Mother of the Year?

This is for all the mother’s who DIDN’T win 
Mother of the Year

All the runners-up and all the wannabes.

The mothers too tired to enter or too busy to care.

This is for all the mothers who have sat up all night with a sick toddler in their arms, wiping up vomit laced with two minute noodles and cherry Kool-Aid saying, “It’s okay honey, Mummy’s here.”

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they’ll never see, and the mothers who took these babies and made them homes.

For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes, and all the mothers who DON’T.

What makes a good mother anyway?
Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner and sew a button on a shirt all at the same time?
Or is it heart?

Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time?
The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 a.m., to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

The need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a school shooting, a fire, a car accident, a baby dying? – I think so.

So this is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the mothers who wanted to, but just couldn’t.

This is for reading “Goodnight Moon” twice a night for a year. And then reading it “Just one more time.”

This is for all the mothers who mess up. Who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair and stomp their feet like a tired two-year-old who wants ice-cream before dinner.

This is for all the mothers who taught their daughters to tie their shoelaces before they started school, and for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

For all the mothers who lock themselves in the bathroom when babies keep crying and won’t stop.

This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.

This is for all mothers whose head turn automatically when a little voice calls “Mum?” in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home.

This is for mothers who put flowers and teddy bears on their children’s graves. This is for mothers, whose children have gone astray, who can’t find the words to reach them.

This is for all the mothers who sent their sons to school with stomach aches, assuring them they’d be just FINE once they got there, only to get a call from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up…right away.

This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation. And mature mothers learning to let go.

For working mothers and stay-at-home-mothers. Single mothers and married mothers. Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for all of you.
 Hang in there.

(Thanks to Baby Sense for publishing this poem in their most recent newsletter – I couldn’t resist sharing it!)

Well hello there 2012

It’s been a ridiculously long time since I posted, I could blame my ADSL line being down for most of December (thanks Telkom) or just admit that  I was actually really enjoying the summer holiday with my little family, and not getting sucked into my Mac every evening (like what tends to happen during term time). It was a really good break, half was spent tearing around the country visiting family and the other half was spent at home, fixing things, making things, swims in the pool with our Monkey, swings, slides, mud puddles, reading a book and even sleeping in late…

We’ve got some exciting things happening in 2012, but more of that to come at a later stage! I know I’m a little late in wishing you all a very very happy New Year, but I truly do wish that 2012 is a good year for all of us, that at least the majority of the 365 days are spent as happy ones, filled with belly laughs and good times. Of course I’m under no illusion that it’ll all be plain sailing, with the good comes the bad, but let’s celebrate each good day as it passes and be grateful for that with which we are blessed with.

Wishing you an exciting year ahead, and as always, thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog. I promise my next post won’t be in a months time again!

A South African Love Poem…

Sorry to the international readers here, this probably won’t make that much sense, but I had to share it…

Valentine, oh Valentine,
I smaak you stukkend, say you’ll be mine.

You’re my morning, my sunshine, my moon and my stars,
You’re my airfreshener from O.K. Bazaars;

You’re my beaded love-letter, my breeze in the night,
You’re my coffee, my Cremora, my Blitz firelight.

You’re my Crime-Stop, my Tracker, you’re my ADT,
My pap, Mrs Ball’s chutney, my Nando’s for free;

You’re my lambchop, my dewdrop, my partner in crime,
My chillie, my pepper, my vetkoek sublime.

The list is endless and this isn’t all,
You’re my Lotto jackpot, my dop and my zol

You’re my 4X4 when the road is so hilly,
You’re my Floro margarine that butters my mielie.

I smaak you, my poppie, so please be my wife,
’cause, Baby, you’re the Tomato Sauce on the slap chips of life!

(Original post of this poem here, by mella_my_sweet04)

Black Tuesday

Memo to the Mommy

I came across this pin on Pinterest, it looks like it’s a scanned in page from a magazine ‘Parents’ from Sept 2008. I did like the ‘memo’ and so thought I’d use the words for my post today.

