It's Valentine's Day - Quick We Need To Be Romantic!!

                                                                                                        

                                                                                          

Don’t we?

When I look back at all the Valentine’s Days my husband and I have shared over the years (19 to be exact!), I can clearly see that things have changed! They use to be a day full of romance, love and candle light dinners. Now even though we still do the romance (well we try to be - we have three young kids), love (definitely) and the candle light dinner (well they are more a quick bite to eat out or a takeaway), somehow it all seems rushed and a bit pressurised.

I am not anti Valentine’s Day, in fact I like the idea that there is a day to celebrate love but lets be honest, its a bit harder to embrace it with kids. There is this expectation and pressure that you have to do something majorly romantic on Valentine’s Day and this idea that everything has to be fantastic and great.

This notion works well when you have the time and energy, not so much when you have three young kids, it’s a week night and you are both wrecked!! It’s a recipe for failure and it becomes one big let down. As a couple you then question - what’s wrong with us? Can we not be romantic on one day of the year at least??

So to make this day more of a success I have now taken on a new approach to Valentine’s Day. From now on I am going to look on Valentine’s Day as a day to remember that we do love each other (despite the arguments) and a day to reconnect as a couple and put aside at least for an hour or two, being a mammy and daddy!

Maybe there will still be romance, love and candle light dinners but it will happen naturally and not because it’s Valentine’s Day and we have got to be romantic!!

And so today, Valentine’s Day my Husband and I had a lovely lunch out - without the kids! We chatted and relaxed and actually caught up on what was going on in each others lives!! There was no great romance or fancy dinner but there was definitely love… just as there should be!

Night Owl Needs Sleep - Help!!

I am a total Night Owl, my Husband is a Morning Lark and my kids, all three of them are also Morning Larks!! I am alone and completely misunderstood by all my family…

Yes I am being dramatic and over the top but hey this is a real issue for me!! I am not a morning person I am very much late-to-bed, late-to-rise person. I am so slow to wake up and get going in the morning, in short the mornings just do not suit me especially the early ones!!

My kids and husband are your typical early-to-rise, early-to-bed types. 

~ They wake up in great form - I don’t! 

~ They are full of energy in the morning - I am so not! 

~ They can engage in full conversation without effort in the morning - I am mostly short syllables or a grunt in the mornings!

Can you see my problem?

Now all fellow Night Owl’s out there will understand my predicament - I am on a completely opposite body clock to my family. When they are full of energy and ready to go I am barely connected to reality, when they are winding down I am coming to and my energy levels are up!!

This situation is not supportive to having kids and more especially when your kids are all Morning Larks! My typical day comprises of getting up early and going through the motions of our morning routine and slowly engaging with the day ahead. I am busy and active all day with three young kids and then at night I sit down exhausted but just after I have my cup of tea and relax, my body clock kicks in and I become energised and alert! It is just not natural for me to be going to sleep before 12am!! I struggle with going to bed early as it is just not me (a Night Owl!) and so my problem continues I am going to bed late and getting up early....

I am sleep deprived and alone! My family have no understanding of my situation, how could they they are all on a different timezone to me. Having young kids and being a Night Owl right now is a challenge. I am living for the day when they are teenagers and I will have no problem staying up late waiting for them to come home. My body clock will come into its own then!!

Until then I will struggle on and get on with things… and yes get to bed earlier and stop whinging!!

Research says (somewhere) that one in ten are Morning Larks and about two in ten are Night Owls. The rest, called Hummingbirds, are those in the middle and are ready for action both early and late….Which are you? Are there any more Night Owl Mammys out there??

Good Book Great Read??

‘The Midnight Rose’ by Lucinda Riley (Score 4)

I have just finished reading a great book entitled ‘The Midnight Rose’ by Lucinda Riley. I really enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good story that is well written and beautifully told. I would score this book at 4  (0 - not worth reading put it down, 5-grab it quick its the best ever!).

It is the life story of Anahita Chavan told from 1911 to the present day. What I liked most was the way the story was told and the insight you get into life in India and in England long ago. It is one of those ‘if only’ stories where one decision can have huge consequences for generations to come! Once I started reading I was hooked and this continued throughout the book. I can’t really fault this book, it is not the best book I have ever read but it is consistently good and keep me interested and wanting to know what happens next!!

It is my first Lucinda Riley book to read and I will definitely be reading more of her books. I really like her style of writing and storytelling...Lets hope her other books are just as good!!   

Copy of the Blurb (synopsis) on the back of the book:

“Spanning four generations, The Midnight Rose sweeps from the glittering palaces of the great maharajas of India to the majestic stately homes of England, following the extraordinary life of a girl, Anahita Chavan, from 1911 to the present day . .

