Time is of the Essence!

Posted on October 11, 2015 by natalietrew

Like sand through the hour-glass…

Does anyone else feel like your days are always under the pump with each second, minute and hour all so precious, in order for your day to be orchestrated just right, so everything you need to get done in a day actually gets done! I know that’s exactly my life. I spend my day clock watching, asking myself ‘what’s the time?!?’. Time for work, time for school, time for appointments, time for training, time for the kids sport, time for my run, time for a function, time to prepare meals, time to pick up kids – there are days where I feel like I don’t have time to breathe! I feel like I’m constantly just behind that sand in the hour-glass and the moments where I feel like I’m in front, some hurdle is put in my way and I’m back behind it again.

From the minute I wake to the minute I sleep at night, each hour is almost planned out with something that has to be done. Time is constantly of the essence and once I reach the end of each school term I feel mostly exhausted from all the planning and organising that is put in to our life staying on track or should I say on time! This thing called time is going so bloody fast! How is it already less than 3 months to Christmas!!!!

With the craziness of what this year has been and how fast it’s gone, I made a promise to myself that these last school holidays would not be about time and I’m happy to say this promise was kept! We had the best two weeks – the September school holidays are always my favourite! Each day was fun, slow-paced, no timelines, just get ready when we want, leave when we want and go home when we want! It was bliss! It was the time the kids and I really needed. We even managed some time as a family with Kane! We covered almost everything – theme parks, playgrounds, movies, shopping, baking, swimming, the beach and lots of relaxing! The kids were happy, well-behaved and got along so nicely!

School holidays is such precious time for us now that both Saturday and Sundays are consumed by the kid’s sport through the winter months of the year! Thank goodness sport breaks for the holidays. Now that we are down to only 4 days of sport a week and our Sundays are finally free, we can cruise a little on the weekends and it leaves more time to hang together and socialise with family and friends – that’s what life is about!

After a dreadful third term, I was determined to start this term being the most positive I could be, hoping that would set the vibe for the term. It did start off much better than last term and I’ve been on time to everything so far, but as each day went by this week and the anticipation of getting back into routine with a child who suffers anxiety, the week became hard. I live in hope that this will settle a lot quicker than last term though. But for now, on days where the going is getting tough, I will look back at all the beautiful photos that captured our awesome holiday together!

Time is really of the essence for me now. The coming weeks are so precious as this is the last term that I will have a child home with me. With my baby starting prep next year, this will be my 10th and final year of having a side kick on my days off….whatever will I do?!?! I’m so use to stopping and starting jobs, having someone to ‘help’ me with my chores. I’m so use to having someone to chat with (whether I’m in the mood or not heheheheh), all I know is that it’s going to be extremely quiet!!!!! So as the time gets closer to being on my own, I will be relishing in my time with my baby girl and hoping that this time passes by steadily!

Here’s to an awesome final school term….bring on summer and the festive season!!!!

Time to Shine!

Posted on September 8, 2015 by natalietrew

I love writing a blog that has a happy ending and this one does 😉……

Almost three years ago when my middle baby started prep she was shy, quiet, reserved and suffered separation anxiety. Sienna (aka Sie Sie) was the little girl who never caused any harm, never caused any commotion and was the one who would always be the peace keeper to make everyone else happy. She was the little girl who was too shy to talk to strangers. She was the little girl who hid behind my leg if someone tried to engage in a conversation. She was the little girl who would be pushed around in the toddler area of a play ground but would never make waves and would go to another area to play. She’s always been bright but lacked confidence in her own ability, and her chance to shine was always crippled by that. But that was then…..

Over the past few years while she’s been at school, she has been so very lucky to have the most amazing educators who have not only nurtured her learning, but have never given up on her when it comes to her being confident. From prep to now (end of grade 2), her walls that she has built so strong around her, have been chipped away and knocked down bit by bit, layer by layer. I’m so happy to now say that my daughter who I’ve always worried about where all of this would end up, is on top of her world! She now oozes with confidence, challenges herself at school with new concepts and tasks and is reaping the rewards.

Only a few weeks ago Sie Sie received an award for moving up 6 levels in her reading just in a couple of months. To say I’m proud is an understatement. I knew she had it in her, but she has always lacked confidence with her reading, but now this boost has paved the way for her. Living with a brother that is very confident (almost too confident) has to be hard when you’re battling a lack of confidence yourself and it sure doesn’t help when her little 4-year-old sister corrects her and answers questions for her all the time.

