The Cockles are Warmed

My how a few hours (24, in fact) can change your perspective on the world.

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I am sure from your frantic blog stalking, that you have noticed my lack of posts this week. I think I will use the term DeNae used and call it "Blah February". I began tumbling into bad mummy oblivion after the poo smearing incident. Unbelievably I was on an emotional high after that incident. I felt as if I had conquered the world and not just a poo smearing toddler.

Inevitably I come down from my mummy highs and this week was no different. I plummeted to a state of mind that had me wishing I had another child. A child that was so horrific he/she would force me into acquiring some mothering skills (I know, I know - be careful what you wish for). As the situation stands now, LQ is pretty much perfect. I know this. Everyone knows this. And I know that I really can not claim any ownership on her perfectness.... she simply raises herself. For heavens sake, she taught herself to pray!!! All this perfectness makes me feel completely inadequate as a mother.

I don't like blogging when I am in the throes of self pity, because nobody likes a pity party and that's all my posts would have been this week. I self pity, therefore I don't blog.

Move forward to Saturday morning. I flew away from my perfect toddler to spend a night with my best friend and attend a wedding reception (of sorts). It was the first time I had flown without child in tow since before LQ was born. L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.N.G! I had a fantastic time... chatting. You know the real girly type of chat that only girlfriends can engage you in. I called Dal once to have a chat, but mostly didn't think much about my little girl.

A delayed flight this morning meant that my dear ones had to wait an extra 1.5 hours before they saw me. And what a reception when they did see me. It was as if I had left them for days and days. And the best part about coming home?

LQ couldn't stop grinning and cuddling me the whole time! It helped me arrive at the realisation that even though LQ could quite easily raise herself, she still needs her mother there. She still needs the comfort of knowing that I am there to love her despite her poo smearing ways. If that means more appreciative hugs like the ones I got today, I am SO back into mothering!

Can you feel the LOVE?

As an aside: I took TWO camera's on my little trip and took a total of TWO photos. I forgot to take photos of LQ with me for all my friends who can't be bothered to visit us. Instead all I had were the photos left on my camera. Can you guess what those photos were! Instead of photos of LQ my friends were blessed with pictures of her poo.

Following - A dangerous past-time

If you have a blog, you know that you can link to other blogs on your little sidebar or where ever you really like. Most times that little link includes the most recent post title.

In my case (if my blog has weathered the "poo" storm and stayed on anybody's blog) my current post has been "Poo Smearing Monkeys".

I guess some people wouldn't appreciate that, so just for the sake of a safer post title next to my name, I have created this post. Look, I am even including some photos of LQ.

I call this run of photos - "The Cinderella Complex"I sewed this dress - yep, I am proud


Trying to get the shoe back on

Poo Smearing Monkeys

See that.... my daughter now officially belongs to the above mentioned group of Poo Smearing Monkeys.

I know... I wasn't sure whether I should post about this. But then I thought why not. It gave me a bit of a giggle (after the fact) and although I took a photo to prove to Dal what I dealt with today, I am NOT going to post any photos here. Because that would be crossing the line.

I can talk about poo, but I refuse to show you what I am talking about.

Following a nice 2.5 hour nap today, LQ woke up and played around in her crib for a bit. In the time it took for me to realise that she had woken she had done a number two, used her new "nappy-taking-off" skills and played in her own filth.

I was only made aware of her play time when I heard a squeal of delight come from behind the closed door. I can only imagine that squeal came the moment she rubbed her hands from one end of her bedding to the other.

The moment I walked through the door, LQ looked up and uttered a loud "UH OH!". Uh Oh indeed. I had no idea what she was uh-ohing about until I moved closer to her crib and found the devastation. Panic threatened to overtake my emotions. I had just finished thinking how perfectly the day had gone so far and then I was challenged with this. I couldn't believe it. My child doesn't do this sort of thing. Maybe a child that is completely neglected would do this sort of thing, but not my LQ.

