• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Me, Them and the Others

Work at Home Mum. Free Range Parent. Mildly Amusing.

  • Parenting Life & Humour
  • Babies and Toddlers
  • Older Children
  • Free Range Parents
  • Work at Home Mum
  • Process Art
You are here: Home / Archives for Babies and Toddlers
Life with Babies and Toddlers

Life with Babies and Toddlers

I found the baby years challenging to say the least. I had postnatal depression, struggled to bind with my babies and found the sleep deprivation very hard to cope with. Both of my babies had colic which meant hours of screaming every night and one was particularly sicky so I smelt of vomit for a good six months.

By the time they were toddlers I was coping a bit better but still found parenting relentless. As an introvert, I need a certain amount of alone time to function and unfortunately toddlers, who like to keep you company even on the toilet, don’t really allow for that.

Despite the challenges, we did have some good times. After my second was born I knew it was important for me to get out of the house so started attending a toddler group. I made friends and eventually ended up running the group which gave me a sense of purpose. 

Society still pushes the image of women who are happy and fulfilled simply because they have had a baby however this isn’t the case for most women. Motherhood manages somehow to be both the hardest thing I’ve done as well as being mind numbingly boring for much of the time.

There is a big difference between loving your baby and loving motherhood. While I did slowly fall in love with my babies, I’ve never fallen in love with motherhood, and that’s ok. There are a hundred different ways to be a good mum, finding parenthood so tough in the early years has taught me not to judge others and I hope people afford me the same courtesy.

I found that the best way to cope with motherhood was through honestly and humour so many of the posts in this section laugh at the challenges or give honest accounts of them along with some advice on how to cope.

Circle Time Activities for Toddlers – Ideas to Engage Large Groups

Toddlers at circle time

Circle time activities are a great way to bring a group of children and adults together. Large group activities for toddlers need to be simpler than those you would use for preschoolers or school age children. These circle time activities for toddlers will work well for toddler groups where children have a parent with them, […]

Filed Under: Toddler Groups

Choosing a Play Kitchen

Girl playing with a play kitchen

Toddlers love play kitchens. It was always one of the most popular toys at toddler group and my children absolutely loved theirs. We kept it until they were 7 and 9 because until they age, it still got played with from time to time. If I’m honest, I was a bit jealous, I would have […]

Filed Under: Toddlers

Second Hand Baby Items: How to Shop Nearly New

Second hand baby items at a nearly new sale

Ok, so I am a bit biased. I run nearly new sales so obviously I think they’re great, but I have loved nearly new for much longer than I’ve been running the sales. Before I had children, other than the occasional car boot sale (occasional because that was a time when Sundays still meant a […]

Filed Under: Babies

Baby Tooth Knocked out? Don’t Panic!

Child with baby tooth knocked out

When my daughter knocked a baby tooth out at 11 months old, we panicked. Would she be able to eat normally? Would the adult tooth come through ok? Would people stare at her? It turned out not to be that big of a problem and, now that her adult tooth has come through, I wanted […]

Filed Under: Babies

The Best Construction Toys for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Toddlers playing with construction building blocks

Construction toys are great for toddlers because they help to develop hand eye coordination, problem solving schools and also allow imaginary play. While basic wooden building blocks might be the obvious choice, there are lots of constructions toys for toddlers to choose from. If you’re interested in toddlers toys, you might also like our overviews […]

Filed Under: Toddlers

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 8
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

What’s This All About Then?

A blog about trying to raise independent kids while retaining a sense of humour. Me: I’m Josie, a 40 year introvert and former librarian. Them: My husband Chris, Boy Child who is 9 and Girl Child who is 7. The others: Hera the cat and Baxter the dog. Read More…

social

RSS
Facebook
Twitter

Search

TOTS100 - UK Parent Blogs
TOTS100
BritMums

Awards

BritMums

Disclosure

I am an Amazon Affiliate and I earn from qualifying purchases. You can read more in my Disclosure Policy.

Important Stuff

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Get in Touch
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure Policy