Fitness Freaky

OK - so we have come to terms with the fact that no matter what you do at some stage of mother-hood your figure starts to go wonky. Unless you are a celebrity or other such privileged sort, the duties of motherhood tend to take precedence over your fitness regime.

Let's look at the seemingly downhill struggle - before the birth of C1 - keeping your figure on track was almost effortless...a few hours of exercise a week and some pretty crazy eating habits...this is the life of the average woman. Then the pregnancy comes along and you are determined that you are NOT going to end up looking like the Goodyear blimp after the birth of C1. So you continue with, and in some cases, even step up your regime. Out comes C1 and OMG! The fat seems to melt away as quickly as ice under a tropical sun. Fabulous! Everyone says how fabulous you look after having had a child. You FEEL fabulous...everything is simply FABULOUS!! 

Somewhere along the way you conveniently forget the aging process....and much to your chagrin...the diabolic slowing down of the metabolism. Suddenly, here you are pregnant with C2, expanding like a helium balloon and that fabulous feeling has run for cover lest it be squashed under your every-growing size!

C2 is born and you desperately seek that figure that seems irretrievable. But somehow you never get round to it or you start and can never consistently continue. Then C2 starts school....so you finally begin a 15 minute daily walk and after day 1 you feel fabulous! 

After Day 2 - you feel a little achy, a little less fabulous and a little less motivated.

Nevertheless.. Day 3 comes and you drag your aching body out there and it takes a good 3/4 of you exercise time for you to get into it and you practically have to haul your aching muscles every step of the way.....but suddenly, albeit 3/4 way through the work-out, you find your second wind and you pick up the pace, you even do a bit of actual cardio....and wait for it.....there's that fabulous feeling again.

Yes...you may not be the role model for Fit Yummy Mummy as yet...but you have got going....good on ya!! Whether you have dragged yourself out there or gone willingly the point is you are out there!

Keep it up! New studies show that exercise boosts brain power and memory....there...isn't THAT knowledge motivation enough?!

Raising The future Male Generation

Happy New Year! Belatedly - true - but isn't 2010 swell??

OK - so you haven't yet made up your mind - but every year starts with new expectations, new resolutions & you just cannot help yourself...you find yourself filled with new hope...before you know it the year takes over with its little tasks & you forget the hope with which it began!

During my childhood Christmas was a lot of fun....it was a real family time & time we didn't get to spend together during the year was all made up at Christmas...or so it seems now...but when I really reminisce - my family really did spend a lot of family time together during school holidays (we were in boarding school the rest of the year!).

So - now I try to recreate that excitement for my boys - C1 is at an age when he understands that Santa Claus is coming & that he gets loads of presents, but how do you teach a 5 years old who's entire world revolves around himself that Christmas is about giving? With gentle reminders. We let him talk about what he wants from everyone & then steer him in the direction of OK so what do you want to buy for Mama & for Thathi (Dad) & Malli (Little Brother). He actually stops & thinks about it...that is an accomplishment in itself....he is now thinking about some-one other than himself.

As a mother - this Christmas holiday went swimmingly well. Naturally we had our share of squabbles between C1 & C2 - but nothing to get overly stressed about & after a very long time & as terrible as it sounds - I truly enjoyed my kids.

THAT was a good feeling. When you have one child its easy to enjoy him or her. Then C2 comes along & you feel as you're permanently defending C2's life first from attacks from his jealous brother & then from himself - because let's face it - C2 is NEVER the same calm child C1 was as baby & then a toddler & pre-schooler & C1 has made an amazing transformation right before your very eyes from your loving, caring, calm child into this green-eyed monster that only wants to wreak havoc, no matter how nice you are to him.

How to strike that balance? How do you give C1 the love & assurance he so obviously needs & is so obviously crying out for & still discipline him? Well it's frustrating to say the least & there are times when you are filled with anger & almost forget that this is just a little boy wanting attention from him Mama.

Then I received this book Raising Boys from my sister & in the hopes of starting anew with C1 in the new year - I have been reading excerpts - reading the parts that interest me to begin with & it has been a wonder. It gently reminds of the importance & traits of each parent's role. The importance of the father-figure is addresses as much as the mother-figure. And hopefully it will help me re-capture more & more of what seems to get lost in the everyday fray of discipline & routine.

It is a book I would highly recommend every parent  of boys to read......both parents. It certainly helps re-capture the wonder of boys, the trials, the tribulations & above all the joys that a child brings.

Waste not...want not!!

So you want your child to grow up to be a good responsible citizen right? You want them to understand that the world is theirs....provided they treat it right!! Let's face it people - in today's context can our kids afford to play with water for hours on end as we did? No - as much as we hate to admit it they can't. So what do we do - well for one thing teach them to take shorter baths whilst achieving the same high standards of hygiene!!

