10 Things I Haven't Done Much of Recently
1. Showered
Yeah, sorry folks, gross I know! But between the boys and the re-modelling of the bathroom, personal hygiene has been in pretty short supply around here. I have resurrected the 'good wash' at the kitchen sink!
2. Sat down to eat a meal before 9pm
I haven't managed to crack mealtimes yet. Both boys need help with feeding themselves, making it very difficult for me to eat at the same time as them. If I try to eat when they're not eating, they both come and stand right next to my food, staring at it with huge hungry eyes and occasionally extending a tentative finger towards it. Most off-putting. So, daytime meals are eaten standing up, usually in the kitchen without a plate, and evening meals are saved until they are both safely tucked up in bed.
3. Given the washing machine a day of rest
When I lived alone, I did a couple of washes every couple of weeks. With one boy, a couple of washes each week. With two boys, at least one wash pretty much every day. Why is it that two boys make more than twice as much laundry as one?
4. Turned my back
Every time, literally every time I do this, someone starts crying and I turn around to a scene of carnage the cause of which I can't determine. Often it is OB crying because NB is sitting on him, has pushed him, has taken his toy, has poked his fingers in his eye etc. etc.
5. Finished a hot cup of coffee
I think a lot of Mums will be familiar with the cups of half-drunk coffee littering the living room. Thankfully I'm pretty partial to cold coffee.
6. Played any kind of game
When I had one boy I spent a fair amount of my evenings indulging in games of various kinds on the computer. Now I spend my evenings putting away toys, sorting laundry, washing up, decorating the bathroom and going to bed very, very early! Sadly CivWorld, Prolific and even Spider Solitaire are now sitting forsaken and forlorn on my desktop.
7. Worn any garment more than once
A good thing, you might think, considering point 1, but that's not the only reason. As both the boys have never-ending streaming colds, my clothes are now apparently nothing more than a glorified hanky. Shoulders and thighs are favourite wiping points - you know the thing where they come over for a 'cuddle', rest their head lovingly on your shoulder/leg and then give their faces a good wipe before running off laughing!
8. Had a conversation that wasn't about the boys
Since every single thing I do now revolves around the boys, it turns out I'm rapidly running out of other things to talk about. I haven't even seen much of the news recently, thus removing one of my favourite conversation topics - stupid and annoying things that the news programmes have reported!
9. Listened to any kind of sermon
Like many other Mums, my Sunday morning services now consist of half an hour of worship during which time I'm anxiously looking around to see where the boys have run off to, an hour in creche, and then a terrifying coffee time where I'm constantly in fear that one of the boys will escape through the front door and run off down the street. I've tried reins, but both boys simply throw themselves on the floor when they reach the end of their rope. Actually, OB throws himself on the floor; NB delivers the added complication of turning round a few times so that the reins are thoroughly wrapped around his neck, and then throwing himself on the floor, nearly throttling himself on the way down.
10. Had time to consider how hard it all is
People often comment on what a handful the two boys must be, and I suppose they are, but the best thing about being so busy with them is that there simply isn't time to sit around moping about how tired I am or how difficult it all is. Instead, each day is a series of small accomplishments and achievements: hooray, we all managed to eat our breakfast; yeah, we made it to contact on time; woohoo we're all having our nap (that's a particularly satisfying one when it actually happens); awesome, we've accomplished getting our baths in the baby bath on the living room floor! Fun times!
Yeah, sorry folks, gross I know! But between the boys and the re-modelling of the bathroom, personal hygiene has been in pretty short supply around here. I have resurrected the 'good wash' at the kitchen sink!
2. Sat down to eat a meal before 9pm
I haven't managed to crack mealtimes yet. Both boys need help with feeding themselves, making it very difficult for me to eat at the same time as them. If I try to eat when they're not eating, they both come and stand right next to my food, staring at it with huge hungry eyes and occasionally extending a tentative finger towards it. Most off-putting. So, daytime meals are eaten standing up, usually in the kitchen without a plate, and evening meals are saved until they are both safely tucked up in bed.
3. Given the washing machine a day of rest
When I lived alone, I did a couple of washes every couple of weeks. With one boy, a couple of washes each week. With two boys, at least one wash pretty much every day. Why is it that two boys make more than twice as much laundry as one?
4. Turned my back
Every time, literally every time I do this, someone starts crying and I turn around to a scene of carnage the cause of which I can't determine. Often it is OB crying because NB is sitting on him, has pushed him, has taken his toy, has poked his fingers in his eye etc. etc.
5. Finished a hot cup of coffee
I think a lot of Mums will be familiar with the cups of half-drunk coffee littering the living room. Thankfully I'm pretty partial to cold coffee.
6. Played any kind of game
When I had one boy I spent a fair amount of my evenings indulging in games of various kinds on the computer. Now I spend my evenings putting away toys, sorting laundry, washing up, decorating the bathroom and going to bed very, very early! Sadly CivWorld, Prolific and even Spider Solitaire are now sitting forsaken and forlorn on my desktop.
7. Worn any garment more than once
A good thing, you might think, considering point 1, but that's not the only reason. As both the boys have never-ending streaming colds, my clothes are now apparently nothing more than a glorified hanky. Shoulders and thighs are favourite wiping points - you know the thing where they come over for a 'cuddle', rest their head lovingly on your shoulder/leg and then give their faces a good wipe before running off laughing!
8. Had a conversation that wasn't about the boys
Since every single thing I do now revolves around the boys, it turns out I'm rapidly running out of other things to talk about. I haven't even seen much of the news recently, thus removing one of my favourite conversation topics - stupid and annoying things that the news programmes have reported!
9. Listened to any kind of sermon
Like many other Mums, my Sunday morning services now consist of half an hour of worship during which time I'm anxiously looking around to see where the boys have run off to, an hour in creche, and then a terrifying coffee time where I'm constantly in fear that one of the boys will escape through the front door and run off down the street. I've tried reins, but both boys simply throw themselves on the floor when they reach the end of their rope. Actually, OB throws himself on the floor; NB delivers the added complication of turning round a few times so that the reins are thoroughly wrapped around his neck, and then throwing himself on the floor, nearly throttling himself on the way down.
10. Had time to consider how hard it all is
People often comment on what a handful the two boys must be, and I suppose they are, but the best thing about being so busy with them is that there simply isn't time to sit around moping about how tired I am or how difficult it all is. Instead, each day is a series of small accomplishments and achievements: hooray, we all managed to eat our breakfast; yeah, we made it to contact on time; woohoo we're all having our nap (that's a particularly satisfying one when it actually happens); awesome, we've accomplished getting our baths in the baby bath on the living room floor! Fun times!
Lol. I find it a bit shocking how many of these still apply to us, 6 and 4 years after they came home! It all feels so normal to us that even 10 still hold true. :-)
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