“You have a lot of lessons to teach your little one, but she has a few words of wisdom for you too.”

1.) Stop freaking out about the mess. There’s always time to clean, but how often to we get to make mud pies?

(Image from Rhythm of the Home)

2.) Love me, even when I’m naughty. I’ll only be this age once.

(Photo from Under the Sycamore)

3.) Be patient, I do everything for a reason, but I don’t know enough words yet to give you an explanation.

(Photo from Under the Sycamore)

4.) Let me do it. I know you can do it faster and better, but sometimes experience is the best teacher.

5.) Don’t expect too much of me. I want to do all that you ask and make you happy, but I’m still little.

6.) Keep your promises. It’s all about trust. When I’m a teenager, you’ll understand why it’s so important.

7.) Don’t try to reason with me when I’m having a tantrum. Trust me – I can’t hear you over my own screaming.

8.) Don’t let me think that you’re perfect. I’ll feel a lot better knowing I’m not the only one making mistakes sometimes.

(Image from Flickr)

9) Set limits, I can’t actually eat a whole box of cookies – I just want to see if I’d get away with it.

A post for Dad’s of Daughters

I WISH I could take credit for this post, but there’s no way I could come close… I found this post on From Dates to Diapers  and the original post is from here.  I just loved the full list of ’50 Rules for Dad’s of Daughters’.

I’ve ‘copied’ a lot of the list, but tried to personalize it for the Dad in our family… All credit to the original writer though and please do visit both these websites for  the full list and more great posts.

• Love her mom…. Treat her mother with respect, honor, and a big heaping spoonful of public displays of affection. When she grows up, the odds are good she’ll fall in love with and marry someone who treats her much like you treated her mother. Make sure she finds her own prince charming!

• You’ve already got the job of Super Hero in her life…. Don’t let her down here… this job is one you want to keep for life… Work hard at it, cape and tights are optional.

• Spend quality time with her – just you and her, no matter what life throws at you, don’t forget about that special time together – whether it’s blowing bubbles in the bath with her, playing ball, going shopping together … I know lots of dads who take their daughters on dates when they get a little older. I like this idea…  but this is your time with her, I’ll leave this to you to work out together

• Take note of what she’s doing today! You know how our parents keep saying “I remember you at this age just like it was the other day” – that’ll be us one day… cherish each minute you have with her.

• Pray for her

 

• Teach her the off sides rule in rugby, you know her mom’s never going to get that right!

• Do crazy stupid things with her… I don’t have to tell you that though, you’re both crazy already.

• Teach her about money, about sharing, about compassion, about respect.

• Don’t just teach her, show her and be her living example

• Dance with her…. From the moment she can walk. You don’t have to wait for her wedding day for this. And I mean dance… that ripping around the dance floor type of dance when she can… you’re a wonderful dancer, she’s lucky to be able to learn from standing on her feet.

• Take her fishing (you might need to take me along to show you how it’s done properly) And don’t forget –you’re going to HAVE to put the bait on for her and take the fish off for her… that goes without standard. (ps – My dad used to say “Right in the fish’s mouth’ every time he used to cast for me… it’s optional, but perhaps you can include that in your fishing time together)

• Tell her she’s beautiful…. In  a real beautiful kind of way – not because she’s got a pretty dress on, or she’s wearing nail polish – but when she’s playing in the mud and her smile is as big as her face. She needs to know she’s beautiful – not photoshop beautiful, but real beautiful.

• Teach her how to change a flat tyre. (And make sure she’s got the right numbers to call when it happens – you know you’ll be the first one she calls, but in case you’re not available.)

• Take her camping (hmmm, please remember the tent and not just the tent poles and ground sheet though – she might not be as forgiving as her mom has been in the past).

• Let her hold the wheel. She will always remember when daddy let her drive.

• She’s as smart as any boy. Make sure she knows that. Let her know that apart from peeing standing up there won’t me many things she can’t do that a boy can do.. but let’s also remember she is a little girl and might choose not to do things that boys would want to do!

• Letting her ride on your shoulders is pure magic. Do it now while you have a strong back and she’s still tiny.

