http://myhopefuljourney.com/the-gift-of-life-book-intro
A lovely review from Lisa at My Hopeful Journey.
http://myhopefuljourney.com/the-gift-of-life-book-intro
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When I finally achieved my dream of being a Mummy to my baby girl and when the initial first few months had passed, I began to feel really lonely.
I loved being a Mum but it dawned on me that my whole life had changed, whilst everyone around me were doing exactly the same things they always had, my life was completely different. I had given up my full time job and everything that went with it that I had always known. I actually missed everyone and everything in that old familiar environment, I realised I had become institutionalised. I was actually quite scared because I didn't feel like me anymore, everything I had known had changed, life wasn't as fast paced, energetic or stressful, I felt natural being a Mother and I literally threw myself into meeting new people and going along to Mother and Toddler groups, purely because I was a little bored and very lonely, I missed networking so badly. Don't get me wrong, I was very lucky to be a stay at home Mum, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.. I simply missed adult conversation and the stresses of working in a busy office environment, I never ever thought I would say that. How did you feel when you had your first born baby? I am reading parenting books until the information comes out of my ears because I want to do everything right for both, Isla and Noah.
I want them to have a really loving, kind sibling relationship and more importantly have a long term friendship from today through to adulthood, it is really important to me that they both get on. Some of the best words of advice, I have heard and read are: Planning- Always plan activities and outings. Check list- Make sure even if I am going to be ten minutes late, use the check list. Have I got everything I need? Love- Give both children equal love and affection, especially Isla, if she feels loved she won’t get jealous or spiteful. Sensitivity- Let Isla help with Noah, involve her with bathing and nappy changes, helping to love, care and nurture him. Calm- If I am happy and relaxed both Children are going to be calm, happy and relaxed. Have you watched your children play together? How do they interact? How do you prevent them from fighting? Since having a family, the weekly food shopping trip was the bane of my life.
If one of the kid's wasn't crying or moaning it was the other one. Trying to race around as quickly as possible grabbing the weekly shop from the shelves whilst trying to settle and bribe the children to behave was ultimately STRESSFULL. In reality all Isla and Noah wanted to do at 6 o'clock in the evening was get tucked up warm and snuggly in bed with our undivided attention reading them stories and playing games. I felt like I was wasting two hours of my life doing this nightmare yet essential shopping trip, it was making all of us miserable, I eventually gave in and decided to do an online food shop and pay for delivery... it was the best thing I ever did. Why didn't I do it sooner?. When we do occasionally go around the shops to do the food shop, it's enjoyable and the children think it's great choosing and helping with the shopping, they don't ever say "I want?". I am now sat watching the television with my feet up, the cold is outside where it should be, the children are asleep in bed and my food shop delivery will be here between 9-10pm. Are you finding potty training stressful?
Is your toddler unhappy and not finding potty training fun? Hopefully some of these ideas will help you make potty time more enjoyable for both of you. 1) "Target Practice" - Use a ping pong ball or a Cheerio cereal for your toddler to aim at. 2) Reward chart with stickers. 3) Use food colouring to change the colour of the water in the toilet watch the water change colour again when your toddler wee's. 4) Encouragement and cheers. 5) Make a special phone call to Nana and Grandad, get them to praise and tell their grandchild how proud they are of them. 6) Bribery - Sweets or chocolate. 7) Special dry pants - With Princesses or Monster's on them. 8) A special toy or book that they can only have whilst sitting on the potty. Share your stories, what's worked for you? With my summer holiday booked and the desire to achieve my perfect bikini body (yeah right!) I have been desperately trying to resist snacking on my kiddie's meals.
It is almost impossible to resist cheese on toast, when it comes out of the grill all bubbling and smelling amazing, agggh I could scream, it's so hard to diet when Isla and Noah are eating all of my favourite foodie NO NO'S, sausage rolls, bread, cheese etc. Perfectly healthy for children to eat but not for me when I am dieting. I also don't like to make it very obvious that I am trying to lose weight, I don't want to make either of them self conscious about weight. I try my hardest to shield my children from anything like that, especially some television or music channels, this will lead me on to one of my future posts actually, one of my biggest pet hates, people swearing in public places near my children. It was half term last week, what did you and your children get up to and where did you visit?
