The Mummy Blogger: The Guessing Game

Written by Sheree Echlin

FOR SALE or going cheap, one soon to be “threenager”. Some basic training but could be great with traffic direction or even mime as she has perfected the stop sign with her hand! The joys of toddlers; angelic one minute and mini-devils the next. Some days it leans more towards one than the other and I like to clean the house with lots of vacuuming (also known as “disappear”) on those days, usually when daddy is home too (wink wink).

I am really starting to appreciate my mum more as my children grow. Not that I never appreciated her before but more towards viewing her in a different light. Like how on Earth did she cope with two young children while my father was away for work and relatives living in another state? My mind really does boggle! She really is one in a million and the one person I will always turn to for advice. Thanks mum!

I knew children would be a challenge but I wasn’t expecting it to be as hard as it is. Some days feel like a real struggle while others can be rewarding. Can you tell I’m currently living on small amounts of sleep?! By day I battle with a “mini tornado” or a toddler in laymen’s terms. By night a vampire-like teething, screaming bundle of a baby. I thought dealing with one child used to be hard work, but two can be very demanding. To think I want more children, haha! Welcome to parenthood, where the days are long and the nights are endless; endless barrels of fun.

It’s not all entirely bad. I still love unexpected cuddles or cheeky smiles and of course, I will never tire of hearing “I love you, mummy”. By now, our dearest eldest daughter (yep I’m gearing up to something good here) also likes to tell me when she doesn’t like me – sometimes multiple times a day. I know, plenty more years of that still ahead of me. Maybe I thought I had more time before the insults kicked in. Is it bad that I sometimes tell her I don’t like her either?!

Toddlers are almost like teenagers in a mini form and less hormonal. Thankfully, we need some time to build up to those danger years! They test your patience, your wallet and your mind but also leave you bewildered and wondering what they will come up with next. Some mornings I wake up thinking about what could possibly be thrown at me in both a figurative and literal sense.

The joys of raising children come attached with new surprises. Just when you think you have a handle on things, they throw you another curve ball and leave you guessing all over again. As long as you know you are not going to win, you’re set! Remember it is going to get a lot worse before it get’s better so you have a better chance of surviving.

Like the days we have where Miss Izzie eats fruit bars and biscuits for breakfast. I know it’s not ideal but it’s only taken me all this time to realise you really do have to pick your battles. That train of thought doesn’t always work but it is worth a try.

Every now and then I’ll have the occasional thought about my old life. You know that time when I really thought I was “busy”. Expensive dinners, uninterrupted sleep, a full-time deadline-driven job, uninterrupted housework, time for friends, uninterrupted television (I’m noticing a pattern here), it certainly filled the days. Now it’s more like early home-cooked dinners, find time for sleep, a full-time demanding job known as “Mummy” plus finding time for writing. What is housework? Who has time for friends these days? I’m exhausted just thinking about it, plus I can’t get the Play School theme song out of my head. I know you want to sing along too.

Head over to my personal page shereeechlin.com and follow the rest of this crazy wild ride we call parenting.