• It is in her nature to make music. It’s up to you to introduce her to the joy of socks on a wooden floor.

• She will eagerly await your return home from work in the evenings. Don’t be late. I wish you could see her excitement when she hears your car coming up the driveway… her whole face and body lights up.

• Never miss her birthday. In ten years she won’t remember the present you gave her. She will remember if you weren’t there.

• Let her roll around in the grass. It’s good for her soul. It’s not bad for yours either.

• Somewhere between the time she turns three and her sixth birthday, the odds are good that she will ask you to marry her. Let her down gently.

• Few things in life are more comforting to a crying little girl than her father’s hand. Never forget this. (I’m 33 and a hug from my Dad can still solve many of the worlds problems… )

• Push her on the swings. She’ll squeal for you to push her higher and faster. Her definition of “higher and faster” is probably not the same as yours. Keep that in mind.

• Take it easy on the presents for her birthday and Christmas. Instead, give her the gift of experiences you can share together – I know you’ll be great at this…. And it’s something you’ll teach her for life.

• Let her know she can always come home. No matter what. – We were talking about this just the other day weren’t we!

• Remember, just like a butterfly, she too will spread her wings and fly some day. Enjoy her caterpillar years. (And know you’ve done a good job when she does have the confidence to spread her wings)

• Write her a handwritten letter every year on her birthday. Give them to her when she goes off to college, becomes a mother herself, or when you think she needs them most. (Wow… that would be really special)

• Learn to trust her. Gradually give her more freedom as she gets older. She will rise to the expectations you set for her.

• Today she’s toddling down the driveway to explore the garden. Tomorrow she’s going off to college. Don’t blink.

Things I must remember to do today..

Love this – free printable available here

(print available from Etsy)

(Image source)

And in case you need a little bit of help with any of these… here are some big girl panties in case you need them to deal with any of the above 🙂

Just an update from me and what’s been going on in our world

I started this blog as a place to write some words for our beautiful daughter, to post some images of inspiration and I suppose as a general celebration of how much our monkey has brightened our world since the moment we found out we were pregnant with her. A little while ago, I also mention that I’ve had  a good reason for not posting much this last month. In my mind I had the post all planned out, I was going to share our amazing news that we were just over 12 weeks pregnant with our second monkey. I had some gorgeous pics saved of recording your pregnancy, announcing your pregnancy and cute new born pics, but sadly it’s not to be.

On Wednesday this week, we went for our 12 week scan and unfortunately, they immediately picked up a problem with the baby – our precious little baby was diagnosed with a condition called anencephaly. This is a fatal condition where basically the baby growing inside does not have any brain tissue and the skull hasn’t formed correctly. There is no chance for survival and for both Gav and I there really was no decision, but to terminate. The baby could feel no pain because he/she didn’t have that part of the brain. I know there are families out there that do carry these babies to term, but in our hearts we’ve made the right decision for both the baby and our family.

Making the right decision, still doesn’t make it any easier. It’s only been a few days and I know we’ll get this through, but for now, there is just an amazing sense of loss and sadness that comes from deep within my soul. I’m once again blown away by the love that we can feel for these little souls just a few months into a pregnancy. Our baby will always live in our hearts and will always be loved, God needed an extra angel this week and I know that my baby is up in Heaven, is comforted, loved and in a safe place.

My littlest littlest monkey, you will always live in our hearts. The reason you were taken from us so early will never be understood, but we trust and believe that God has a plan for us all. We know you are in a safe place, at peace and are as loved as you could ever be by your us, your family down here…

I will continue blogging, hopefully sooner rather than later. For now, my world just doesn’t seem the right place for  birthday party ideas and other cute things that I like to think belong in the Colour Giggles space. I’m sure it won’t be long before the brightness and fun returns, but bear with me for now and I hope to see you all back here shortly when I do start posting again.

Free printable – 101 bits of summer (winter!) fun

(Image from the lovely Tom Kat Studio)

 

I wish…

(Image from Pinterest)