The Adventures of the Garden Sprites

Its that time again, 5pm, suppertime, bathtime and bedtime by 7! Or so we think!! Mackenzie is having a meltdown because she doesn't want to pick up her toys and have supper, Reagan is having a meltdown because supper is not getting to her quickly enough and she doesn't want her supper, she wants mine, even though its exactly the same. Finally, supper is over and we can head upstairs for bath time. I am hairless by this time as my chest aches and I have a horrible cold and I am at that point where I will gladly hand them both over to someone else. Then the guilt sets in, how can I think that about my own children!! But every mother the world over will tell you that this is definitely not the first time or the last time that such thoughts will enter your mind. So what did I do? I happened to walk back into the bathroom after having my well deserved melt down (very quietly that is), to see Mackenzie telling her sister to leave her alone and pushing her away, and Reagan standing u...

Before Reagan was born, I kept thinking that it would be easy as I had done the whole baby thing before and because she was another girl, I thought it would be even easier. But I was in for a big surprise... And what I found the hardest of all is the time I missed spending with Mackenzie. She was so good about it though and would just sit around me while I was feeding this new being who had invaded her space, or she would be doing all sorts of things to help me or just be begging to hold her new sister who to my joy she absolutely adored. I attribute that to the fact that she went with us to every doctors appointment, she spoke to her sister all the time through her mommy's big tummy and I told her all the time about what this new baby would be doing all day long! I sat outside this afternoon and filled the big shell with water for them to play in and just watched how they played side by side, not speaking yet communicating in ways I will never understand, and I found myself once a...

After even more nagging about decorating the Christmas tree, Mackenzie took her chance while I was putting Reagan down for a nap - she hung up all the decorations "by myself" and I had to close my eyes and walk right up to it before I was allowed to open them. And there it was, all the decorations were hung on one side of the tree only and smiling from ear to ear at her accomplishment was my darling daughter! I could have told her to move them, or I could have done it myself but looking into those eyes I realised that her pride stemmed from the fact that she had done it all by herself and even though it is not the way I would have done it (being the control freak that I am), to her it looked beautiful. And after taking my blinkers off, I saw it for what it was, a beautifully decorated Christmas tree with the promise of Father Christmas and the most exciting things underneath it. We live in a world that has become so stereotyped about perfectionism that we have forgotten how t...

So its 12am and the girls are fast asleep upstairs and Peter is fast asleep on the couch in front of the TV - after the usual suppertime and bedtime chaos which reigns in this house, what a relief to quietly sit down and review my day. Finally I got my husband to sort out the storage cupboard under the stairs, which is about 5 years over due, I sorted out toys for the kids, packed away and took out "new" ones for them to play with. They were absolutely delighted with their new bounty and proceeded to pack it all out, all over the house! Then we tried to sort out an on going argument with Mackenzie - she has decided she wants a rabbit and I keep telling her as soon as we have a bigger garden she can have a rabbit. Needless to say, she greets us in the morning with when are we moving, she greets us at school with when are we moving and she says goodnight with when are we moving! This has been going on for the last three days and counting!!! Then I made the mistake of taking the...

Reagan and Mackenzie Ouch, this is usually a topic of conversation that  makes a lot of people squirm for some or other reason and leaves the rest of us determined to prove that breast really is best. So where do we start with this one... Once again, the Your Baby and Toddler magazine has written an article on why breastfeeding is the best for your baby. And one of the consultants says that even though mom's differ in their production, they are all able to breastfeed. So what has gone wrong and why have a lot of mom's chosen to bottlefeed? I have an opinion that it is because even though human beings have been having babies and successfully breastfeeding them, the media has made us doubt ourselves to such an extent that many of us don't even have the confidence to do something which as far as I am concerned should not even be debated about. This particular article also states that even though formula has been designed to mimic breastmilk it does not come close to reprodu...

After more than a week of crying everytime someone looks skewly at her and just generally whining because she can, we can see the little monsters causing all the aches, pains and grouchiness! What I have discovered is that spending money on various tubes and bottles of teething mixtures is not necessarily the best option. A touch of brandy, as suggested to me by my mom who carried a bit with her when my brothers and I were teething, works much better. That is not to say you have to feed it to your teething baby as that could cause a new set of problems, but rubbing it gently over those aching gums does the trick and for some obscure reason they seem to like the taste too. So try it, and Moms, you might find it helps you to have a taste too!!

As I sit on the steps watching my two "Garden Sprites" playing and singing, I think of all the children who are not so lucky and to whom happiness is a foreign word. When we decide to have children we choose to let our hearts go walking outside of our bodies and it is our duty to love and cherish those children as much as we possibly can. People seem to forget that those children are our future, they are the worlds future and they will also be someone's mommy or daddy one day. I have a little piece of cloth which my mother got when I was born and on it is written the 10 Commandments for parents. My favourite one is number 5 which says: "Remember that is thy childs privilege to make a hero out of thee and take thought to be a proper one". My advice today is to take the time to listen to the songs and stories your child tells you, sometimes without knowing you are listening... Girlies

So Peter duly arrives home, the dogs go beserk, as if they don't know who he is, and we hear little feet stomping quickly down the stairs and a little voice saying "Hello Dadda"! Mackenzie couldn't believe her eyes and half asleep tried to fit a weeks worth of adventures into one sentence so her Dadda can know what she did he while he was away. Reagan just slept through it all...

So where to start - Mackenzie and Reagan's Daddy has been away fishing for a week and they have been eagerly anticipating his arrival since the day he left! Mackenzie and I have baked a cake and decorated it with fondant icing, she insisted there had to be stars in the sea so stars we have, along with a purple and green whale. Word of advice - do not argue with a 4 year old when she tells you there are stars in the oceans! By keeping quite you get the decorating done a lot faster. So their Daddy is on his way and will be here at about 9 tonight, I can't wait to see their faces when they wake up and like magic he has appeared!

I am a mom of two very beautiful daughters, and I want to tell the world about how much I love being their mommy and share my thoughts and ideas on motherhood. My friend Lee-Anne refers to me as Julie.com because according to her I am a walking parenting encyclopedia! I plan on blogging away so my knowledge can reach all four corners of the globe. My Daughters and I, Mackenzie on my right and Reagan on my left