Back to reality, I took a moment to regroup and said to LQ "Now let's think about this for a moment. What needs to be done first." RUN.... RUN as fast as you can to the bathroom with child.

I am proud of how I handled the situation. There was some dry heaving that I pulled through and upon further investigation the mess was found to be quite contained (thank heaven for small mercies). And for once, I had the sane reasoning that THIS situation was beyond my realm of control and I should not feel at all guilty about it. It was at that point of self realisation that I got a fit of giggles.

Someone needs to buy a Lottery ticket NOW!

Stephanie, sent me an email today.

"Helen, this is a joke because I know nothing, but oh well, here's my ballot."

It seems that the way to win this sort of thing is to not care one whit about what you are entering. Mum did two years ago and now Stephanie.

Out of the four (4) of us, here are the scores:

From 24 categories
Helen - seven correct (I can't believe I got even 7, what a loser!)
Misty - nine correct (Misty.... we really thought you had won. You were really picking the big ones!)
Dallas - twelve correct
Stephanie - thirteen correct (No words describe how cheated we all feel!)

Dal's words - "UGH! She beat me by one. At least when your mum won, we tied."

The Petersens will be back with a vengeance next year. Well done Steph!

I loved that Kate Winslet looked like a mum done up really nicely. The End of my fashion posturing.

To Blog or to Buy

I have recently had an intense desire to get myself some proper skirts. I don't have a lot of skirts and feel like I would like to look a little more feminine when I am out and about.... instead of jeans day in and day out.

So instead of blogging, I have been ebaying. I am not sure yet which of the two makes me happier.

Blogging is definitely a lot less expensive than ebay.

Did I mention that I signed LQ up for Rhythm and Movement classes. The funniest thing I have seen in a while. If you want pure entertainment with lots of laughs, get yourself down to the nearest two year old's dance class. Classy stuff.

LQ LOVES to dance to music, so when the teacher stops the music to find some new props for the next dance, LQ grabs the teacher's leg and PULLS with all her might to get her over to the music player, trying in vain to make the music play all the time.

Here are some photos for you.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear turn around. Teddy Bear, Teaddy Bear thrown on the floor

Future Cheerleader?

Not with these pom pom skills. Pick up your game LQ

Oscar Party

Ummm.... hello.

If you want good odds, go to this post. Fill out the ballot - blindfolded if you have to - and send it to me ASAP.

There has only been one submission so far. Do you really want Misty to get all the goods that easily??

Counting with LQ

LQ has learned to count. It goes a little something like this:

Me: One - LQ: Two
Me: Two - LQ: Two
Me: Three - LQ: Two
Me: Four - LQ: Two
Me: Five - LQ: Two
Me: Six - LQ: Six

I guess it's better than the grunts she usually does when counting.

TWO ponytails - Mummy has been waiting a long time for this moment

With her Aunt Sonja and soon to be cousin. Can you believe Sonja is due at the beginning of March?!

Because I can't stop talking...

I just created another blog.

Probably not going to be of much interest to most of you. But if you have any great suggestions for me to include, I would be really happy to hear from you.

A Toddler's Guide to Scripture Study

Late Night Ramblings

Dal made me go to bed early tonight. I guess he was tired or something and I had nothing better to do with my time.... so I went to bed. And then lay there...... lay there...... annoyed Dal with my inane chatter for a while - I "discussed" (he just lay there listening) why some people seem to have a bucketload of motivation and others (like me) have more than a bucketload of desire, but no motivation. It seems to me a bit unfair. But that's for a different post.

I finally decided to get up from bed and just talk at the blogosphere, because Dal went to sleep and the blogosphere NEVER sleeps (as far as I know, anyway).

