January Blues

Time to focus on the positive

- I have a wonderful son
- I'm getting married to a man who makes me happy
- We have somewhere to live

Not so much on the negatives

- I miss my son when I'm at work
-The wedding is costing a fortune
- I need to lose a stone
- The house badly needs painting

So my goals for 2013:

Lose that stone, signed up for an intense program at the gym. I still don't have time to actually go..... Will be lunchtimes and late evenings :-(

Save save save, only 12 weeks left and lots of things to pay for. Going to get the wedding rings and bridesmaid shoes by the end of the month.

Paint the house - delegated to my other half :-)

Missing my son, fingers crossed for a part time job for me...

Doesn't seem so bad when I write it down !

Unforgettable Birthday Bliss

Ever have that feeling of dread hit you at bedtime when you realise you forgot to wish someone a happy birthday?

My usual one is to have the month right and the date wrong!

So my problem solving solution is:

Use a wall planner, a calendar, diary or excel spreadsheet. Put it somewhere where you will check every day.

Start off with writing in all the birthdays you do know, then use Facebook or another social networking site to add to your list.

Every time a friend or co-worker has a birthday write it in. If you know the person's age then add their year of birth too. That way you can always calculate their age and won't miss a special birthday.

When a friend has a new baby write it in straight away, even if they haven't picked a name yet (you can always go back to the entry).

Each January get a new calendar or planner and copy all the birthdays from the old one to the new one. 

Once you do this for one year you won't miss a birthday the second year :-)

You can even get super organised and buy all your greeting cards in the January sale.

More time saving tips

Here are some more timesaving tips to get us all organised :-)

11. Go to the gym on your lunchbreak or go for a walk. That way your excercise for the day is done and you have more time in the evening. Plus I think it wakes me up for the afternoon.

12. Do paperwork as soon as it arrives, bills, notes from school etc. Keep a stock of notecards and stamps in a kitchen drawer or other safe place. Pay everything ASAP then write all the dates for tours, trips meetings etc on an organiser calendar to keep track.

13. To better organise electronic photos, delete the ones you don't like immediately then save to your computer and file by year taken.Every time there is a special offer in a printing shop or online I suggest getting a few printed and put them in frames.

14. Never waste a trip up or down the stairs, take something with you, take a basket of washing, empty a bin or take down any delph or glasses left upstairs. Once you get used to this it doesn't seem like work.

15. Pair your socks as soon as the washing is dry - it means you won't have a sock mountain in the bottom of your ironing basket.

Top Timesaving tips for Working Parents

I'm addicted to a parenting website and often post on the discussion boards. I posted a thread with some timesaving tips for working parents of my own and other posters joined in with wonderful tips, we've quite a collection so I thought I'd share some, here are the first 10:

1. Pack everything the night before - I am not a morning person so I like to have baby bag and my handbag on the kitchen table and lunch in a bag in the fridge. I keep the buggy and spare car seat in the car. This means I get an extra few minutes in bed and I've less chance of forgetting somthing.

2. Pay someone to do the ironing. I can't afford to do this very often but I know a local lady who irons from home. When it's getting on top of me I pack it all in a bag and drop it round to her. She is very reasonable and it saves me spending hours doing it myself.

3. I love my freezer - I like to give my toddler home made meals every day but I don't see any harm in the occasional fish fingers, beans and waffles tea. I also freeze a couple of slices of bread, he likes his toast in the morning and this way I'm never stuck. I'll also freeze a few dinners (make extra at the weekend) so if I know I've a busy evening I'll take something out of the freezer the night before.

4. Go for a walk after work. I never want to go as I'm wrecked by the time I get home but I put my toddler in the buggy and go straight after work. He loves it and I feel better. Plus if I've defrosted something for dinner I put it in the oven before we head out.

5. Never waste a trip up or down stairs. Place things to be brought up at the bottom of the stairs and grab it next time you are going up. Kids can learn to do this too and can grab what is there on their way.

6. Keep wipes etc in each bathroom so if you think something needs a wiped down you can grab a wipe and do it...instead of having to go downstairs for stuff.

7. If it takes less than a minute, just do it.

8. Enroll the troops.... Let the toddler trail behind you with a duster or whatever...they love to help.

9. Don't sweat the small stuff...if your partner does the hoovering but not to your exacting standards...get over it...it's fine.

10. Always try to make enough dinner for a day or two or else enough to freeze.Stews, casseroles, pasta, curries etc. If possible try to do a couple of different dinners at the same time eg chilli con carne, pasta sauce etc.  A takeaway pizza or chinese hasnt killed any of us yet either!

I wish I could bottle this feeling

My wee man is 2, he's so independent and grown up, sleeping in a "big boy" bed (shaped like a digger).

I miss my baby cuddles, he used to fall asleep on my chest when he was smaller and I'd just sit and enjoy.

Had a really crap day at work today and when I get home John cuddled up and took a snooze... priceless.

Baby Weight

When does it stop becoming baby weight and just be a muffin top? Now that John is two I can't really blame him for my flabby tummy, I have a sneaky suspicion it may have something to do with chocolate, crips and wine, hmmmm.

So I'm taking action and I've signed up for an eight week bootcamp in my local gym.

I had no idea I was THAT unfit. I thought I was going to die/pass out/throw up tonight and that was just the warm up!

My arms were so sore after the class that I couldn't cook dinner and had to call a chinese....

The Guilt

Thinking back to when I was pregnant, all anyone ever warned me about was the horrors of labour, the exhaustion and the loss of freedom. No-one ever mentioned the biggest challenge a parent faces... The Guilt.

I mean, sure the sleepless night are hard, labour is tough and I'm too tired for a night out so don't mind the lack of freedom so much, but the guilt, it's soul destroying.

For me the biggest guilt factor is working full time. I like work, it's a good office with nice people, we go for lunch every couple of weeks and I can have a cup of tea in peace. I especially like getting paid at the end of the month. It hit me around four months into maternity leave that I'd have to return to the office and leave my baby with someone else all day.

When the time came to leave John with a childminder he cried. I cried. My other half didn't cry but felt sorry for me all the same. I still don't know how I got through that first week. I thought it would get easier so I persisted but it hasn't, I've just gotten used to the guilt.

Now I have a two year old who isn't afraid to talk, our conversations in the morning go like this:

"Mama has to go to work"

"No, Mama stay here"

"Mama has to go to get money for sweets and toys"

"John come too"

"No, John stay here and Mama will be home later"

Some days he accepts it and other days he clings to my leg saying "I want you Mama" and I try not to cry as the childminder distracts him.


I would love to stay at home with him but if I quit work today and then can't afford to send him to college or buy him football / guitar / karate lessons then I'll just be swapping my current guilt for a differnt kind of guilt.

I wonder if every Working Mammy feels like this or if it's just me?