family Archives - Page 13 of 17 - The Only Girl in the House

Jess January, 2016

My New Year’s Resolution: Shout at the Kids for the Right Reasons

It goes without saying that for the start of 2016 I’ve made the obligatory promises to myself, that I’ll struggle to keep past the 10th of Jan (in fact I haven’t actually started them yet): drink more water (any would be a great start), double cleanse before bed (a single cleanse would be a major achievement), watch my spending, get organised… blah blah blah, but these are all relatively selfish resolutions. The one I’m hell bent on keeping is – stop shouting at the kids so much, or at least shout at them for the right reasons.

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Jess December, 2015

Older Mum vs Young Mum: My Experience

With older, new mums outnumbering young mums for the first time ever in 2014, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’ve changed as a person and a mother in the last ten years. Last week I turned 31, I know, not THAT old but certainly a lot older than the fresh-faced 21 year old that became a mother a decade ago. But since turning 30, I’ve had the best year EVER, I’ve absolutely loved it and I’m actually looking forward to 31 ‘cos the fab-ness just keeps on rollin’! 30’s rock, and becoming a new-mum again at 30 was, and is, bloody awesome.

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Jess December, 2015

Ba-humbug to Baby’s First Christmas: Gift List

At the risk of coming across like the Grinch pissing on Santa’s parade, I’m going to admit I’m not a huge fan of going overboard for a little one’s first Christmas (each to their own though!). This has good and bad points for Casper: on the plus side – he will not be sporting a green and red, elf onsie, neither will he be found supping on Grandma’s xmas roast given the mini-blender treatment; on the downside, my poor little Tiny Tim will not be inundated with so presents he doesn’t know which one to bang/throw/dribble on first. Maybe I’m just incredibly cynical after a couple of 1st xmases, but new parents, I hate to put your cinnamon and clove scented candle out but your bubs will undoubtedly give a glassy eyed clueless look for a large portion of the day and, although a cliche – they WILL genuinely enjoy the box and packaging so much more!

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Jess November, 2015

Counting My Blessings: Half Term

Wow, what a week?! We’ve come crashing into Monday after a somewhat hectic half term (not quite over yet – we’ve got an inset day today!) and surprisingly I’m pretty upbeat about all that has happened in the past 7 days. Considering I’m running on next to no sleep, courtesy of Casper – Captain of #TeamNoSleep; we’ve had the boys at home all day, every day; and we’re facing a giant house move in 3 weeks (eeek, a bit of denial over that one) – I’m blissfully grateful for all the stuff going right. Don’t panic, I’m not about to get all gushy and holistically thankful to a higher being – but sometimes I find it good for the ol’ mama soul to take stock of my blessings – it puts things in perspective. On a day when things might not seem so perky,you know the ones when you’re pre-menstrual, the kids are fighting non-stop, the washing machine is stuck on an error-code that might as well be an outer-Mongolian dialect as no-one knows how to fix it, you run out of tea bags just as you’re gasping for that first cup of the day and you dash into the car to finally get to work only to remember you forgot to fill up with petrol – these are the days I’ll most need this list, to remind me, things really aren’t that bad!

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Jess October, 2015

Fanny Bone Ache aka Pregnancy Pelvic Girdle Pain

It started about 20 weeks into my third pregnancy – a searing pain, shooting through the middle of me, stopping me from moving like a normal human being, let alone walking without wincing. It commonly became known in my house as “Fanny-Bone Ache”; there was no other way of describing it – it was a severe ache of the bones around my nether regions. I’d pleasantly bumbled along through pregnancy 1 and 2, none the wiser that this thing actually existed – no one had mentioned it, it wasn’t covered in the myriad of baby books I poured over as a first-time mum and 2006-2007 (first pregnancy years) weren’t big for internet in terms of mums chatting to one another. So, when at 20 weeks I found myself waddling and limping like a Christmas-ripe goose with a twisted ankle (do poultry have ankles?) and, suffering quite badly with a pain similar to that time I underestimated the height of the metal bollard whilst leap frogging, I felt as though my little pregnancy bubble had somewhat deflated.

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