Well the craziness doesn't alleviate much.
Last week was crazy with extra guests and family commitments.
This week was crazy with .... I don't really know specifically what but includes:
- Thermomix cooking class - two hours of power. They went so quickly that slow old me didn't really take much in, but I had great chats about healthier eating, and some yummy food. Have decided that this machine so suits people who want to eat more healthily. It is more useful for this even than the 'fast cooking' which it also allows.
- Swimming lessons for William followed by drop in lunch and met new people ... Doesn't happen much these days so, silly me, felt a little awkward/anxious about saying the right thing (wtf?!) - I am much more confident meeting new people with my work cap on.... Much analysis available about that no doubt.
- Anzac Day holiday - the best day for all of us in ages. Started with dawn service down at Norman Park RSL with Tom. T loves Anzac Day - they have been learning lots about it at school. He asked if we could buy flowers, which we did, and he was so keen to march with his school. Then my hero husband took all four kids to the park (including S in baby Bjorn - such a truly sexy look on a man in my opinion!) whilst I tidied and cleaned the house. It is almost enjoyable when you have time and space to do such. Then we packed lunches and drove to Mt Tibrogargan for a bush walk. Once again crazy looks from others at ALL our children and Damien with Ed in the backpack, and me with Sam in the Bjorn. We walked for over an hour and a half and little W did so well. Home via Devonshire tea at this kids' haven cafe on Steve Irwin Way (goats, chickens, fishpond, big fort and swings). Then yummy Thermomix dinner cooked in a proverbial jiffy. Relatively easy bed time too, so d and I watched a movie! Wow!
- This morning, started out like any other morning - dreadful sleep deprivation haze due to aforementioned late night and S waking less than 2 hourly last night and everyone up at 6.... Then at 8 am, mid lunch boxes, breakfast, etc, William appears from downstairs with blood literally gushing out of his big toe. He has somehow managed to lift the entire nail up (he said from the pram? Stuck in spoke perhaps?). Blood EVERYWHERE. D, once again, doesn't want to go to hospital or doctor, but I stuck with it until we agreed to go to emergency as he was hysterical with pain for ages (not like my normal hulk of a buy where I only discover major injuries from inspection in the bath). But in peak hour would take us ages, so our wonderful GP clinic let us come down without an appointment. Prior to, however, we sent t to school early, dropped a very unhappy E to kindy. Nurse patched W up well in the end! But still gruesome when I redid his bandages/dressing tonight. Very bloody STILL.
- Then today we had an interview with the MYCP. Yeah I hadn't heard of it either. "Managing your children program". It is run by the State government and, wait for it, it's free. As much as I understand so far, it is a personalized program to help families. Today was the intro session with two counsellors. We discussed ourselves and the families we came from and how we were parented, through to the issues we were having now with our kids. Interestingly after I booked us in but before the session, d and I talked about the issues we wanted to discuss. And simply talking about them helped us get back on the same page and agree concrete actions to deal with these issues. The issues included protracted bedtimes with kids, late bedtimes, sibling fighting, our yelling and our weariness with it all. D opened up that often he did not enjoy being with the kids. I realized that my approach is reflected back to me by the kids with yelling and unhappiness as well. Anyway, today was interesting to get a bit of perspective on things but the really interesting bit will be the next sessions where we will discuss in more detail how we can overcome the 'battle weariness' both of us are feeling. Four kids is never going to be easy but this sounds like a great way to maybe get practical help to make it run more smoothly and pleasantly. I want d to want to enjoy being with the kids, and I want my kids to see the joy in me not just the frustrated, yelling me. So we will see how it goes.
Very quiet weekend ahead with few commitments. Yay!
Labels: Large Family