Secondly...we teach them to recycle...to be mindful of the planet & to protect it. And how do I do that you ask? There are many ways & each person has their own unique way of contributing to it. Mine is simply this - before you go out & spend on more storage space, more this & more that - you spend some time & utilise a little bit of something you often think you've perfected after becoming a mother.....CREATIVITY!! Let's face it - it takes some creativity to explain that there really IS  a Santa Claus!! 

So - I put my creativity & my kids' creativity to good use PLUS I recycled & re-used. What a fab combination!! 


WARNING : This project comes with preparation prior to the actual finishing stage AND it takes at least an hour & a half of child-free time to complete! Of course - if you're feeling adventurous & depending on your kids' ages - you may want to make it a group project....if you decide the latter....you are BRAVE indeed!



Prep work includes collecting some of your kids paintings - collect as many of them as you can so that you have the freedom to decide on your colour scheme. In addition - have some fun whilst they are painting - paint some of your own! DO remember the colour scheme you have in your kiddies room/s & try to match it...otherwise your work of art will not look great.


My kids have colourful curtains - which are largely bright orange. But in general colour is the order of the day in their room & lots of it.


STEP 1 : I started with a FedEx 10 Kg box - then selected 2 pictures painted by C1 & C2. First I stuck a plain brown paper on the bottom of the box & then glued the 4 paintings onto the 4 walls of the box.

FedEx 10 Kg Box - C1's (5 Years) painting on the front & C2's (2 Years) painting on the floor on the left with bottle of glue, ready to be stuck on.

STEP 2 : Next I selected some of my own paintings - I had simply painted several sheets in one plain colour each - so I had 5 different colours as well as some abstract colourful painted designs of my own.

I cut 2 of my plain-coloured sheets - 1 lime green & 1 yellow (are you beginning to get an idea of COLOURFUL here??!!) - into half each & used these to frame the edges.

 

This image shows C1's painting & C2's painting glued onto box & the corner strip cut from plain yellow sheet

STEP 3 : I then worked on the cover - this I chose to cover with a fluffy bright coloured fabric. Et voila! Finished product shown below - kiddies had a new toy box.

  

You can really get creative - if you have some left over fabric or paintings you can make other stuff - I made a pencil holder out of an old container that came with cotton wool balls & two empty yoghurt cups cut to different sizes.

Pencil Holder

And THAT is how you teach your children to re-cycle PLUS - my kids like the box so much they feel like putting stuff in it....most of the time!! 

Mama Mia, Mama Money!

Herft Creations....the creation station 

So....aside from my full-time job as mother & wife...I dabble in advertising....I say dabble, because in truth that is all I have time for at the moment.

Rewind a couple of years...the decision to stop working & stay home with C1....the bed was made.....then, C2 arrived & the decision was as good as set in stone. Everytime I get frustrated with the decision I am reminded of how good a decision it was by C1 who hates the very idea of me going back to work. But still one must face the truth...it does not come easy to stay at home with kids & elderly & no grey cell stimulation whatsoever. But one does it....if truth be told....its not just because kids seem to thrive having one parent at home...but for the selfish reason of not missing an instant of your child growing up, under some-one else's watchful eyes. As good as your child care is...you want to be there for the first words, the first steps & the first mis-haps. You don't want to hear second-hand about the life you brought into the world & you want to be the one to teach them right from wrong.

And yet, in the quiet moments, the frustrating moments every mother wishes for that blissful escape to office where you interact with other adults....whether you like them or not is a whole different post...but the fact that you can converse on subjects other than where the lost toy car is or debate about how many cartoons are being watched. Where disagreements are resolved not on whose turn it is now, but on facts & occasionally rationality.

And so what do you do? You try to hang onto some semblance of a world you know & a world that can save you & keep you focused on your real priorities - that's when the decision to start a small home business is made. So you look around for what you can do....in my case...not a lot....never having really excelled in any one thing, but having dabbled in several things. So, I decided to use my contacts & the little I know about graphics programs to start a home-advertising business. All went well for a while....business was good.....not excellent....but good is excellent when you can't devote an 8 hour work day to it.

And then suddenly business plateaus & you can't seem to make it grow because you just don't have the time in-between child-care, homework & household chores to spend the time required to market yourself. And you try to tell yourself...that's OK - I knew this would happen. But then you want to buy loved ones a gift....even something small or eat out one day or even just buy a book & you don't have the spare change to do so.

So what do you do to keep yourself sane &hopefully find ways of making money.....you start a blog...that's what you do & you hope you get enough followers to start pulling in a few pennies & through the blog & its followers to hopefully rake in a few brave souls who will advertise with you, And you commission your sibling's free services & enormous talent to get a website up. Yup...that's what you do....you start BLOGGING!!! :)

 

Two days & counting....

