Reasons To Be Cheerful

I am joining  in with a new blog hop (new to me, I mean) this week.  

It's called Reasons To Be Cheerful.  It speaks for itself, really.   

Do take a look at the other blogs in the linky, and the reasons for their writers' cheerfulness this week.

I'd like to add that MummyFromTheHeart, who runs this linky, is one of the voices of the ONE Campaign. Inspirational. 

So here we go, my reasons to be cheerful this week are:

1. We've all settled back into school after the half-term break, and after the initial first couple of over-tired evenings (H fell asleep in his tea the first day back!), we've re-found our routine surprisingly easily.

2. I am feeling very cheerful & encouraged after the responses to my fairly desperate blog post about our difficult nights with Baby M.  I have had so many replies via my blog, Facebook, Twitter & email, with lots of different ideas and suggestions, that I now feel confident that we can find a solution that will work for us.  And the support...just the people who've given virtual hugs or reassurance has picked up my fairly glum, sleep-deprived mood, too.  I'm very grateful. x

3. We have a family Halloween/Bonfire Night party this weekend. It's with the outlaws (my husband's family) who I love spending time with, and who, since the twins started school, we haven't managed to see much of.  Looking forward to it!



So, come on then, what are your reasons to be cheerful this week?

The Twins - Their School Journey So Far

We're nearing the end of the first half term holiday for the twins, and of course it's been a time to reflect over their first half term of going to school.

Despite reading Actually Mummy's hilarious and very sound advice for parents of new school-starters, we did of course ignore said tips and advice and do our own thing anyway.

In the first few weeks we had fraught mornings, twin ankle-clinging at school drop-off, and some pretty hideous over-tired evenings.  By about 3 weeks in, things started to gradually change, and very slowly the fact that the twins were now school-children started to feel more natural, as the children got used to their new routines, and we ours.  And now, some 6 weeks down the line, it feels as though they've been going to school forever.

I am so impressed to find that both of them seem to love school as much as the other - this may sound odd, but they are very different in terms of personality and how they learn.  L loves to concentrate on a project, and to really feel as though she is doing "real work" (her words, not mine!), yet is surprisingly shy and anxious around other children.  H on the other hand, is a total social charmer, but finds concentrating for long periods of time (erm, meal-times, getting dressed, etc!) difficult, and is kept engaged through being captivated and interested in whatever is going on. School has managed to keep my chalk and cheese pair equally enthusiastic and excited about learning - and happy, too.

I won't be so naive as to say, or even think, that we have school sussed, because one thing I do know is that when it comes to parenting, every time you think you have something "in the bag", either the children or life moves the goalposts...but I am pleased and relieved at how well my "babies" have settled in so far.

Oh, and a few other reasons why I know we're all settled into school....

1. The pristine "new uniform just out of the packet" look has long gone.  The twins arrive to school in the mornings looking less out of a packet, more out of a hedge.

2. Every single one of their white polo tops now has some kind of stain on it, whether it be pen or paint or grass.  But it's Autumn; they have jumpers/cardigans, so that's ok!

3. I have worked out, on the days I do the school pick-ups, that if Mr Bloom's Nursery finishes on CBeebies and Baby M and I are still at home, we'll have to sprint to collect the twins on time.  If Mr Bloom is still on when we leave then we have enough time for a nice leisurely walk....

4. Talking of walks, the twins now appear to know the names of almost every primary-school aged child in our village, and as such taking a short walk to the shop is now impossible.  We've long had to stop and chat to every grown-up we meet, and now this is extended to every to every child we meet too.  Or at the very least, we yell hello..all at foghorn volume, and in stereo, naturally.

5. The children, for the first time, understand the concept of a weekend, and that a weekend means family time.  As much as they love going to school, they also look forward to & get excited about weekends.  So, if I'm honest, do I.

