Having to deal with a teenager has definitely been the most challenging part of my parenting journey. My teen is 16 now, a young adult by all accounts but the last few years have been a challenge. Teen behaviour is a whole different ball game compared to looking after younger kids. I find looking after the girls is so much easier in some ways. You can fix things for little ones. You can ‘kiss it better’ or give them a big hug. Your children just want to please you
This pregnancy has been pretty rubbish really. Since 14 weeks I’ve suffered with pelvic girdle pain. It’s been pretty uncomfortable, and even more immobilising. I’ve also suffered from a significant amount of stress during this pregnancy. With all this combined with the pitfalls of having my 3rd child at 38 I just do not feel as centred or relaxed as I have been with my previous pregnancies. I have to admit I’ve started to worry about the effects this could have on labour and delivery, so I’ve decided I need
You may know already that Princess and I have very much enjoyed our Baby Signing journey. After my first post, Baby Signing, it’s a must!, I thought perhaps some Mummy tips might be helpful for anyone who’s thinking of getting started. 1. No Experience Required! You do not need any experience in Makaton, British Sign Language (BSL) or Baby signing to get started. Enjoy learning this new skill with your baby. With a little commitment and practise anyone can sign with their baby. 2. Getting Started. Personally I think the
Scarlett was a shy little girl, she didn’t have any brothers or sisters, and she didn’t see many other children. Scarlett and her Mummy lived at Granny’s house. They’d run away from the Big Bad Wolf and Granny was looking after them for a while. Scarlett loved it at Granny’s. There was always a nice warm fire and Granny loved baking, so there was always cake. Scarlett loved cake. Mummy and Granny had spoken to the people at the ‘Council’ near the village where Granny lived. They told them
It’s dawned on me that toddlers know far more about negotiation than I do. What is it with the Little People? I don’t know what it’s like in your house, but Princess is able to get her own way almost all of the time. I hear you, I know I am weak. But come on, I know this happens to you too.
You might know what it’s like when those hormones start rushing in, you could cry at the most insignificant things and sickness becomes an essential bodily function. As well as all the above, I started to get stressed too. I didn’t realise it was happening, I thought the things that were happening to me were because I was pregnant. I would cry, but uncontrollably, unable to stop. I’d wake up in the night, need a wee as us pregnant women do, but not get back to sleep for hours. I
Have you seen the Green Eyed Toddler recently? AKA GET, he can be a feisty little monkey when he wants to be, and strong clear boundaries are required from Adults to improve his behaviour. You’ll often be minding your own business, doing your own thing and GET stops being his usual friendly, playful self. Things have probably been going really well for your lately, you’ve got new job, started a family maybe. GET suddenly realises you’ve got more toys than him! Instead of being happy about coming to your
I started a ‘Sing and Sign’ class with my Daughter when she was about 6 months old. I hadn’t really heard a lot about baby sign language before then, but was inspired after a local teacher gave a demonstration at the mum and baby group I went too. I really enjoyed that it was based around singing, and my daughter just loved singing. There was going to be musical instruments, and a cat too! It sounded perfect for us. The classes were great. There was a structure so
Our little Princess is definitely a Daddy’s girl. She follows him round like a lost puppy as fast as her little legs will carry her. If she’s sitting on the sofa, ‘sit down, Daddy’ she demands patting the space next to her. Daddy’s little shadow is a bit of a hindrance when it comes to getting ready in the mornings. Making a coffee when the Princess wants ‘up’ is a little tricky. Getting to the bathroom requires a timely sprint when Princess isn’t looking. Does Daddy love all this attention
I asked my partner to leave when my Son was 18 months old. It was a scary time for everyone. I was quite young, and facing being a single parent was daunting. Soon after he left, Dad’s mental health deteriorated rapidly. He went to a pretty dark place and an acute schizophrenia developed. Still feeling a sense of responsibility to Dad, I spent a lot of that time trying to get him the support he needed. This was a challenge, as Dad didn’t really accept he was ill. Some
I first experienced pelvic girdle pain in the 3rd trimester of my second pregnancy. If you’ve experienced it I know you’ll get how painful it is, and how frustrating it can be! A short walk to the shops is quite literally a step to far. My husband refused to go to the supermarket with me as I couldn’t get past 2 aisles. Needless to say we discovered online shopping! I kind of expected some aches and pains, being 37 and not as fit as I could be.
Do you get teenagers? I’ve got to be honest, I really struggle. Since the hormone fairy came along and took away my sweet little boy, I really haven’t had a much of a clue who’s been camping out upstairs in the pit that used to be a bedroom. The hormone fairy turned up a little early for my liking. The boy was about 11 years old when petulance began to creep in. Slowly but surely everything became a real battle. Getting a slug into action would have been easier than moving
If you’ve read How I Prepared For Labour & Having My First Baby, you’ll probably already know I left a bit of a gap between my first and second child. I would definitely call myself an older Mum this time round at the age of 37. My son is now 16 years old, 6’2”, size 12 shoe and a far cry from the 6lb 12oz squidge that arrived in December 1997. Let’s just say that I didn’t want to rush into anything when deciding to have a second baby. That’s
Now that I’m having my third child, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my first experience of labour and giving birth. Being a parent really encourages reflection, and we learn from our first experience of giving birth in the hope our next labour will deliver a safe and happy baby too. I have been fortunate that neither of my previous experiences of giving birth were negative. The labours were very similar in some respects, but not all women experience similar deliveries. My son was born in 1997, I