So here I am, going to tell you all about my day (or part thereof). It involves a lot of Mormon lingo, so if you aren't Mormon and would like to decipher this post (exciting - it's like a secret code post) then you could go to www.mormon.org. OR you could completely ignore this post and I wouldn't be any the wiser, and you would have saved yourself a brain injury from reading it. I COMPLETELY understand. I have also taken the liberty to link certain words directly to the glossary found on Mormon.org.

ENOUGH. On to the real reason I am typing at midnight.

We attended our new ward today. In the time it has taken us to move to three different wards, I have come to realise the inevitable truths about LDS wards in Australia. They are as follows.

1. The Sunday School teacher is ALWAYS going to be either very dry or just plain crazy. So dry that you end up falling off your chair from doubling over in pain. OR so crazy that you want to hurt yourself to cease the endless dialogue between the crazy, the guy who thinks he's funny and the loud guy. This dialogue inevitably goes completely off the subject.

2. Despite telling myself before church that I am NOT to answer any questions, because it may seem a little overbearing to have the newbie take over the discussion..... I ALWAYS end up saying the most in lessons. And this is usually to the detriment of any future friendships that I may have struck up with the now disgusted Relief Society women.

3. I am going to be lucky to get one decipherable talk per month. Most talks from the pulpit will be either spoken in an accent so thick it may as well be in the speakers native language, or it's the Sunday School teacher speaking.... and he doesn't make sense at the best of times.

4. There will always be that man (or woman), who is usually older who believes that whatever he has to say is pure gold and any time he deems it necessary to talk, he will (by jingo) talk. And talk he does, on and on and on and on. And at the end of his story, you will have learned every single detail of his life up until that very moment. According to him every part of that story related to the gospel.

5. There will always be THAT family. and Dal, Hel and Bel will ALWAYS manage to sit right in front of them during Sacrament Meeting. You know the family, where the dad is probably sitting on the stand (either in the Bishopric or is the Sunday School teacher going to give a talk) and the mother is wrangling her six or so children. I give props to the mother, but WHY do we always manage to sit in front of that family in EVERY ward that we attend? Is this something to do with having a child now?

6. Despite all the crazies that come into our lives while attending these wards, we will always realise that it's not the people for whom we attend church, but the gospel and it's teachings. We will continue to nudge each other when the Sunday School teacher starts preaching false doctrine (unaware, of course) or when we hear a particularly good story from the old loud man. Because of all the unorthodox people that surround us, we learn to appreciate the people that eventually become our friends and allies in an ever increasing world of crazies.

Cheers to our new ward, that seems to have more young families than a last one. Hooray!

Early Morning Edit: It has been brought to my attention that we did indeed have a fantastic Sunday School teacher in my last ward. I completely agree with that and apologise Dennise! I guess in my haste to call someone crazy, I just plum forgot about all the GREAT Sunday School teachers!

LQ ready for church in mummy's church clothes

Friday 13th - The Demons are Loose

Thursday evening, Dal mentioned that he wasn't looking forward to Friday because he has been having a pretty crappy week and then Friday is a 13th.... it could only get worse.

I poo-poohed his negative attitude and told him that I have always found Friday 13th's to be quite lucky for me. I went to bed that evening expecting to wake up to a FABULOUS day.

Dal woke up at his usual ungodly hour to travel the two hours to work. LQ and I lazily got up at 7.15am. I just KNEW the day was going to be good, because the gods and LQ granted me a "sleep in".

The morning contained a fun time of colouring, eating and dancing. All went well until 11.00am when LQ became possessed.

LQ wanted to prove that she still dictates the order of things around here, so when I put her in her crib for a nap she screamed and cried for about 45 minutes. I finally pulled her from the crib, restraining my urge to just wallop her. Don't worry, I had enough sense to realise it would only make me feel good for a couple of seconds and then the mum guilt would set in.

I didn't smack her, but I certainly had to distance myself from her for a while, so I sat her in front of the tv while I calmed down. It was lunch and more tv after we had all taken a few deep breaths.