I think it’s safe to say Sienna has found her voice in her home and in her school life. She is no longer the girl who hides behind us, nor is she the girl who is shy and softly spoken. She is funny, charismatic, fearless and very mature. She stands up for herself and is very caring for her peers who struggle with things that other children take for granted. She is CONFIDENT in her own skin.

This has also been evident with her sporting achievements this year. Sienna started playing basketball at the beginning of this year when she was only 6 and a half. After one match of playing in under 8s, she was asked to play in the under 10 mixed division. She had such a wonderful first season and was asked to play in the under 11 girls this season. This also followed with receiving a place in the under 12 girls rep team, but due to only being 7 and not even playing for a year yet, we thought it would be best to wait for rep basketball until she is a little older. We get so much enjoyment out of watching her shine in her chosen sport and her infectious smiles and giggles on court are beautiful. This girl has come so far it makes my heart beat with pride!

So to all the mummas out there who worry about their quiet achieves who lack confidence, be patient and try not to worry. This experience for me has shown me that all children develop in their own way and in their own time. The solution to this is TIME. Children shine when they are ready to let down their walls of security. For some it’s easier than others. All we can do is encourage and support them and be there to celebrate their success. This year sure has been my daughter’s time to shine and what a wonderful feeling it’s been for us all! All I can say, there is hope for my littlest girl yet lol!

Anxious Annies…Finding a Balance to Cope as the Parent!

Posted on August 12, 2015 by natalietrew

I’ve been absent from the blogging world for the past month. A month that has zapped me of my energetic soul. A month where I feel I’ve been put through the wringer and I’m trying to dry out. A month that has seen us all sick and battling this exceptionally cold winter we are having. A month that has been very trying to say the least. Although the kids are still at the tail end of being sick, I’m feeling so much better than I was as I can feel my head is above water once again!

If you are a regular follower of my blog you would know that two out of three of my children (eldest and youngest) suffer anxiety and my son’s anxiety is accompanied with OCD and a motor and vocal tic. He’s been having therapy since the end of last year and up until a month ago he was in the best place he’s ever been.

His anxiety had almost vanished, his OCD was minimal and his tics were so mild you could hardly notice. Then term 3 hit and so did Bailey – like a tidal wave!! The past month has seen so much work that we’ve all done become undone and it’s left us feeling overwhelmed and vulnerable at the prospect of the future. Just when you feel like you’ve got a grip on things a curve ball is always thrown…

Anxiety or any mental health issue for that matter, can be so debilitating and not only for the person suffering with it, but for the people who surround them on a daily basis. Going through the same speech pattern to reassure them everyday, picking up the pieces after a melt down, handing out consequences for inappropriate actions, waiting for the next situation to occur…it’s extremely hard work and intense.

I’ve changed my whole attitude towards it all as of late. Whenever my children’s anxiety are at a peak, I always find myself using it as a reflection of our parenting. But the reality is, there isn’t anything we’ve changed, it’s something in them that has been triggered by something that surrounds them and all I can do is put the measures in place to help them deal with the rough times and always enjoy the good times.

As the parent dealing with what feels like a cyclone, it’s important to find a balance in life in order to maintain your own mental health. Instead of constantly laying there at night wondering what the hell am I going to do next, I find ways to help bring out my inner calm and peace. If that means, online browsing (and few purchases lol) then I do. I make sure I regularly get my hair done and I’m even going to treat myself to getting my nails done every few weeks from now on! Exercise and running is my savour and having chats with my mum and sisters…well I don’t know what I’d do without them. My husband and I are lucky to have wonderful friends who we enjoy having time out with and of course if we get the chance to have a date night – we jump at it!

When I read this last paragraph back to myself, it made me feel vein and like I’m giving up! But it’s the complete opposite. Doing the things I love for myself gears me up to be the best parent I can be, to children who suffer anxiety and if having pretty nails while dealing with this is what I have to do – then I will lol! It’s not an easy gig by any means and having one child who doesn’t suffer anxiety (finally her separation anxiety has passed) I know how much easier parenting could be if my two other children didn’t carry a monkey around on their backs – so to speak.

