Busy Mums

Work Life Balance for Busy Mums and Meal times

When you are a Mum it is really easy to be at every ones beck and call without even realising it.

I remember when daughter number two was very small how she hoodwinked me into making her wait on her hand and foot.

I actually did not realise until it was pointed out to me by a friend of the family. He had a daughter just a few weeks older, who kept asking for things. You know the sort of thing, a drink, a biscuit a toy .... and so on. His little girl kept saying "I want...", and was quite demanding - and was quite understandably being reproached by her father for her continuing requests.

Until that moment I had felt quite smug. (Perhaps it showed on my face). That was until he pointed out to me that my daughter was a little more crafty with her demands. She said " I need".

And guess what.... I jumped to my feet without hesitation. He was right. She was crafty. She was calling the shots at just three years old and I had not twigged.

One of my daughters specialities was saying "I need...." just after I sat down, normally when I was going to eat a meal.

This meant I jumped up, often several times during every meal time, (as my other children joined in with requests). It was a source of irritation to me that I did not ever seem to sit down and eat a meal without it being interrupted.

The thing I realised when this "I need terminology" was pointed out - was that actually they were saying "I want..." and actually it wouldn't do them any harm....in fact it might be quite a good rule in patience and manners if they did wait.

Such a small thing I know....but it made quite a big difference to how much I enjoyed meal times.

As you can probably guess I invoked a new rule. Once I had sat down for a meal, I wasn't going to get up again until I had finished eating!

Well you may say what has that got to do with work life balance? - Well maybe its just all those small things you do which impact the quality of our leisure time. Its worth us all thinking how much we are at the mercy of the "I need...." trick.

More food for thought on work life balance for busy mums tomorrow.

Labels: busy mums, families, meal times, parenting, toddlers, work-life balance

posted by Diana and Steve @ 13:46 0 Comments

The End of Half Term

Half Term has just ended and mayhem seems to reign in my house.

I always thought that the older children got the more you can delegate and the less I would have to tackle.

I don't think I am the only Mum who feels like this. As I was browsing round Waitrose I over heard two women talking. One said to the other how untidy her son's bedroom was, but his idea of tidying it up was to take all the clothes lying on the floor and put them in the dirty linen basket.

Because their clothes are bigger they take up more room and there seems a lot more of them than there was when they were small. Also "they" decide when they are dirty. And given the choice between hanging something up and putting it out to be washed. They take the easier option. And you can guess what that is.

They eat more, normally more than the adults - make more mess and don't always clear up when you want them to; as they are too busy, conveniently doing homework, which of course you certainly do not want to discourage.

Then there is the blossoming social life which often means that every evening is interrupted by Mummy mini cab service, free prompt and available whenever required. Actually my kids always complain I am not very prompt - but I am reliable.

When they were little I chose their friends and when and where they went, and my evening generally were my own.

Then there is the discipline side of things. The naughty step does not work quite the same way. Although the general principle of rewarding good behaviour and intercepting unacceptable behaviour still needs to be addressed.

And of course when they were little I was the all knowing central figure in my children's lives. They have now realised I was a complete fraud, and they are smarter and capable than me. This leads to my own personal idiosyncrasies having huge comic value.

But despite all the challenges my kids are still funny, entertaining and constantly surprise me.
And the thing I find interesting is how much I learn from them.

So I guess the chaos is worth it. In a few years the chaos will be replaced by an empty house which does not get untidy. Not sure how much I will like that either.

Labels: families, mums, parenting, school holidays parents

posted by Diana and Steve @ 21:34 0 Comments