I had a few phone calls then, and it wasn't until 1.30pm that we tried the nap thing again. It worked and I was able to straighten up the house. It gets crooked all the time.

Two hours later was when the real naughty demons showed up. LQ arose, she started to pull everything out that I had just finished clearing up... Fair enough... I expect that most days. BUT then LQ found the markers that we had been using in the morning to colour with. Unbeknown to me. My fatal decision was to let her keep playing with them when I became aware of the situation. She seemed to be using them responsibly (what 2 year old does anything responsibly??!!!), so I let her continue playing with them while I frosted these.


I became engrossed in my little project and only remembered I had a child when LQ proclaimed loudly and proudly "TA DAH!". I looked across to see what my child had done to warrant such a proud sounding noise.

She had coloured most of her foot in a nice shade of navy blue. My little LQ was most proud that she was finally blue, but she had also managed to colour a good portion of the floor beside her. I dropped everything, gasping a "LQ, nooooooooooo......!" as I grabbed the roll of paper towels and the strongest cleaning spray I could find. Much to my utter relief, I discovered the markers were water soluble. I cleaned up the mess, took the offending markers away and sent LQ on her pretty, little destructible way.

stupid photo - if you look closely you will see the coloured foot

I am not sure what was wrong with me yesterday, but to say I was a little distracted is an understatement. I claim an horrendous case of squishy brain. Because I WENT BACK TO THE COOKIES!!! Will I ever learn?

LQ came in to the kitchen 15 minutes later, holding half a crayon. The other half she was happily chewing. I sighed, asked her to spit, threw out the crayon and took the entire colouring set away. I couldn't think of what she could possibly do with the pencils and pastels, but I sure realised that she would find something. A chair was pulled over to the bench where the cookies were being frosted, LQ was encouraged to stand on said chair and "help" mummy frost.


Again, I was cursed with the case of the squishy brain. 2 year old LQ couldn't grasp the concept of the frosting, so just ate the three cookies that were offered to her. She then leaned over to grab at my "perfect" cookies. She almost fell off the chair three times trying to get at the cookies. She managed to eat two more cookies while smearing frosting from one end of the bench to the other before I decided that I needed to leave my project unfinished while I strangled took care of my 2 year old.


It was dinner time - I figured LQ had eaten most of her dinner portions in her five cookies, so I sat her in the highchair with some vegetables and a bowl of cottage cheese. Yeah (insert exasperated sigh)...... she threw it all over the floor.

Did I mention LQ vomited twice during the day? It was only small watery vomits, but both times I didn't see it happen. I only managed to see it after she had played in it and tasted it.... EEEEEEWWWWW!

I should also mention that Dal came home proclaiming that it was the best day he had had ALL week.

At the end of a long hard day, brushing her teeth for daddy to take a photo. Like the good little girl that she is

Evening Serenity

Wii Fit Age: 24

How's the serenity.

Hi my name is Hel and I am admitting that I don't know what I am doing. It turns out, this mothering thing is all just a big guessing game. But if it's a game, who is having fun?


LQ, that's who. If LQ were not my daughter, then I would have left the relationship years ago. It is an abusive relationship at best. She toys with my emotions, turning up the cuteness each day. She knows that I am smitten and uses that irrational love against me when I least expect it. She demands my full attention each day, and if I am enjoying a "me moment" she hits me with whatever tool is available - Fisher Price Little People, blocks, drink bottles. I feared for my life this morning after staying in bed while she walked around the house with daddy. She came back with a serving fork and knife. As she brandished them in the air with sweet abandon I felt it best for my health and hers that I move my lazy bones from the bed and take those nasty weapons from her.

LQ is like that. Some times she wont even let me do chores without clutching at my leg and trying to turn me in the opposite direction. This tactic is known to cause pain as both she and I become tangled up, limbs flailing, me jumping around trying not to crush her as I topple.

