Mamamia

I read a gread book a few weeks back by Mia Freedman - entitled Mamamia (also the title of her eponynmous website).

Since then - in those rare moments that I get a chance to do something entirely unscheduled and unecessary - I pop on over to her blog and have a bit of a look.

I stumbled across this article today What Do Stay at Home Mums do All Day?

It is a great article and so spot on.

I too was one of those people who thought I would have all the time in the world and would be bored silly staying at home all day long. i was so wrong.

There is so much going on that I have poles of sthings on my "To Do" pile that just never get done.

That is mainly because the only realy chance I get to do anything at all is during Action Man's nap times - if I happen to be at home during that time and am not out walking because he refused to go to sleep in the first place and the only chance I will get to have 5 minutes of peace to myself is to go for a walk and then he MIGHT go to sleep and I Might get to have a coffee in peace without him waking up...Phew!

The rest of the time is spent running errands, obtaining some sanity through Mothers group, going to storytime at the library, going to paint and play, visitiing relatives, or simply playing Oh and eating - that takes up a disproportionate amount of time.

I have had to learn to be VERY patient and learnt to tell myself that my things can wait and Action man doesn't know what waith means yet and it is far more important that I spend time with hime than worry about whether or not the Laundry is done .

Bottome line is - finding the balance is hard and giving yourself permission to do the things that give you balance is even harder. As he gets older it get harder and harder because he just wants to be with me, part of what I'm doing, climing on me etc - and I don't want to deprive him of that.

On the topic of books another I have read and thoroughly recommend for it's brutal honesty for anyone who is a mother - but especially for someone who might be about to become a mother is called - The Mask of Motherhood by Susan Maushart. It is the most honest account of all the aspects of pregnancy, birthing, breastfeeding and early motherhood that I have ever come across and I wish that i had the opportunity to read it before I had my boy - I would have felt so much better prepared!