All of these things that I do to keep myself sane, allows me to get up each day and face whatever is thrown my way. This all needs to be balanced with fitting in one on one time with each child. I believe families who live the cycle we do, need to make a priority to each individual child. You not only have the child who suffers, but the child or children who don’t put up with a lot and give up things just to keep the peace. I find that having time alone with each child is a lovely way to get back on track if the pathway to happiness has had a bump in it!

Keeping positive amongst everything is a key to my daily mantra. I try my hardest everyday to maintain a positive attitude towards life. Don’t get me wrong, I have my people who I sound off to…we all need someone who we can release our inner thoughts too. I’ve had quite a few people lately message me and tell me how positive I always am. Such a lovely compliment. I would far rather celebrate the good that’s in my life rather than reliving the daily struggles we face at home. These moments are moments we learn from…the great moments are memories created and they are the things I want to share and shout to this world. Because although life throws curve balls, the goodness always out ways them!

Our life for now will always be full of consistent routines, clear rules, boundaries and consequences, early bedtimes, debriefing sessions and conscious thought put into down time. We always plan new outings and go through new experiences with the kids well before it’s going to happen, to help eliminate any anxiety attacks. But our life is full of greatness. We don’t ever miss out. We may go through hell to get to the goodness, but we always get there. One day we’ll be able to take the short cut, but for now most of our journeys involve the long way round but we always get there in the end!

I wish everyday our anxious annies didn’t struggle. It breaks my heart when I see them faced with a situation that is overwhelming for them. But together my husband and I will never give up. We will always go above and beyond to help them be the best version of themselves!

A Complete 360….

Posted on May 23, 2015 by natalietrew

You often hear “if only time stood still!” I’ve been thinking that so much of late. As each week passes this year, I am getting closer and closer to having my last baby go to school. The shear thought of this makes me feel sick to my core. I still remember that feeling when Bailey and Sienna started school, but I always had another child to keep me busy so I didn’t have time to really feel those raw emotions. 10 years of having babies, watching them grow and develop into little preppies and once Mia starts prep next year, my life will bring a whole new world!

Last week I saw a snapshot of what my life will be like next year when I drop all three kids off at school. For the first time since before I became a mum, I dropped Mia at mum’s place for some much needed nanny and Mia time (requested by both parties) and then went to the shops. I met up with a girlfriend, we shopped, had morning tea and ended my expedition with an hour massage. 5 hours to myself on a school day – unheard of – and obviously it’s going to be like this everyday!!! I’m not going to lie – I had a great day, but was bursting for Mimi cuddles by the time I picked her up!

Mia was such hard work last year. There were times when I questioned – how will I ever get through to her going to Prep and still be sane?!?! But since returning from our trip to the States, turning 4 and starting preschool, she has matured so much and her smart and funny character is the highlight of my day. We have so much fun together and our conversations are amazing. She is my mini me, my shadow, the one who I can turn to when the two older ones come home cranky from a big day at school…I think I’ll be spending a lot of time talking to our dog Sonny next year lol!

There will be a lot of adjusting to begin with, but I know I will learn to enjoy time to myself again. I can’t believe my life has almost done a full 360!!! I will go from “mum this and mum that” to silence. Pushing a pram or holding a little hand to strolling through the shops and leaving without indigestion from shoving my lunch down, before needing to go home for day time naps. My time will be able to be spent a lot more effectively fitting in many more jobs as I’ll be able to be a lot more efficient – it’ll be weird finishing a job without stopping 10 times lol!

I’ve already starting putting a few things in place that’ll I’ll be working on from next year. It’s amazing how many options you’re faced with once you’ve been granted time. I was only saying to one of my friends last week – “how can anyone be bored in life – the options are endless!!!!” Some of my options are: studying my masters, starting a fashion blog, relief teaching in my kid’s school, planning our next trip to the States, moving house and of course working on my next running adventure!! I don’t think I’ll ever find myself lost in the silence of all my children at school!

It’s been a long 10 years with the constant health issues all three kids have presented with, but the light at the end if this tunnel is getting brighter as each year passes which is fantastic!! We are getting to such a great place in our lives with the kids. They all so independent and helpful now, I actually get to spend more quality time with them as the cores around the house are now done by everyone! Yesterday was a classic example of this…before we went to basketball everyone was given a part of the house to tidy up and within 5 mins the house was spotless. The girls also cleaned out the car yesterday while Bay did his project and I pottered around doing other chores…a complete 360!!!!