One of the places we visited was The Hive Activity Centre. This is a reasonably new business in the heart of Codsall in South Staffordshire. The Hive has a fabulous concept, and it is run very well run, it is basically designed around kid's that love crafts and blimey there is every craft you can possibly think of under one roof. Crafts include the normal cheaper option like painting and sticking through to pottery making and decoupage. If you take your new born baby before they reach six months, you will receive a free tile footprint with their name and date of birth written on it. Take a look at the website and if you are ever near by, why not pop in, you won't be disappointed. http://codsallhive.co.uk/ My biggest pet hate at the moment has got to be when I hear swearing when I am out about with my children,
We went to a lovely restaurant for tea this week and unfortunately no matter how good the establishment, food and atmosphere was, it was completely ruined for me. I am not going to name any names because it isn't fair, the restaurant has no idea and cannot vet the clientele who dine there, it was a lovely restaurant and I couldn't fault anything else. After an amazing meal , I took the kid's to the toilet, the three of us piling into a cubicle, (Noah insists on going everywhere with Isla) only to hear the 'F' word, a woman swearing and chatting on her phone, I swiftly ushered the kid's out of the toilets, It just really annoys me when I'm with my kid's because I have no control over what other people say around them, if one of my children swore I would feel completely devastated. If I got a pound for every time someone said to me "Enjoy the baby stage, they grow up so quickly" I would be very rich by
now! The truth is don’t they just. All of a sudden my little girl is all grown up and out of the reliant stage, it’s all happened in a sort of hazy whirlwind. She is only three years of age but she insists on doing absolutely everything for herself, this drives me insane because I want to help her, I love being the person she relies on. You can read about my struggle to Motherhood in my book The Gift of Life Published by Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers and available from Amazon or any good book store for £7.99 in paperback and e-book. Since Isla started Nursery School last Septemberalready the pressures from her peers appear to be having a huge impact on the way she behaves, I have heard other parents reiterating the facts in the School playground, what worries me most is that we as Parent’s have no control of what their friends are saying to them. We don’t know what backgrounds other children come from when our children start the school system. The main problem is how early they start the education system. Children are already so young and the hours they are away from parents is far too long, I barely see my Daughter let alone if the Government increase the school hours as it has been reported in the past few weeks. My husband and I scroll through photos recalling all of our memories and we cannot believe how fast the time has gone, one minute children are baby’s the next they are in full time school hours. Children need to be Children for as long as possible and not forced to grow up too quickly, especially in this pressurized society we have all become accustomed. I find myself saying this to new Mom's even though I find it excruciatingly annoying, but because it’s plain and simply true “Enjoy the baby stage, they grow up too quickly”. Do you require a Virtual Personal Assistant? Are you getting snowed under, haven't got the time to expand your business because you are constantly chasing your tail with menial tasks? then look no further, give me a call 01902 798189 or drop me an email. [email protected] My rate is £12.50 per hour. My Key Skills. I am reliable, accurate, fast, professional, enthusiastic and extremely self- motivated. Email and Diary Management. Travel arrangements. Telephone answering. Virtual Receptionist. Customer service support. Data entry and database cleansing. Website design & updates. E-marketing / mailing – including response handling. Production of Sales & Marketing collateral. Copy typing and proof reading. Telesales . Social Media management. Credit Control. According to statistics the average female wouldn't want a proposal on valentines day.
What is the most romantic gesture you have done, given or received for your other half? Paul and I usually just swap cards and go out for a meal. last night we went out for valentines early with our brood to a local pub, The Dog and Gun in Tettenhall. Now don't get me wrong it would be nice to be spoilt and wined and dined properly, but these day's Anniversaries seem to take over as far as romance goes with Paul and I. You can't always celebrate everything in style otherwise it wouldn't feel special when you did go out of your way for your other half, well that's my thinking anyway. I've got Isla onto the job, she's making a card and cakes for Paul, these day's Isla and Noah steal his heart more than I ever could, and I am certainly not complaining :) http://www.authoralliance.net/readers-lounge/author-alliance-reviews/author-alliances-s-mitchell-reviews-the-gift-of-life-by-keily-j-Adey
Thank you Shemeka from Author Alliance for such a great review :) |