Hello and welcome to the Mothering Month of May on cazza.com.
Today, on the eve of my daughter's 3rd birthday, I report on being a MOM to a toddler with my Musings On Motherhood. The post idea came last year when I thought 'yes a new blog M.O.M. Monotony Of Motherhood', on a particularly dull day and finding a positive spin tag line 'and ways to change it'. Momstrology, a guide to parenting by the stars, Madness Of Mumming a two year old and the Magic of Mothering and how very lucky I am to have my GG.
Musings On Motherhood
I love my GG, she is a great girl, however being a full time mum is harder than one can imagine. 12 hours or 9 awake hours ( 3 hour nap was still in place until yesterday!!!) to entertain your young one. To teach, guide, play with no screens during the week, one can run out of ideas. You can try and entertain yourself by buying a silly jacket with dolphins and turtles to make weekly visits to Brighton's SeaLife Centre more fun or other inspiration, please help!
General day with 2 year old GG.
Every morning an activity; park, Sealife Centre, see above, singing group, although this came to an end when GG decided trying to climb out the window would be more fun than joining in. We didn't return.
Buggy picnic, home and upstairs for nap; 3 books, bedtime songs and then 3 hours of peace, writing, cazza.comming, Duolingo, Babbel, napping, etc.
Followed by wake up, dinner, (see monotony of motherhood) Play; play dough, making pebbles are easier than a pterodactyl, stegosaurus or tyrannosaurus rex. Lego; getting quite quick at the triceratops, pom pom faces, painting, piano playing etc
GG LOVES dinosaurs and knows all the names, well nearly, there are over 750 different dinosaurs. We have a lot of sticker books, colouring books, picture books, story books, films, cartoons, although Jurassic Park is a bit advanced/scary for her. Walking with Dinosaurs gave her nightmares...
Then Bath, Books, Bed, Bedtime songs.
Repeat.
This is more of a running order of the day than my musings, leave in the comments any top tips for days out with 3 year olds, I have to fill the afternoons now too!
Madness Of Mumming
'The Terrible Twos' that's what they say and that's what they get. Tantrums are enough to drive you mad! Especially when in a rush to get to a play date or some other reason to leave the house or absolutely horrid if out in public! The tantrums and defiance came to a crescendo last year, resulting in both of us screaming and in tears. I have never twanged my vocal chord before, it was a bad day. I turned to Naomi Aldort and her advice to find inner peace, 'your child is a reflection of you'. Deep breathes. I found Dr. Harvey Karp's advice in Happiest Toddler on the Block amusing and did work, his suggestion of slowly repeating back to the child their feeling or complaint 'you are very upset, you wanted to climb on the table, mummy understands, etc' Holding them and letting them cry it out also works, if they allow you near them and not kicking and flailing their arms around. Keeping calm is a practise, I'm sure I'll master it one day...
Momstrology
My favourite astrologers, the Astro Twins wrote a book Momstrology, a guide to parenting your little one by the stars.
I love a book for guidance and the opening line of Aquarius Mom + Taurus Child 'In many ways, you're as different as night and day' Great! And the line 'When angry, you both have lightning- bolt tempers. Taurus will fume and Aquarius will slam doors.' Yes, see Madness of Mumming. There are positives like the mention of our shared passion for sports cars, hooray for the Elegance and adventure abound, we are going to have lots of fun! Check out the sisters website for you and your little darlings.
Monotony Of Motherhood
Yes, I'm sorry, some days are monotonously boring, pushing swings for hours, making sandcastles that are stomped on instantly and dinners! Long gone are the days of fancy meals, taking an hour to prepare, a delight only to be rejected. Best to keep things simple; pesto pasta, fish fingers, crudite, boiled egg on rotation. Boring I know. Any veggie ideas please comment below. It's also very dull to negotiate getting dressed, brushing teeth, bath exiting. Everything is becoming much easier especially with the help of Noel's book, bring on the Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting!
Magic Of Mothering
Glorious Gloria is great! Some call her a genius, gorgeous, gregarious, gutsy, groovy. I feel so blessed to have this girl in my life and hope I inspire her to be her best. I love her stories 'the stegosaurus flips his spaghetti high in the sky' and her songs 'Hooray for you, hooray for you, hooray for you, I love you' Melts my heart. We have lots of fun together, made easier by two days at nursery, she loves it and so do I! We love slides and rides and swimming and winning.
Thank you for reading and please leave a comment for any top tips to keep a 3 year old entertained all day and simple quick veggie meals.
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Peace, love and happiness,
Cxxx