Looking back over the years I’ve been lucky enough to be at home with my babies, they will always go down as the greatest years of my life. They haven’t been perfect. They have been hard at times and full of hurdles that together as a party of 5 we have jumped hand in hand together. But one thing is for sure, I’ve loved every moment and will always miss this time for the rest of my life.

My aim has always been to start each day fresh and always put one foot forward in front of the other. Some days this has been simple and other days this has been a drag. But I can honestly say with each step forward I’ve definitely climbed a huge mountain and as I look back at the mountain I’ve climbed, I’m very proud of what has been accomplished. I now will look forward to the new phase of my life and can’t wait to experience the ‘older’ years with my babies!

Have Courage….Be Kind!

Posted on April 25, 2015 by natalietrew

This week has been a week to reflect on life and what it has to offer. It’s been a week of devastating news left right and centre and with celebrating the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day, the title of this blog couldn’t be more fitting!

As I sat and watched my childhood favourite story Cinderella on Wednesday with my little girl and mum, the moral and values of this story are ones that every human should be exposed to…have courage, be kind! If only we all did this more readily. It made me stop and reflect as a parent – am I showing my own children this?!? I think I do? Do I use these words?!? Not enough. And it’s my job as their mother, to not only model this behaviour, but emerge them in this language.

I find myself using the words brave and nice a lot, but my new words now will be courageous and kind. If only every child knew what this looked like and felt like, I believe there would be less crime and hatred in this world. I believe if we were more kind to each other, this would create a ripple effect and filter through as a common denominator. I believe in pay it forward…be kind to someone, that person would be kind to someone else….

You only have to read some of the awful things that are evident on social media to realise how much hatred is in this world. The biggest one that sticks in my mind lately is the lady that received an anonymous letter from some of her “Facebook friends” letting her know that they were sick of seeing pictures of her baby daughter in their newsfeed?!? What the!!! Who does that? This is an example of 1. No self-control, 2. No tolerance, 3. Too much time to waste and 3. It’s down right mean!!!! The good old saying ‘if you have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything’ needs to be applied a lot more these days.

If we were more kind to each other, then just maybe the word “bullying” would start to vanish from the school yard and instead children would have their minds more free to be courageous! Courageous – ?!?! Never give up, strive for your best, have a go even when the odds are against you! Too often you see people just give up these days! When the going gets tough so often you see people just throw their hands up in the air and say “whatever!” ?!?! When and how did this become such a common behaviour?!?!

Anzac Day, is one of those times of the year where you hear non stop courageous stories of the brave men and women who fought for our country to allow us the life we have today…they never gave up! This is also evident in the many men and women who bravely take on a position in any of our defence forces to this day! It was so nice to march with our children for the first time on Anzac Day this year. They proudly wore their grandfather’s medals and asked many questions along the way. If this is one way to help them strive to be their best and learn about being courageous, then it’s definitely worth it.

I’m so lucky to have seen many people in my life who have been courageous and display courage everyday of their life. For me at the moment, knowing someone who is fighting a health battle with courage are the ones that I hold with the up most respect. My nana will always be one of the most courageous people I’ve met. Watching her and how she handled having Parkinson’s disease, without complaints, but still being able to enjoy the small things in life right up until she was unable to, this makes me want to be the best I can be and never give up!

Have courage…be kind! It starts from us as parents. We need to believe these words before we can teach our children to do so. If Cinderella can love and live happily ever after, after the tragedies she endured, then I think it’s fair to say we can all try to be more kind and courageous! Cinderella may be a fictional character, but I’m sure we all know a Cinderella…for me it’s my beloved nana!

Mumma Duck and her Three Little Helpful Ducklings!

Posted on February 8, 2015 by natalietrew

Who can believe two weeks of school is done and dusted already!!! If this is any indication of how fast the year is going to go, we’ll be putting up the Christmas tree before we know it!!!

How is the hustle and bustle of the school term going for you so far?

Now that we have the first full week under our belts, we are full steam ahead with school and even sport starting as well! From next week we will have something on every day between work, sport and Bailey’s therapy…did someone say holiday?!? What holiday? Feels like 6 months ago we were OS – take me back PLEASE!!!!

