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10 WAYS YOU KNOW YOU HAVE A TODDLER DURING LOCKDOWN

4/30/2020

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  1. You know Moana word by word – including The Rock's rap. ‘Kid, honestly I could go on and on...’
  2. Photos of you baking with your darling child are all smiles - but in reality your kitchen looks like a scene from Scarface.
  3. You decide this is a good time to potty train (because you aren’t stressed enough) and ‘find the poo' is a new, hands-on game for the whole family.
  4. Screen time allowance has gone up by 8-hours a day.
  5. Your house is utter chaos. UTTER CHAOS.
  6. Those vegetables or sunflowers you decided to plant and nurture together as a family – well, they’re dead.
  7. Arts and crafts is basically you wrestling with a freakishly strong toddler to stop eating the: playdoh, glue, paper, stickers, sellotape, glitter. DO NOT GET THE GLITTER OUT.
  8. You overhear your toddler asking whether it’s 'too early for wine'?
  9. You no longer have the energy to refuse toddler's demands so they are naked most days on a staple diet of biscuits, chocolate buttons and yogurts.
  10. One for my husband if he is reading: ​Can you stop breathing so loud please? Thank you bye.
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When this is all over.

4/18/2020

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Artwork: My husband ❤
When this is all over, let us not forget,
The people who kept the world turning, are the ones we owe respect,
It wasn’t the richest, or the ones who wear false crowns,
It was those who kept us afloat, when little hope was to be found,
The doctors, the nurses, the teachers, the bin-men the supermarket workers, those who often hide,
It was your postman, your delivery driver, your butcher, the World War II veteran who walked those extra miles,
The children who couldn’t go to school, or see their grandparents or friends,
But don’t forget it was you who made them feel safe, it was you who held their hand,
Money didn’t save us, it was the kindness in their hearts,
It was those we don’t often notice, who held us in the dark.

When this is all over, remember how the roads were quiet, not as many cars in sight,
And you didn’t have to listen closely to hear the bird song, morning through to night,
The flowers never looked so beautiful, the sun never shone so bright,
The fish kept swimming, the bees kept buzzing, nature didn’t lose its fight,
Beauty shone through and were we able to see,
That we need nature, more than it needs you and me,
Nature kept going, when we were on our knees,
Showing us that life goes on, to look for the light amongst the trees,
Don’t forget that sometimes a little, can save so much,
So keep the birds singing and the oceans alive, give back to nature what it gives to us.

When this is all over, we can’t bring back those we lost, or change the past,
But we can mend the broken hearts, find the good in this and make it last,
This does not discriminate against race or religion, the rich or the poor,
But people who always suffer the most, need us now more than ever before,
When this is all over, hold your grandmother closer, raise a glass with those you love,
Do the thing you keep saying you’ll do, keep looking for the light above,
Remember those who gave so much, who are normally out of sight,
The ones who you stood and clapped for, every Thursday night,
One day we will all look back and see, that this storm eventually passed,
And how we will be remembered, is how we found the good in all the grief – and made it last.
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Potty training tips

4/15/2020

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So potty training is easy apparently, who knew? Ok, maybe slightly challenging and we haven’t quite took the plunge yet but so many people have messaged and asked me to share what tips people gave me yesterday (thank you to everyone who messaged ❤), so here you go! Like everything, people’s advice differs and in the end what works for your child, might be different to someone else’s. But one running theme was to stock up on chocolate buttons and ALL THE WINE. GOOD LUCK!