Want to know the most abusive trick she has up her sleeve? Crying. Crying so she can stay up later than she is allowed to, thus driving me to get less sleep myself. What kind of 2 year old knows the old torture method of sleep deprivation?!

Well, these last two weeks have been nothing but torture. No "me" time at all, because LQ insisted on screaming most evenings until she got her way and was whisked from the crib.

UNTIL, yesterday. I babysat Eloise. Do you remember Eloise? sweet little thing that claims she is six, but is only 2.5. I believe I locked her and LQ in her house one day. Not one of my finer moments.

Anyway... hoping to get a break while the both of them had a nap yesterday, I took LQ upstairs to the portacot. She started to fuss around and then threw her binky out of the portacot. I really didn't have the time to waste with the Little Queen, so I gave her back her binky and closed the door as I walked out.

I didn't hear from her again! What? No complaining that you have been left alone?

I couldn't believe my luck. I thought I would stretch this luck and try the same method at bed time. Worked like a lovin' charm! LQ was asleep by 7.30pm. recently it has been more like 10.00pm. AND NOT A PEEP was heard.

I thought for sure it wouldn't last, but here I am - two nights in a row that I have had to myself. Worst luck that Dal hasn't been around for both those nights, BUT still.... I just can not believe it.

Which only points to my complete and total ignorance when it comes to being a mother. I believe I will fumble through the rest of my motherhood, just accidentally coming upon good methods of raising my children. Let us all pray I am accident prone.

Dear Granny Jules

I got the package you sent me for Valentine's Day. I loved what you sent me. I loved it so much that I cuddled it when I got upset at Mummy for making me go to sleep.

with my best blown kiss

LQ

It's a red dress with hearts on it and socks that match. We are wearing it to church this Sunday.

And the Oscar goes to...

Dal and I were discussing this afternoon on our way home from our movie date (I may get used to these regular dates if he's not careful) that there seemed to be an awards category missing from the Academy Awards. I know, I know.... I hear you say "Helen, those darn awards go for longer than four hours already. Why do you want another category?" OR you could be saying "Helen, why am I even reading your blog?.... you never seem to have anything useful to say."

I'll address the last question first.... I don't know why you read my blog. Maybe you have some insane desire to torture yourself daily.

To the first question - If it is already four hours long, what's another category and when you think about it, you will agree that our "new" category - Best Clint Eastwood Movie - MUST be added. This year, the nominees are "Gran Torino" and "Changeling". My money is on Gran Torino, just because I like that Clint is one bad 79 year old.

Speaking of the Oscars, you are now officially invited to the Petersen's Oscar Blog party. We have had the chance to host one Oscar party in the past, but circumstances have always been wrong to hold another. That is why this year, I am inviting all my blog friends and family to join with us in the building excitement that comes along with "good movie" season. Grab your ballot, fill it out and send it to me (email, mail, etc).


Dal and I will dutifully sit through the four or five hours of awards ceremony and mark each of your ballot papers. The person/s with the most correct guesses will be blessed with Hel's very own Oscar movie package - stuffed with treats from Down Under (I know - not so exciting for the Australians, sorry) and a few films that have previously won best film.

P.S. Don't worry if you haven't seen any of the films - last time we did this, my mum won. She hadn't seen one film on the ballot paper and has no clue (sorry mum) about movies.

With a name like "Simmo's Beach"

With the name "Simmo's Beach", why did I not expect dirty water filled with a bunch of bogans?

LQ enjoyed the rocks most of allSorry about this photo - it takes me so long to upload photos, I just thought I'd leave it as is

For the unintiated, a real true blue Aussie tends to "shorten" a person's name and then add an 'o' at the end. For example: Dallas = Dallo, Bel = Belo, etc. It doesn't always work, but most of the time a Bogan will try his best to add that 'o'.

On another LQ front, she and Dal watched a Suns Basketball game on Saturday. They had popcorn as a snack.