But what would life be if our children didn’t engage in extra curricular activities?!? I know the answer to that lol but it’s so vital for their development and wouldn’t have it any other way!

Now that the kids are another year older and our lives are busier than ever, my expectations of them this year has risen to a whole new level! I wrote a blog a couple of years ago about giving the kids chores and teaching them to be more responsible. While this worked for a while, with Sienna in prep that year, it proved to be too hard and she was completely exhausted and Bay spent his time asking why do I if Sienna doesn’t?!? Cutting them some slack, I stipulated one rule – “no jobs, means no pocket-money, but when I ask you to do something you do it without backchat or arguing!” (This has been a rule since they were toddling anyway)! This has worked well for the past couple of years, but I’ve now upped the anti!!!

During our 7 weeks holiday together, they were constantly reminded and warned how things would be this year. With Mia starting preschool and having them all going somewhere the days I work, means less for my mum to help out with and more for us to be responsible for. We’ve negotiated 5 jobs each with the kids and Mia has 2 jobs and so far our routine is working well. If the jobs have been done well without constant reminders, Bailey and Sienna receive $5 a week and Mia receives a gold coin!

Bailey’s Jobs:

*make your bed

*get clothes ready for school

*take washing off the line

*give the dog water

*take the bins out

Sienna’s Jobs:

*make your bed

*get clothes ready for school

*check the mail

*feed the dog

*set the table

Mia’s Job’s: *make your bed

*empty the bins

Each job helps me immensely in the running of the house from day-to-day, week to week, especially on my work days! And of course the rule of do what I ask without arguing is an everlasting rule for everyone!! I’m really proud of how we work as a team. We always discuss with the kids how important it is for us to work together for our busy life to be. The kids are managing their jobs really well and even doing most of them without being reminded!

I often take the time to look around and watch the day unfold, particularly our morning routine and it’s great to see my little ducklings being so helpful and following in the footsteps of their mumma duck!

I’m really seeing my hard work as a parent pay off as of late and it’s really worth putting in the effort! I know its early days yet and as the term goes by and the kids become tired and more busy, it’s not going to be all roses. But like I always do each and everyday of my parenting life, I will enjoy the highs and hold on tight and not give up on the lows!

Untying of the Knot!

Posted on January 25, 2015 by natalietrew

The time has arrived. After being home for the past 4 years and tied to either myself or my mum’s apron string, Mia’s knot has been untied and she is now officially a preschooler!

This moment has been discussed and prepared for over the past few months and although we knew it had to happen, it always leaves me with an empty and sad feeling. The thought of Mia being in the care of someone unfamiliar to her and the fact that she is my baby and the last one to enter the world of education, was always going to leave me feeling an overwhelming sense of emotions.

For the past 4 years, it’s been mum and I nurturing and caring for Mia. We’ve been the ones to teach her numbers, colours and shapes. We have been the ones to encourage her to be independent, give her cuddles and kisses when she is sick, reassure her when she is scared. We’ve read millions of books, sung a trillion of songs and been there to wipe her tears when she’s fallen or become overwhelmed by her fears. We have, WE have!!!

For me this isn’t the end of this road. I’m still lucky enough for Mia to go to preschool the two days I work and spend the rest of the week at home doing what we love to do best – hang out together!! But for my mum, this is the end of the road for her baby caring days. For 14 years mum has looked after each grandchild, one by one until they reach their preschool age…Mia is the last grandchild to do this! What a huge end of an era. My sisters and I were so blessed to have our mother by our side until we went to school…our children have also been blessed to have their nanny for the same time! I thank my mother from the bottom of my heart for being there for my children while I’ve worked. Mum has spent my part-time working days nurturing and educating my children just as I would. It’s been so comforting while my babies have been little to know they’ve had the next best thing to their mumma when I haven’t been there…nanny you are one in a million!!

And so Mia’s first week of preschool is over and done with already and she’s about to start her second week! She did a lot better than I thought she would do and am very proud of her. There were tears upon drop off and she was scared and apprehensive particularly on the first day, but on her second day she was an active participant in her class. She is currently experiencing separation anxiety like her big sister, but she is letting herself embrace the life of a preschooler a lot sooner than Sienna did.

