my-speck

i'm pregnant and it's going to be a rollercoaster

A sisterly break.. December 19, 2011

Filed under: baby stuff,eating,family,Parenting,Raising a Child,swimming,walking — rakster @ 2:29 pm

A week ago, I headed off down the coast with little Luna and my 3 sisters. It was the first time that just the four (i mean five) of us have ever been away together that I can remember. That is, away without assorted partners, other family etc. (Am I right on that sisters???).

We went out for a few drinks and dinner a few months ago when R1 was up from Melbourne, and it was fun. So when she said she was coming up for a few weeks before Christmas, I took the opportunity to organise a getaway. We headed down to Lennox Heads (just south of Byron), a small sleepy little town with a stunning beach and a lake too. We shared a small apartment that looked out directly to the ocean and where we could hear the waves crashing all night. Played a little scrabble, a few cards, drank a lovely bottle of champagne, ate home-cooked food and just talked.

I enjoyed myself. Little Luna loved the attention.

And I got to enjoy a swim in the ocean by myself. For ages. Without the worry of a two-year old on the beach wanting my attention, nor a baby to swap with a husband… Yay.

Love M.

P.S. the best part of the weekend was my sleepy head sister R2 waking up first thing on Saturday morning, and before even asking for coffee (her serious addiction), coming into the room and asking,

“Can we dress her up? What do you have??”….

 

what i should have taken a photo of…(and bad parent of the day award) September 26, 2011

Filed under: bad parent of the day award,development stages,Parenting,Raising a Child,swimming — rakster @ 2:11 pm

what I should have photographed.

not the morning tea consumption post-swim:

morning tea at the pool – muffin, watermelon and strawberry

more interesting would have been:

  • me when I took that photo, sitting in the sun at a public pool in my bra and undies.  Yes, with a towel on top, but a relatively small, doesn’t cover all the bits towel.  Because I love to expose my post-pregnancy bits in all their glory at the local public swimming pool with my two children in tow.
  • my clothes at the time this photo was taken.  Ah, there: you can see my skirt in the background, on the table, behind the morning tea.  Because I thought a little fashion display would be in order at the public pool.
  • me, when I came up out of the shallow kids pool after jumping in wearing all my clothes as my big boy lost his footing and decided that instead of kicking, he would just sink during his “mum, please I want to swim here by myself before my lesson” swim.  I wonder about my face.  Bedraggled, I’m sure about; happy to have retrieved a small one from drowning, yes, also sure about; slightly guilty for letting him in the pool by himself where he has been fine 1000 times before, yes, also that.  Yes, I had my swimmers on underneath.  thankfully.   (WE HAVE A WINNER!!! Bad parent of the day award: ME!!).
  • me, sitting there at the side of the pool wrapped in a towel and freezing my ass off for the duration of his lesson.  Trying to hold the 3month old without soaking her too…
  • or better still, a video of the wonderful swimming lesson.  Where for the second week running the normal teacher didn’t show and we had a fill-in.  So my big boy who has missed 3 months of lessons due to me pulling him out after little L joined us because he had developed a fear of the swimming lessons when his last teacher was away repeatedly and he had to go in by himself with a stranger each week (gee I wonder why that upsets a less-than-two year old) made it through the first 10 minutes fine, then cried between his turn for the next 20 minutes.  Hopefully asking the teacher each time they finished one activity, “finished now?”.  Because I had promised him if he finished the lesson we could go for a swim together.

Consolation prize for me was that he loved our swim together! And enjoyed the morning tea thoroughly.  And there is no visual evidence of my bits being exposed at the pool.

love mum

 

P.S. thanks to Baby Mac for the inspiration for this post as her swimming experience this morning sounded just as traumatic so I thought I’d share too.

 

Beach Escape: Bliss June 6, 2011

Filed under: activities for kids,camping,family,Parenting,playing,swimming,walking — rakster @ 1:07 pm

Hello!

We had a wonderful getaway at the beach for the weekend – last getaway before the new baby arrives.  Time to chill, play, dig in the sand, walk, swim and just relax.

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Lovely Days September 17, 2010

Filed under: activities for kids,family,Parenting,Raising a Child,swimming — rakster @ 9:24 am
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Hello Little Pumpkin,

well. We’ve had an absolutely fantastic week. You’re over the cold you’ve had for 8 weeks except for a bit of a runny nose, and you wake up every morning and run about the house laughing and playing and giggling and riding your bike and reading and eating and just being full of energy and HAPPY in general.

Our week – morning adventures

I savour our Tuesday mornings, when we get on the bike and ride off to Pilates. We look at stuff along the way, have a chat, and generally enjoy ourselves. It is fun. And today, Thursdays, are pool mornings. We get up and out of the house early, do a swimming lesson, then have a second breakfast as you toddle (more…)