Enough photos mummy

Wii Fit - A New Age

Remember when I was complaining about my weight? I am sure you don't feel that you need to retain everything that spews forth from my mouth... I understand that. That is why I've given you a link.

Do you feel as though you have wasted more time then you really had now? If so, you could probably go without reading this post. If you do have plenty of time up your sleeve, come on a journey with me while I go into detail about how I am combating my weight gain. Wii Fit and pilates.

If you are not aware of how Wii Fit works, let me give you a brief explanation. You sign up to be a participant and then the Wii Fit balance board asks you to step on it (nice little thing, isn't it?). While you are distracted by how nicely the balance board asks you to do anything, it will craftily weigh you. Without even asking! As well as weighing you, it will also check to see if you are completely balanced. I particularly enjoy the moments when it tells me I am unbalanced.... "Unbalanced... I'll give you unbalanced!"

After the sneaky weigh-in and balance test, it will tell you exactly how fat your are and then ask if you would like to test your athletic ability. Your athletic ability is tested by more specific balance tests and are randomly set. Sometimes I have to stand on one leg, other times I am trying to smash blue boxes with dots (it's all very technical). There are always TWO athletic ability tests.

Today as I turned the Wii Fit on, LQ insisted on standing on the balance board. She has taken to making sure she gets a turn, so I usually put on the skiing game for her and she is able to ski her way to the worst time record. The little Wii person always hangs her head in shame, an action that LQ has learned to copy and thinks is cool to do (hang her head in shame).


After LQ's turn, I decided to do my body test. I managed to push LQ off the balance board and stood on it to get the weight verdict. I have gained 100 grams. A trifle really. Nothing to burst into tears about. I shrug my shoulders and explain the weight gain with "it's a different time of the day than last time I weighed myself". Then on to the body test.

First, I smashed the blue boxes with the red dot (using my above average balance of course). The Wii Fit measures your success in percentages. I think I got 76% or there abouts. The next test was this: "Stand as still as possible for 30 seconds". Easy enough, right?

As I stood there being as still as possible, LQ decided it was her turn again, so she turned away from the tv to face me and shoved her head right between my legs. While her head was stuck between my legs, she tried to move her body and legs on to the balance board that is designed for ONE person only. I wasn't sure whether I should laugh or sigh with exasperation. So as I struggled to untangle LQ from my legs, I laughed out a "LQ, get off! You are ruining my athletic ability". She looked up with a grin and continued to push ME off the board.

My success? 2%!

That isn't all. After all this testing the Wii Fit will give me my Wii Fit Age. It uses my weight, my actual age and my athletic ability success to determine the age my body really is. It's a bit of a laugh really that shouldn't be taken seriously. IF you do get a Wii Fit age that is younger than your actual age, then you should take it seriously and gloat about for at least a day.

Want to know my Wii Fit age today?

48... that's Forty Eight. The big Four Eight.

Today I am an unbalanced 48 year old whose body is about to give way. I have decided to act accordingly. I just need some ideas on how to do it. So I will spend the rest of the day researching unbalanced 48 year old's on the internet.

A Random Question

Steph, who writes so eloquently on Diapers and Divinity picked little old me to tell eight random things about myself. My usual response to these sorts of things is a grunt and then I try and forget about it. But I really like what Steph has to say on her blog and I feel kind of special that she wanted to know more about me....

Here are the things my blogger friends would never find out about me unless I told them in a "Random Things you don't know about me" post. I have done the 25 Random Things on Facebook, so I am cheating with a few of these and just copying! It still didn't help me finish these eight random things in less than a day.

1. I have played the piano since I was seven years old. Rephrase: I have played the piano not so very well since I was seven years old. Even though I lose my place, play on average one hundred wrong notes per song and probably play way too fast, I have still been asked to play for each different ward I have attended. It's excruciating.