Epic Mummy Fail

Oops, a lot later than planned, but here are my efforts for this week's Monday Club, creation of Hello Wall.  Do pop over there too, and have a read of her fab blog.

The reason for my delay is that I stuck to my word and have re-thought some of our ways of tackling naughty behaviour since the conversation I refer to in this blog post, and as such my little man seems happy and has made no mention of being sad since.  I wasn't going to write about this at all - but actually I daresay this might crop up again one day, and it'd be a good reminder for me to know that sometimes taking a step back, thinking things through & making some positive changes can affect us all for the better.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Epic Mummy Fail

As I was putting the twins to bed on Thursday, L told me that when the register is called at school, the children answer by telling the teacher how they are feeling.  Sensing this was a cue from her, I asked her how she was feeling.  She said that was feeling sad, because she'd had to give the school teddy back.  I reassured her, and reminded her that it was so that her other friends could take turns having the bear, which meant that one day it'll be her turn again.

She seemed quite happy with this explanation, and H then wanted to take his turn at telling me how he was feeling

He told me he was sad...because his Mummy had shouted at him a lot.

I'm not sure how a few words from a 4 year old boy can break a heart so much, but they certainly did.

It's true, it had been a particularly shouty couple of nights - my husband had been out til way past the childrens' bedtimes 2 nights in a row, and I'm not going to lie, it is hard, hard work doing the evenings alone, knowing that after a brief twin rest when we get home from school, we have to start the homework production line as soon as we can (they may be twins, but they are total chalk and cheese, and as such doing their homework together just hasn't worked at all), cook/eat tea, bath/shower then stories and bed whilst also juggling for the latter part of the evening, an over-tired baby who would just like to feed thanks very much.

I could tell you now, that I do, still, think my shouty moments were quite justified - like the moment I nipped out to the bin after tea when H spotted Daddy's tea sitting on the side & put his hands in it to see if it turned them orange (it did), and so tried putting hand-prints all over the kitchen cupboards "to see what happened", and a string of similar incidents.

But.. whilst he had been naughty (and knew it), his behaviour was not borne from malicious intent, it was genuinely borne from being curious (another example where I shouted was when he was in the bath and squirted a mouthful of water all over the baby who was just out of the bath herself & dressed, on the opposite side of the room.  His reason behind the soaking - he wanted to see if water could reach that far and what shape it would make if it did).

L saved my heart & sanity quickly after H had made his comment, by reminding him that Father Christmas was listening at all times (!) and asked him if he was sure that he was feeling sad - he very quickly changed his story, telling us no, no he wasn't sad.  He said he was happy, but he admitted he didn't like being told off.

I guess no child likes being told off.  But even so, he has a point re the shouty thing.

With my parental head tucked firmly between my tails, I realise it's time to revise our (very vague) strategies for reinforcing/praising good and positive behaviour, and our strategies too for dealing with naughty behaviour.  I am reminded of one of the many SARK sayings (see picture above) - they sum up the Mummy who I would love to be; the Mummy who in reality I probably never will be; but the Mummy who nonetheless I'm going to try a little bit harder to be.

(Image borrowed from simplynaturalmummy.com)

Troll Cooking

Normal people might have a nice lasagne in their oven, or perhaps, given the weather at the moment, a warm winter stew.

Not us.  Not in our house.

Today, my husband spent some time with H&L's class in school.  They've been learning all about trolls since they started school, and have been on a number of troll-related adventures. 

They've been reading "The Troll" by Julia Donaldson & David Roberts.

Their latest adventure, today, was cooking.  My husband's part was making troll bread with the children. 

As he prepared and packed his equipment this morning, and practised eating fish (erm, cucumber) from the dirty river water (water and food colouring), it was clear he was looking forward to the session. I thought it was the children who were supposed to be more excited about these things?! 

So anyway, no lasagne in our oven today, but instead a lovely loaf of troll bread.  Made, as all good troll bread is, from squashed flies, crushed goats bones, frogs eyes and other delights....