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View as: GRID LIST

WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY?

1
I did not write any new blog entries for two months. What is my excuse?

I do not really have a good one; I guess life just caught up with me… or motherhood. I’m trying to look back at the two months to see what I’ve done and I came up with the following:

I went out with some girlfriends one night and it took me about a week to recover.

I did a LOT of admin. Baby’s first UK passport and since we are not British it is a whole different kind of admin.

My mother –in-law came for a visit (for two weeks), but prior to the two weeks I had

SelfishMother.com
2
to clean the house like crazy (and no, she is not a stereotypical mother-in-law, she is the sweetest thing, but I wanted her to think think that I am super domestic).

I had a birthday and that comes with a whole set of issues…

Yip, that is about it. So I really don’t know where the time went. I am trying to think about what do I do all day and since most days are just a routine I came up with the following:

• I wake with the toddler at around 7am. Most people will say that this is fine, but believe me if you have been up at least six times

SelfishMother.com
3
during the night to console a crying child, disentangle her from her cot, take a bunny out of her mouth, etc.  So when the toddler wakes excitedly with a thirst for life in the morning I am less joyous about the occasion.

• I plonk the child in front of the TV while I make my first cup of coffee. I consume a dangerous amount of caffeine in order to look somewhat normal. Usually this is where I start to feel guilty about the TV, but it is my friend, her friend and so satisfying.

• Then we are off to a playgroup. These are WONDERFUL! I love this

SelfishMother.com
4
whole new world that opened up to me where I can take me kid to a church hall or a centre and have a little chat with an adult in the same situation as us. It helps with the sheer isolation of being a stay-at-home-mother. My toddler benefits a lot from these groups too as she doesn’t cry every time she sees a stranger like she did when she was a baby. Then again I don’t really expect much from her at the moment – as long as she doesn’t bite anyone I’m good. Unfortunately we usually have to leave early because my kid still takes morning naps. So
SelfishMother.com
5
I race home and….

• NAP TIME! A break – a little time to recharge. I swear I can sometimes hear angels sing when she drops off. This is the time in which I do the dishes, clean the house, fold the laundry, try to write, draw something or take a nap myself. Needless to say I’ve been taking naps the last two months…sleep when the baby sleeps, right? Actually I just lie there and worry about her upbringing and the TV.

• Then after lunch it is activity time. This is where I have to be creative. The time of day when I am stuck with a Duracell

SelfishMother.com
6
bunny. I usually try to arrange a play date, but it is so difficult to coordinate with her friends’ schedules that I just take her to a park.

• Or, we also do other stuff. You know, just stuff…

I don’t know how much time the following takes:

We switch lights on and off for a while. It is super entertaining (yawn).

Sometimes we (I) lie on the grass and she eats compost (She IS really tall for her age).

I just sit next to her while she unpacks drawers/ cupboards or boxes to make sure she doesn’t find anything that will kill her

SelfishMother.com
7
(like the time when she wanted to take a sip from the nail polish remover).

We build towers, you can use anything really: books, blocks, tins, food…other children.

She rubs food into the rug and I try to get it out.

We cuddle (she is not really into it… imagine a big wriggly worm trying to escape your loving embrace).

She randomly distributes toys, food and wipes and effectively covers our living quarters.

I let her play with the remote…not really, but it happens.

She climbs onto various objects and give me mini heart attacks. At

SelfishMother.com
8
least six a day.

We practice walking and speaking. We are not very successful at the moment, as she doesn’t walk yet and she calls me ‘Didi’

We play this game called ‘Didi has to retrieve unwanted items from my mouth’.

Sometimes I just stare at her…and stare.

You understand now? Where did the time go? I guess I have nothing to show for it except a healthy (maybe slightly maladjusted), little person running my house and my life… but that’s okay.

 

 

 

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- 21 Sep 14

I did not write any new blog entries for two months. What is my excuse?

I do not really have a good one; I guess life just caught up with me… or motherhood. I’m trying to look back at the two months to see what I’ve done and I came up with the following:

I went out with some girlfriends one night and it took me about a week to recover.

I did a LOT of admin. Baby’s first UK passport and since we are not British it is a whole different kind of admin.

My mother –in-law came for a visit (for two weeks), but prior to the two weeks I had to clean the house like crazy (and no, she is not a stereotypical mother-in-law, she is the sweetest thing, but I wanted her to think think that I am super domestic).

I had a birthday and that comes with a whole set of issues…

Yip, that is about it. So I really don’t know where the time went. I am trying to think about what do I do all day and since most days are just a routine I came up with the following:

• I wake with the toddler at around 7am. Most people will say that this is fine, but believe me if you have been up at least six times during the night to console a crying child, disentangle her from her cot, take a bunny out of her mouth, etc.  So when the toddler wakes excitedly with a thirst for life in the morning I am less joyous about the occasion.

• I plonk the child in front of the TV while I make my first cup of coffee. I consume a dangerous amount of caffeine in order to look somewhat normal. Usually this is where I start to feel guilty about the TV, but it is my friend, her friend and so satisfying.

• Then we are off to a playgroup. These are WONDERFUL! I love this whole new world that opened up to me where I can take me kid to a church hall or a centre and have a little chat with an adult in the same situation as us. It helps with the sheer isolation of being a stay-at-home-mother. My toddler benefits a lot from these groups too as she doesn’t cry every time she sees a stranger like she did when she was a baby. Then again I don’t really expect much from her at the moment – as long as she doesn’t bite anyone I’m good. Unfortunately we usually have to leave early because my kid still takes morning naps. So I race home and….

• NAP TIME! A break – a little time to recharge. I swear I can sometimes hear angels sing when she drops off. This is the time in which I do the dishes, clean the house, fold the laundry, try to write, draw something or take a nap myself. Needless to say I’ve been taking naps the last two months…sleep when the baby sleeps, right? Actually I just lie there and worry about her upbringing and the TV.

• Then after lunch it is activity time. This is where I have to be creative. The time of day when I am stuck with a Duracell bunny. I usually try to arrange a play date, but it is so difficult to coordinate with her friends’ schedules that I just take her to a park.

• Or, we also do other stuff. You know, just stuff…

I don’t know how much time the following takes:

We switch lights on and off for a while. It is super entertaining (yawn).

Sometimes we (I) lie on the grass and she eats compost (She IS really tall for her age).

I just sit next to her while she unpacks drawers/ cupboards or boxes to make sure she doesn’t find anything that will kill her (like the time when she wanted to take a sip from the nail polish remover).

We build towers, you can use anything really: books, blocks, tins, food…other children.

She rubs food into the rug and I try to get it out.

We cuddle (she is not really into it… imagine a big wriggly worm trying to escape your loving embrace).

She randomly distributes toys, food and wipes and effectively covers our living quarters.

I let her play with the remote…not really, but it happens.

She climbs onto various objects and give me mini heart attacks. At least six a day.

We practice walking and speaking. We are not very successful at the moment, as she doesn’t walk yet and she calls me ‘Didi’

We play this game called ‘Didi has to retrieve unwanted items from my mouth’.

Sometimes I just stare at her…and stare.

You understand now? Where did the time go? I guess I have nothing to show for it except a healthy (maybe slightly maladjusted), little person running my house and my life… but that’s okay.

 

 

 

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Helene Smit moved from sunny South Africa to beautiful Berkshire in 2007. She lives in Reading with her husband, little girl and the occasional stray animal. She used to be an architectural assistant in London, but is now a stay-at-home mother trying to be a working-from-home mother.

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