2. LQ was born on a Sunday evening. It turns out I was at church that morning playing the organ. A rumour went around the congregation that I am so dedicated to my calling as ward organist, that I was in LABOUR while playing the organ. I did absolutely nothing to dismiss that rumour. Don't tell anyone it's not true - I like to think I am more righteous than I really am.

3. I met Dal on www.ldslinkup.com. I promise, it isn't as creepy as it sounds! My dad was on a job exchange in Canada and my friend had just "helped" me sign up so I could see all the "hotties" that were online. Only a couple of months earlier, Dal's friend had insisted he sign up too. I think we were both pretty lucky to even find each other. Because I was traveling and not tied to any particular job, I was able to move down to Orem, UT and spend a good five months with him before getting engaged and moving to different countries (he to China, me back to Australia).

4. I am afraid to have a second child. Not because I am scared of the pregnancy and child birth (although they are both not so very nice), I just don't know if I am capable of raising more than one child on so little sleep. I get VERY cranky when I don't have enough sleep.

5. I have not read Twilight and I choose NOT to see the movie. I am sure that if I were not so stubborn I would enjoy it, just like everyone else. But when the first novel came out, I wasn't interested, so why should I be interested now even with all the hype?

6. In my other life, I was an Events Coordinator. It was mostly Engineering Conferences that I had the pleasure of organising, so I believe I can now call myself an expert in Engineering. I can also give you a few unnecessary facts about Soybeans and Maize, but only if you twist my arm.

7. I can NOT stand clutter and mess, but will do anything to avoid doing dishes and folding clothes, including every other house job under the sun. I have also been known to go more than two days without a shower, but that is only since having LQ. I have since recognised that this may be a quiet epidemic amongst mothers.

8. It has taken me too long to get to number eight. It is just a lot of effort to think of random things that are interesting and that do not reveal the side of me that shouldn't be introduced to society at all. Here is my proper number eight: When I finished my 25 Random things on Facebook (and let's face it, those random things were indeed a poor effort), I received this insane feeling of pleasure as I tagged 25 more friends to catch this "Random" bug that is flying around the world. I guess it is true: Misery really does love company.

I choose:
Annie
Marlyse
Amelia (getting you back for your husband tag!)
FiFi
Amy

I am not sure if these people will even read my blog any time soon, but I am willing to wait.

Three pictures of me that you would never see unless you asked.

No Need for DOCS - Dept. of Child Services

I have had a rough week. A few things went down that made me feel as though I wasn't a good mother.

I call this the whining face

So I am going to use this post to tell you what a great mother I am. To remind myself more than anything.

I, like every other mother in this world, have my days where I question my ability to properly raise a child. But then my husband reminds me that LQ is in a loving family situation. I am teaching her values and morals. Her mind is stretched each day as I explain to her the many situations that we encounter. Whenever she is hungry, she knows that all she has to do is ask, and she will be fed. Even when she doesn't ask, she is fed. And against all the lazy bones in my body, it is NOT McDonald's every day. We have cuddle time each morning where we lay in bed and point out things on mummy's face (read: pokes mummy's eyes out). We dance together. We sing together. We occasionally cook together. And even though I would LOVE to have a job and a career, I have chosen, instead, to stay at home with LQ so she can grow up feeling safe in the knowledge that whenever she needs me, I will be there. (Working mummies: please don't feel like this is a jab at you, I reckon you guys have it tougher than me!)

I call this a well-loved child shot

After all that self-loving, I need to let you know how fantastic Dal is. While others would prefer to visit with a caged ravenous lion than disturb me when I am angry, he braved the beast the other night and brushed aside my cold prickly demeanour to eventually have me laughing again. And THAT is how I know that he loves me.

Instead of comments, I would like you to write down (on your blog or somewhere else that you will see) the things that you do that make you a GREAT parent - because everyone needs to be reminded every now and then.

I call this the "laying on mummy's tummy while she takes a photo on the floor" shot