Yes....2 days since the auspicious, or non-auspicious beginnings of this blog & now I am a little over-whelmed by the sheer fool-hardiness of my idea to start a blog. It's easy to write...writing has always come easier than speaking for me - although, in the latter department I'm far from being the silent type!! But to put it all out there in open....for all the world to see??!! And when you talk about the worldwide web....the pure naked truth of it is that it is indeed the whole world!!! What have I done??!! Aarrrrghhhhhh!!!!

Being stubborn & too damn proud to admit the truth of my stupidity I shall press on, in the hopes that I will eventually get over the embarrassment of people reading my writing....that is of course being optimistic, seeing as nobody may find it worthy of reading!! And also in the hopes that I can make some-one laugh, for laughter truly is the best medicine & a wonderful gift. I love to make people laugh at me,  or with me, I find it therapeutic to laugh at myself & if some-one else can see the funny side of my ditsy life, then perhaps the pleasure, the pain, the ups & especially the downs...they have one small purpose.....I can brighten some-one else's day. Again...sounds corny..but there you have it.

And so I come back to the main topic of this blog...DH (Dear Hubby) has been telling me for the longest time to start a blog....I know in part because he considers me a good writer....the natural mischievousness in me can't help but wonder if, in part, he hopes that I will vent somewhere else aside from on him! :) Although, truth be told, this is probably an accurate assumption! But I know regardless of the fact that I am not writing on the topic he had initially hoped, he will encourage my endeavour, even though he might not always understand my twisted sense of humour!

Aaahh...the complex lives of families...becoming a parent is the most wonderful thing in the world...no-one denies it...although you wish people would stop stuffing it down your throat at every turn!! As parents...we know this...but it is also a frustrating time....especially for the woman, for it is she who must make & accept the most change. This goes double for a woman who has enjoyed an exciting, exhilarating, career. One in which she was the queen of her world, the one counted on for meeting deadlines & being orderly. Enter Child 1 - if you're lucky, as I was, C1 is a text book baby...develops on time, eats on time, sleeps on time....your world continues to spin more or less on its balanced axis. And of course, you still have the safety of work to run to, where no matter the problem, it is solvable in a rational, well-thought out manner....& let's face it...unless you're a doctor....no loss of life is imminent.

This, as any parent knows is not the case with children.....let's take a rash for instance.....it could mean anything from prickly heat to eczema or worse & until you grow adept at identifying which it is....it can be scary! Or in C1's case....urinary tract infection at 10 months!! Something we didn't even identify until the paediatrician noticed a lack of weight gain...naturally due to loss of appetite....& so the parental trauma begins....frequent urine tests, antibiotics & then more tests to make sure the on-going infection had not affected his kidneys.

And then, quite unexpectedly...C2 makes his entrance....& the last vestiges of you as an individual in your individual world takes flight.....whether to make an appearance later is yet to be seen! Suddenly the organised career girl seems lost forever, floating & sometimes sinking in a sea of soaked diapers, runny noses (for now trouble is truly doubled) & the mountains of 5 year old homework which seem  insurmountable to Mummy...forget about what C1 thinks!! And it  all gets just a wee bit over-whelming.

Then one day....you hear from an old friend...she's pregnant...& it's been a struggle, fertility treatments & many disappointments & now...oh the excitement!! And all of a sudden the fog rolls back & whilst you are ecstatically happy for friend, you remember to be grateful for the ease with which C1 & C2 were conceived & that, in general they are healthy & strong....& as every mother knows....as upside down as your life now is....some-how this IS your life & you don't really want to trade it back for your old lifestyle.........at least......most days you don't....

InThe Beginning There Was Woman....

And so it begins!! This is a true statement.....every woman feels it.....it's talked about in every parent handbook.....but we are ALL in denial!!! So this blog is for all you women out there in denial...a place to deny...a place to come to terms with denial & a place to understand that as much as we love our kids.....we are first & foremost women!

And of course.....a place to appreciate our little darlings as they grow. A place to scream about how slowly they are growing & then to cry at how fast they're growing up, going to kindy & then to college. Of course, between kindy & college there are a few steps on the way.....a few tears & a whole lot of love & laughter...as corny as that sounds!

The transition from career-girl to mother....not an easy transition....at times down-right frustrating & one every career girl cum SAHM (stay-at-home-mum) wants to pretend is a lot easier than it really is!

With this blog...I hope to help mothers all over the world come to terms with the fact that it is frustrating....to lose the guilt felt over the frustration & even to laugh at the frustration. Sounds ambitious I know....BUT ambition is a good thing...it's therapeutic for a SAHM who was once an ambitious career woman....if truth be told...an ambitious career woman is still lurking in there somewhere!!!

Welcome to my world, our world, the world of our future generations....yes...those very little feet we hear pitter-pattering around our homes!