren’t going to come back.’’

Part of this story stems from taking her li’l sister away to Adelaide for a night for a bloggers brunch months earlier. But I think it was mainly prompted by Hansel and Gretel’s awful stepmother.

The clincher though came that night, when she woke at 1am crying. She was scared and didn’t want to be left alone. Five minutes later I was squished into a single bed with someone more akin to the main character out of the Princess and the Pea for all the wriggling that was going on.

We now no longer read Hansel and Gretel around here.

Are there fairytales you avoid with your children? Has your child been affected by a so-called child friendly story?

January 27, 2012