A is for adult conversation Unless you want to burn a hole in your other half’s eardrums when they get home in the evening, find a way to get out of the house and meet other adults you can talk to. Babies are cute, but are very poor conversationalists. B is for bathing The baby […]
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.
Parenting a Sicky Baby – Why it Sucks and How to Cope
My first baby was a sicky baby. He didn’t have reflux (although he did have colic) he was just sick on a far too regular basis. It varied between just a bit of “spit up” (what a lovely phrase that is!) to full blown projectile vomiting across the room. As he was my first baby, […]
In Praise of Routine (Even if it Did Make Me a Bit Bonkers)
As I’ve mentioned before, I read The Contented Little Baby Book when I was pregnant and was horrified when my baby didn’t immediately settle in to the routine suggested in the book. Gina Ford’s message clearly hadn’t miraculously made it’s way to my unborn child, who knew? Despite this, I was absolutely adamant that my […]
Nature Based Toddler Group Activities
While toddler groups generally take place indoors you can always bring a bit of the outside in with these nature based toddler group activities. This post contains affiliate links (identified with a *) I earn a commisson from qualifying purchases Cheerio Bird Feeder This is a really simple nature based toddler group activity to set […]
The Best Baby Classes: What They are and if You Should Go
I knew after my first baby was born that I would need to get out of the house. I was already on the back foot as I didn’t do an NCT class but I was terrified by the pressure to make small talk at baby and toddler groups. Structured “Baby Classes” seemed the way to […]
