I'm sure I can't be the only person who gets to the end of the day and wonders what I've actually acheived that day. When you're at home with little ones it can be quite easy to just concentrate on "surviving" and it can be easy to lose track of what has kept you busy all day. Realistically though, stay at home parents usually acheive loads, but they simply don't have the time to step back and take stock of just what they have done.
This morning Mr C went out to a first aid course so I thought I'd keep track of just what I got up to in that time – admitedly, partly to make myself feel like I could justify the bar of dairy milk that went with my morning cuppa, and the glass of wine that I'm planning to have tonight.
The morning didn't start well with the Ocado man arriving at the door full of apologies about the jar of curry sauce that had exploded all over half my shopping order. Unfortunately that curry sauce was supposed to form part of tonight's dinner plans, so back to the drawing board for today's meal plans. Several other things had been so covered in sauce that they couldn't be rescued either. I swapped a few things around, googled some recipes and my new job became putting together a beef and mushroom stroganoff that could go into the slow cooker for the rest of the day. Small pat on the back for getting things back on track.
Little Miss C has been a bit tough to entertain lately – especially since she missed nursery last week due to a fever and hence I think she's just sick of the sight of me – so it was necessary to make a real effort to do things with her rather than just letting her play whilst I got on with jobs. We started off doing some sewing together. I picked up these great lacing cards in Wilkos for just 50p when they were selling off their old craft range before bringing out a new one earlier in the year. With shoelace type threads LMC had a great time threading them through the cards and she was very proud to be "sewing like Mummy does". Parenting bonus point number one.
By the time we'd done this Master C was ready for a feed – something it seems he's ready for every hour some days! – so that was combined with a quick phone call to my mum and LMC watching a spot of TV. Inspired by I Can Cook we then set about baking a batch of biscuits for Daddy's return. My late Gran's Ginger Biscuit recipe is very simple and quick and it's hard to get it wrong, even with a toddler helping. After all the clearing up that was required before we could start baking and the baking itself it was time for Master C to have yet another feed by the time they went into the oven. After a quick ten minutes of feeding the buzzer signalled time to get the biscuits out of the oven and luckily Master C went down for a nap at the same time. By this point I was awarding myself parenting bonus point number two, putting the kettle on and imagining sitting down with a cuppa and a biscuit and even wondering if I might be able to get five minutes with a magazine.
That wasn't going to be the case though as LMC very loudly reminded me that it was nearly lunchtime. A raid of the freezer found a cooked mince portion so whilst that defrosted in the microwave I peeled some potatoes and put them on to boil. Fifteen minutes later she was sat in her highchair with a portion of mine and mash in front of her – cunningly called shepherd's pie in an attempt to get her to eat it. This is where I started losing parenting points though as after a few enthusiastic first spoonfulls she declared that she didn't want any more and wanted yoghurt and chocolate instead. Meal times have been a bit of a battle of late and today was no different. Cue 30 minutes of screaming about how she didn't like her lunch, didn't want to eat it and how she wanted something else instead. Even promises of a biscuit if she ate some more seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Master C wasn't deaf though and all this screaming about food woke him up and reminded him that a whole 55 minutes had passed since his last feed so it must be time for yet more milk. Mummy the milk producer was in demand again. Sat down with my now cold cuppa I proceeded to feed Master C whilst still trying to calm down LMC and convince her to eat some more of her lunch – all whilst attempting to hide the fact that I was eating the bar of fruit and nut that I'd sneaked out of the fridge! Parenting points into negative numbers by this point I'm sure.
Fit in round the above an explosive nappy change requiring a change of clothes for Master C, one load of laundry through the machine and three lots of washing up and I think I now understand how I didn't have time to be bored this morning. By the time Mr C returned (now fully knowledgeable as to how to save a life) I was shattered and very ready to have five minutes peace and quiet – once I'd cooked our lunch of course.
Forget one glass of wine this evening. Re-reading the above I think I deserve a whole bottle. If I can stay awake!
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