Having already gone through separation anxiety with Sienna, I’m not as worried this time. I know from experience that Mia will settle. It just takes time. I know that she has an awesome teacher and staff at her centre that nurture her and make her feel safe which makes me feel better. I’m certainly riding the karma train as I did this to my mum lol! Turning 4 next month is a big step in a little person’s life! Since coming back from America, we’ve seen a huge shift in Mia’s confidence and independence and she has already been telling me that she is 4 now lol! But she’s still young and innocent. She still has meltdowns when she is extremely tired, is as stubborn as a mule and has her own Mia idiosyncrasies, but she’s socially engaging and developing like she should which makes me one happy mumma!

So with the new school year officially starting on Tuesday, the knot for everyone will be untied. Apart from me working 3 days last week, the kids have been by my side for 7 weeks. Bay is keen to go back to school but my little separation anxiety baby is already telling me she is going to miss me! I know how she feels, it was hard to leave them last week, especially after our amazing holiday!! But everyone is ready. All books are covered, bags are packed, uniforms have been tried on and ready to go. This year will be a year where we stand on our two feet and not rely on mum as much. This will be a new challenge for everyone. But we WILL make it work – provided we work together as a party of 5! It really is the year of untying of many knots….!!

Here’s to a fantastic school year!!!

The Start of a New Era…

Posted on January 18, 2015 by natalietrew

9 years. That’s 468 weeks, 3287 days and 78 888 hours that have passed and in that time we have had a child sleeping in our cot. Friday night was the last time that our 14-year-old cot (originally it was my nephews) was to be slept in at our home.

It’s been a long time coming and was something that I planned on doing last year, but something always got in the way – it was probably mostly me not letting go of my baby making days. I’ve loved every minute of having my 3 babies. From pregnancy to birthing to brest feeding and beyond, I would do it all over again in a heart beat! When I said goodnight to Mia for the last time in her cot, my heart broke a little. I love my life that we lead now and where we are at, but a part of me will always want just one more….

When I was younger and watching my sister and people older than I having babies, I couldn’t wait for that part of my life to start!! I still remember the day Kane and I decided to start a family – absolute joy and excitement! I wasn’t scared or apprehensive at all. I just wanted to be a mum. Now 9 years, a miscarriage and 3 beautiful babies later, the door to having babies is officially closed (and padlocked as my husband would say lol) now that our cot has been dismantled and given away for good!

Our baby days have been full of sloppy kisses, gorgeous giggles and an endless amount of milestones. We’ve had many ups and downs with the kid’s health, but it teaches you so many things in life and for me becoming a mum has made me a better person. It’s taught me how to love unconditionally, it’s improved my patience (most of the time), it’s built me a stronger character to handle things that I wouldn’t in the past! It’s put pressure on our marriage at times, but together we always work past this and end up stronger!

I’ve been spending some time while on holidays, looking through photos from when the kids were all little and babies. My gosh they’ve grown. They’ve developed not only physically and mentally, but they have become independent and have opinions (that aren’t always needed to be heard lol), they are really starting to enter the next phase in life!

Yesterday morning was ‘D’ day!! Kane picked up the girls bunks that I ordered through the week after work on Friday, so there was no turning back. Plus the timing couldn’t be more prefect. Bailey needs his own space desperately and the girls are so happy to be sharing. And Mia, she has no remorse about saying goodbye to her cot lol! She has spent the last 4 weeks while we were away sleeping in a bed so she is so happy to be finally sleeping in her big girl bed!

I’m really happy so far with how their rooms are looking. I still have along way to go to having them finished and exactly right, but we’ll get there. This year is about decluttering my life of things that don’t serve a purpose to me or us anymore. But there are some things I’ll never be able to let go of – that’s what special boxes are for:)

I’m not going to let myself be sad that my baby days are over. Instead I’m going to embrace the phase of our life that we are at and always look back at my baby days as some of the best days of my life. I feel so blessed that I’ve been able to experience pregnancy, natural birthing and brest feeding 3 times in my life time and will always be grateful for that.

Now to really put my big girl pants on tomorrow and be ready to send my baby girl to pre school for the very first time…..;(

Another Year Older!

Posted on February 2, 2014 by natalietrew

Another school year has started. The routine of being out of the house by 8am has stumbled upon us once again. School lunches are always needing to be sorted, as well as making sure uniforms are washed and ready and bags are packed! And of course the afternoons are now spent doing homework!!!