  • Recommended books – Oh crap! Potty training by Jamie Glowacki, The Gentle Potty Training Book by Sarah Ockwell-Smith and for toddlers – Pirate Pete's Potty and Princess Polly Potty (also just seen there are YouTube videos featuring Pirate Pete too)
  • Website recommendation - https://busytoddler.com/2018/09/potty-training/
  • My Carry Potty was recommended
  • Rewards – Most people recommended a reward sticker chart. Either to make yourself or Amazon have a few. And rather than a treat for every wee or poo, they get so many stickers then a chocolate treat (or what they like). Or others said a treat after every wee or poo (to start with) and then see how they get on, then just stickers – and a treat after a few rewards.
  • Sitting them on the potty with iPad/favourite programme can help.
  • Get their favourite teddy or doll to show them how to use it – or older brother and sister.
  • Let them run around naked/or from the waist down for days and ask them every 20 minutes if they need the loo.
  • Some people said don’t ask too much as annoys them! You can judge which one works for you.
  • Put them on the potty at every nappy change for a few days before going the whole hog.
  • Start with little steps, seeing if they will have a wee when they wake up and before bath, then go from there.
  • Once you start, put them on the potty every hour and ask them sometimes in-between. They will have accidents but if they can't last an hour after one wee before they need another they probably aren't ready yet as they don't have the control to hold it.
  • If they have an accident (expect a fair amount) don't make a deal about it.
  • Fold up steps that toddler could climb up and down on to the toilet – a few of you mentioned that their child never wanted to go on potty but wanted to go straight on the toilet.
  • Make everything exciting! This was the common theme. When you show them their sticker chart, when they wee or poo on the potty, PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE, let them pick out/get excited over/wrap up their ‘big boy/girl’ pants. Come on guys - best stage school smiles!
  • Majority said nappies still for night and naps for a while. And poo's are much harder than wee's. Pardon the pun.
  • Rather than letting them run naked, some said put in pants straight away so they can recognise feeling wet.
  • Carpet cleaner on stand by!
  • WINE. WINE. ALL.THE.WINE.
  • Stick to one room or garden – or basically follow child around with potty.
  • Don’t start until they are really showing signs. (I am in two minds whether to try as he isn't showing many signs but just going to give it a go. Some people said their child wasn't showing signs, they tried and it was obvious they weren't ready so tried later on. Others said they showed no signs, they tried and went well.)
  • Little steps – rather than intense, no nappy straight away. But others said intense worked for them – again you just do what works for you.
  • Majority who messaged said it was hard and stressful (though with some kids it did just click quite quickly) - but most did say it wasn't as traumatic as they thought it was going to be so not as terrified!

So we are definitely going to do a sticker reward chart (and chocolate after so many stickers). I’m going to see if I can get the pirate book but delivery on things at the mo is hit or miss so I might just show him the YouTube videos. Over the next few days I'm going to try getting him to have a wee in potty when he gets up and then before bath. (Though he just threw the potty in the bath before so doesn't bode well.) Then nappy off and go free for a few days and see what happens. I fully expect my cream carpet will be green and brown by the end of it and I’m still not sure he is ready but just going to try. No pressure – if he isn’t ready just try again in a bit. I’ll let you know how we get on!

Wrote this super quick while Elijah was asleep on me so hope this all makes sense!

GOOD LUCK!
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Someday

4/13/2020

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Somedays the kids have chocolate before it's 9am,
Somedays we'll read books all day and make a den,
Somedays I'll throw them the iPad for hours, just to have a break,
Somedays I'll make meals from scratch and teach my toddler how to bake,
Somedays I will swear under my breath from morning through to night,
Somedays we will play in the garden, until the sky loses light,
Somedays I feel like I'm just not cut out for all this, my patience is done,
Somedays I'll realise that I'm all they need, I'm a good mum,
Somedays are hard, somedays are long,
Somedays are full of tears, somedays are full of song,
Somedays we will dance, somedays we will smile,
Somedays I need to remind myself it's all worth while,
Someday when the world let's us back in, I hope to look back and see,
That every tear, that every smile - that every day, was just how it was meant to be.
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Unsettling times

4/4/2020

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No rolling pin? Use the next best thing. Wine - once again coming to the rescue.
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How is everyone? I wrote on my stories a few days ago that Rafe had become very clingy and hadn't been sleeping well since the 'lockdown'. So many of you said the same about their toddlers. He follows me around, will only let me push the pushchair and cries if my husband tries, he doesn't always - but cries when I leave the room or he will say, 'coming back mama?' for reassurance. He has gone from being a good sleeper, settling well and mostly sleeping through to needing my husband to lie next to him to get him to sleep. Then he wakes up numerous times in the night crying and when either my husband or I go in, he will say 'lie down, lie down' and we have to lie down till he falls asleep again. It's like he has seperation anxiety, maybe this is a phase - but I do think it has to do with what is going on. He can obviously sense something is happening, his routine has completely changed, he doesn't get to see his grandparents unless it's through a window/end of a driveway, we can't go to the park or any of his favourite places. And he doesn't understand why and it's hard to explain to a 2-year-old. Hopefully it will settle in time, guess like everyone - he just needs to get used to the new 'norm'. Just not looking forward to when my husband has to go back to work but will deal with that when it happens.
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In the meantime going to dust off the flour off the wine. It's 5 o'clock somewhere right?
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Love to you all x
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    Royal Marine Wife. Mum to Rafe.

    Disclaimer: I swear. 

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