Please help make a difference
27 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in reflections
Dear friends,
Please check out my fundraising page: http://gotaf.socialtwist.com/redirect?l=920883341182032757421
I’m trying to make a difference for a great cause that is close to my heart.
I have created a fundraising page through GoFundraise to help support this cause and raise some much needed funds.
I would greatly appreciate your support by making a donation to through my web page. You can also leave personal messages and get involved yourself.
Together we can make a difference.
Thank you for your help!
http://gotaf.socialtwist.com/redirect?l=920883341182032757421
mums are ace
24 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in reflections
I have just returned from 7 days camping. I have a few stories to tell from it, but first a reflection…
I have realised there are two kinds of mothers in this world; the kind that rise early to shower, dress and ready themselves for the day without disturbing the routines of the family, and the kind that live in their pyjamas till 9am, so as to not disturb the routines of the family.
So all in all, there is one type of mother… the type that prioritises for others to just get stuff done. I love that about Mums. I just watched hundreds of Mums at camp, everyday, up at 5am showering to allow them to be free of their own needs to meet others… and I watched hundreds of Mums, buzz around in their jarmeez, not taking a bite of toast till everyone else was fed dressed and out of the tents.
There is no better type of mother. they are all ace.
Brain Quiet: If I could bottle you, Id buy you for sure!
15 Sep 2010 2 Comments
in advice, behaviour, parenting, pressure, reflections Tags: anxiety
It always starts with an abstract thought that bothers you a bit.
But I know I am not in a good way when a few seconds later my stomach starts to feel queasy, usually within minutes I suffer from diarrhea. (yes- instant and explosive! 
)
By the time I have dealt with this, my brain falls to pieces. And I am always taken by surprise. Like its brand new – the first time this has ever happened… The panic and worry come in uncontrollable onslaughts. The ‘what if’ scenarios changing at a rate that it all becomes a jumble, and I can’t articulate what it is I am thinking anymore. This is usually when I start to cry. Then I am fighting the crying. Because I know once the tears come, they don’t stop, sometimes in the past – for days – and because I am grasping at the edge. I have fallen off the edge before, where the line is blurred between being in control of you faculties and well – not. And the fear of falling over again is worse than the fear of whatever your currently dealing with in your life that is making you feel stressed.
Then the worry turns its attention to living with anxiety. If I am this broken, how can I continue to function as an adult? How can I keep these responsibilites? And away we spin, out of control. If there is anything that anyone I know living with anxiety would ask for it would be ‘brain quiet’. I have found that for me to minimise my anxiety and emotional instability, I must have a peaceful brain. If I overload it with issues, worry, decisions… anything that causes ‘brain chatter’ AND I havent been eating well, sleeping well, etc… it is inevitable that I will be in a ‘losing it’ state of mind. I don’t want options. They hurt my head. So consequently this once decisive girl lives in a state of seeking instructions, which no one around me knows they are meant to be giving, so I turn myself inside out doing whatever tasks are in front of me, without coping with deciding what to put in front of me.
So then I get overloaded, and I want to be proactive, and I know what keeps me healthy, so I try to analyse my life and how I can keep it on the ‘brain quiet’ straight and narrow. But the problem with that is, in analysing what I should be doing to keep this family going I get an abstract thought…. that bothers me a bit.
just some things I love
09 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in advice, children, foster care, large families, love, parenting, reflections
freshly bathed babies; wrapped in towels, baby babble, children’s excitement, teenagers being ‘cool’ , watching my 8-year-old become innocent again after years of bravado, stroking a 3 year olds clean chubby cheek…wiping a 3 year olds dirty sodden face, hanging out with Lee, watching boys play with their Dads, watching kids play footy on freshly mown grass, clean floors, shiny sinks, watching a movie, sharing a coffee, talking for hours… not just minutes, having mum over, being married to my best friend, buying things with abandon, Thursday nights, Tuesday nights… any night after 7.30 really…. bedtimes, flannelette pajamas, bedtime stories
I love it all. How lucky am I that I get all this every day!
shopping for a large family
07 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in advice, children, food, foster care, large families, parenting Tags: bills, family, foster care, shopping
Did you know that you can make a “trolley train” by getting the child belt from the child seat of the first trolley and clicking it through the nose of the second trolley, adjust it so its tight.. and presto… trolley train. Just a tip for those out there who, like me, do a $500 grocery shop each week for a crazy amount of boy eating machines… works great. Only problem is the turning circle.. fine in shops like woolies and coles, not so crash hot in Aldi… but … I like to wear my apologetic smile and chant – I have 7 sons… to anyone that looks twice and they usually move out of my way!
I shop at woolies and coles online on alternate fortnights (cause Coles have a better vegetarian range, and the delivery fee is worth every cent, having the groceries delivered right to my kitchen bench), troppos fruit and vege every two days, and Aldis about once a month… works out great for me. (Aldis variety is disappointing, but I go there for lunchbox snacks, nappies, cleaning and clothes products, and frozen cheat food (like pasties and the like for when I am on the run and cant cook))
Another problem for a family this size is the rubbish we produce. So we make sure that in the car park, we take all of our products out of the packaging, and place the wrappers in the shops bins (things like muesli bars, out of the box and into a ‘multisnack box’. We have two wheelie bins at home, but they are full by mid week, so this really helps.
Like this:
laughter therapy
06 Sep 2010 1 Comment
in advice, parenting, pressure, reflections Tags: laughter, pooh
so today I am trying laughter therapy. I am laughing when I change nappies. I am laughing when I realise there is still solid pooh in the clothes I just put in the wash. I am laughing as I look for the brand new remote for our brand new tv is missing. I am laughing as my 11yo and 8yo fight over allocation of screen time…
Is it helping? – YES
Do people around me think I am mad? – YES
Im no rock, Im no island
05 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in reflections
My little brother always used to sing “I am a rock, I am an island”, as a human being I desire so much to be separate from everyone else, to not care about others thoughts,opinions and desires. To stand alone. But that is just totally not true, because the minute that we feel alone, we crave someone, anyone to hold our hand, and be interested in us.
I have this tug of war all the time. This desire for intensely close friendships – I invest so much time and energy into people because it makes me happy, and then, I have this desire for people to leave me alone and let me do my own thing… Am I mentally ill?
Anyway. Just wish today that things I do didn’t impact other people. Wishing I didn’t have to be responsible in life. But above all, I wish I didn’t care what everybody else thought so much.