It’s been quite a smooth transition back to school and work this year. Bay started grade 3, loves his teacher and has a few of his old-time friends in his class. He is mister cool this year and kisses me goodbye at the car and I don’t see him again until the bell goes at 2.30 when he walks down to Sienna’s classroom. Then there is my little (but big) grade one girl, who if you’re a regular follower of my blog would remember how she had separation anxiety at the beginning of prep. She had been super excited all holidays to be going into grade one, especially as she has Bailey’s year 1 teacher. The tears started the night before school started back…it’s never because she doesn’t want to go, it’s always because she’s going to miss us!

After lots of positive encouraging and keeping the morning quiet and calm, I’m so proud to say my baby girl started grade 1 with NO tears…they came the next day and the next…but no where near as bad as last year! They are very minimal and stop very quickly. I’m so grateful that Sienna has the most beautiful natured teacher who is very understanding and has taken her under her wing and nurtures her like her own. I really can’t wait for the day though when she happily skips off without needing 5 minutes of reassurance;(

Sienna has come such a long way from the little girl who started school 12 months ago though. Already her teacher has noticed the confidence in her, that even her brother didn’t have in year 1. It’s just that pit in the bottom of her belly (you know that home sick feeling) she gets and when she doesn’t have that, she oozes confidence and spark!

Each morning always brings a new start to the day and I wait with positive encouragement and distraction when I can see my baby girl let her emotions take over….separation anxiety sucks – for everyone involved! But my tough love approach is the only way to kick it to the kurb….this parenting gig was never meant to be easy! We are almost at the end of week two and there are still a few tears, but they are decreasing and I know she is so happy as she is making so many new friends…and OMG girls at that…and always comes out of class each afternoon with a smile from ear to ear:)

It’s comforting knowing that Sienna has her big brother and cousin there. The other day Bailey was walking past Sienna’s classroom when she had a few tears…quick thinking from her teacher promoted her to call Bay in to comfort her and that helped heaps! She sure pulls at the heart-strings this girl. I asked her yesterday who she played with at lunch. Her response…”no one today, just myself!” I asked Why? Her response…”I just couldn’t stop thinking about you mum!” “I was picturing you where you stand and wait for me!” God bless her…it’s so nice to be loved!

My response to her innocence was “I love that you love me and want to see me, but I don’t want you to let your thinking of me spoil your fun at school!” “You know I will always be back to pick you up when the bell goes…school time is your time to learn and have fun!” I know exactly how she is feeling as I did the exact same thing to my mum…karma really is a b;$@ch Lol! I know she’ll get there…time is the essence to this issue!

It’s hard to believe that my babies will be turning another year older – 8, 6 and 3…where has that time gone?? As I watch them grow and develop, it makes me proud to be their mum. I’ve certainly been dealt some rough times with my trio, especially when it has come to their health, but apart from the usual ups and downs of children, we are in a good place at the moment!

Now that things are in full swing and we are back to routine, life ain’t that bad. Yeah things are busy again (especially on my two work days) but they are going to get a whole lot busier next week when all the after school sport starts again. But like usual you manage and when the chips are down and the exhaustion sets in, I will be making sure I still stop and smell the roses….and look at all the wonderful memories we created on our summer holiday lol!

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!”

Posted on December 1, 2013 by natalietrew

December 1st…when I was growing up, this date was my families traditional date to put up the Christmas tree and turn our house into Christmas time. My husband grew up with a different tradition…November 1st! I know, so early and by the time Christmas arrives the suspense of the whole thing almost kills the kids lol! So we’ve compromised (cause that’s what marriage is about right??) and we start to turn our house into a Christmas wonderland mid November. Because we decorate both inside and out, it takes us almost 2 weeks to get it exactly how we like it! My heart still skips a beat when I start mid November lol…but seeing my kids faces beam with excitement is so worth it!!!

This is how our home evolved into Christmas this year….

The inside….

Even the kids have their very own Christmas light each…

The outside….
From this….

To this….

Over 2000 lights light up our home at night:)…the kids just love it!!!!

When the first of December finally rolled over we were able to start the count down….

With so much heartache this year, it was hard to pick myself up and get into the Christmas spirit, but the kids are the best form of medicine and watching them embrace it for everything it’s worth, makes enjoying it so much easier. Our favourite nightly ritual is sitting outside on the driveway with an iceblock admiring our very own Christmas light display:)