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Monday, April 4, 2011

C is for children

With the subject of my blog and Mother's Day having just happened there didn't seem to be much else I could choose for the A-Z blogging challenge.

My three kids, it is fair to say have taken over my life, I cannot say I wasn't prepared for that but when I look back I still find it difficult to believe how much time Heather used to take up when she was by herself! When I had just had her everything seemed so hard, of course there is a huge learning curve One day there was just me and James and the next there were three of us, and as Heather squinted up at me and we gazed back at her I realised I wasn't entirely sure what I was meant to do with her. The discharge from hospital was both terrifying and exhilarating.

When Matthew came along we had a better idea of what we were doing, I couldn't wait to get out of the hospital and start being a family and I was much more confident and clued up. Even so Matthew was a very different baby from Heather and when Lucy came along she was different again. As they grow up I see so many similarities and differences.

Heather is growing in confidence whereas Matthew and Lucy who seem to project it at every opportunity sometimes now hesitate. Lucy is in a rush to grow up, she wants to be the same as the other two, desperate to be thought a big girl and often forgets that she isn't as tall as the others.

I sometimes wonder where all the times goes, it takes us at least twenty minutes to get out of the house, by the time everyone has found and put on their shoes, cleaned their teeth, brushed their hair, etc, etc we are often running late. Even when I enure that we begin early we still run late! I spend lots of time after school waiting for them to finish their after school activities; music, drama and dancing. I greet them enthusiastically, ask them how their day has been and am greeted with very little in return in the main. Matthew insists of going through the entire list of events of the day, Heather opens up if something of particular interest has happened that day, other than that it is a mystery what happens between the times of 850 and 315.

The weekend usually involve visits to football, horse riding and swimming, I try to get a run in and keep up with my studies. I spend even more of my time trying to get them to tidy up, often there are toys strewn throughout the house and mess in various places. This may all sound very negative, but you know what it is a privilege to watch them grow up. The flowers that I received yesterday for Mother's day and the cards signed by the cards or made at school show that some of it is appreciated.

A smile and a cuddle can melt you, you can be infuraited one minute and giggling the next. OF course life is more complicated but complicated doesn't always have to be bad.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

My gosh, I have so been there! I have 3 kids too, but they are older now. I can tell you're enjoying every precious minute them, it goes way too fast.
And even when they're 17 and asking for the keys to your car - a hug and a smile can still melt your heart!
Thanks for the feel-good post on this rainy day. :)

Fellow A to Z Challenger:
www.deboradennis.com/blog

Novelist in the Making said...

Hi Melanie
I too have three children and can relate to what you are saying. Even though mine are a bit older, I try to be actively involved in their lives. I feel privelged as an editor and writer that I am able to work mostly from home and have been able to watch them grow up.