In the heyday of the British Raj, eleven-year-old Anahita, from a noble but impoverished family, forms a lifelong friendship with the headstrong Princess Indira, the privileged daughter of rich Indian royalty. Becoming the princess’s official companion, Anahita accompanies her friend to England just before the outbreak of the Great War. There, she meets the young Donald Astbury – reluctant heir to the magnificent, remote Astbury Estate – and his scheming mother.

Eighty years later, Rebecca Bradley, a young American film star, has the world at her feet. But when her turbulent relationship with her equally famous boyfriend takes an unexpected turn, she’s relieved that her latest role, playing a 1920s debutante, will take her away from the glare of publicity to the wilds of Dartmoor in England. Shortly after filming begins at the now-crumbling Astbury Hall, Ari Malik, Anahita’s great-grandson, arrives unexpectedly, on a quest for his family’s past. What he and Rebecca discover begins to unravel the dark secrets that haunt the Astbury dynasty”

Mammy Time!!

I like nothing better than a good book and a giant pot of tea!! Ahh heaven….. Reading is my escapism and relaxing time, the only problem is I don’t get enough time to enjoy this passion of mine!! Kids eh…

Recently I have been reading a lot more however and have introduced a new rule in our home - do not disturb mammy when she is having her lunch, it is mammy’s time! I have taken back this half an hour for myself and read while I am eating my lunch. I do not get up to the kids or engage with them (unless I really really have to!!) during ‘Mammy Time’. My kids have taken to it well-ish and play or watch TV while I read and have my lunch. My youngest (2yrs+) struggles at times but she is getting there!!

I read all types of books once it is written well and is not too descriptive. I read 2-3 house magazines (another passion of mine) every month as well as 1-2 books. I am not a huge fan of the daily paper. I find it very depressing at times as the paper usually has more bad news than good! I get my daily news in one brief summary from the radio with less drama and negativity.

I am always on the hunt for a good book, nothing too heavy but something with a good story that is not all about love (not mad about over the top love stories - no Mills and Boon for me!). I like a story with a bit of depth and realism, a story I can get something from. I have decided as part of this blog to include any books I read and I will rate them out of 5 (0 - not worth reading put it down, 5-grab it quick its the best ever!).

Are there any books you’d recommend? Please let me know and I’ll include them on my list….Thank you!

** The books I include on this blog will be the books I've read for my own personal interests. The aim of the section is to be a reference for anyone looking for a good book to read!!

Wild Wacky Wonderful Mom!

Wild Wacky Wonderful Mom - That's you!!

Things I am glad happened this week!

Despite all the going and all the ups and downs this week, there has been a lot of things that have happened that I am happy and glad about. Here are a few...

1. I can see the floors again!

The main thing this week for me was that I started the big ‘tidy up and throw away’ clean out in my home. There are now a few rooms that you can actually see the floor or at least most of it, once again! Down stairs is looking good in parts however upstairs is a bombsite and will be my focus for next week, I cant wait - not!!

2. I finally got all the Christmas decorations put away in the attic!

Yes on the 6th of February, over a month since Christmas officially finished I put away our decorations! They have been hanging around, some in boxes some not and some still up on the shelves and walls. They were all over the house and they were driving me mad. I have no idea why this year it took me so long to get them packed up and put away but I was so happy to close that attic door with them on the other side of it…

3. My kids are academically brilliant!

My kids are brilliant in every way but this week I had my two oldest kids Parent Teacher Meeting's (Senior and Junior Infants) and they both did excellent! I am a worry-worm sort of Mammy and I do over worry about all aspects of my kids lives. However in relation to school, I am reassured that they are both doing really well and for this I am so glad and so happy! Now they have a few bits like practicing their writing and sounds that they need to work on more but overall they are good kids, they try their best and academically and socially they are both doing great…... I am so proud!   

4. I finally made that Ikea trip!

I like many Mammys out there I’m sure, have been talking about and planning a trip to Ikea for ages now and I finally dragged my husband and kids there last Sunday. It was a quick trip because we had to be home for the Rugby match but I got all my bits and more (as usual). Our Playroom has been crying out for more storage for ages now and the toys have been piling up along walls and in tubs, it had been looking a messy sight for far too long. So off I headed with my list of storage items that I absolutely had to get and a few things that were more decorative than necessary. Now that it is all put together and in place I can report that the playroom looks great (I hope to put up some photos soon- watch this space!). I have places to put all those extra toys and the risk of stepping on and falling over toys is hugely reduced!!  

 

5. My fun night out!

I was so glad I went out last night to a Table Quiz with friends (Post 07.02.14). I was mainly going because I felt I had to as it was a fundraiser but I was so glad I went! I had a great night out, I laughed and giggled the whole night. We came third last which we were delighted with as we had not come last! I learned I know more than I think and that there is a lot I don’t know but hey I knew enough to have fun and answer a few questions!

What happened to you this week that you are glad or happy about? Let me know, there are always a few...

     

Tired but happy!!

Being a mom has made me so tired, and so happy... 

This really sums up being a mammy!! I love it...