Tag: parenting

Fantastic Advice for New Parents: Family Happiness Tips

Family / 1 year ago / RelentlesslyPurple

Being a parent is one of the most rewarding experiences in life. But, it can also be one of the most challenging times in your life, and there are so many things that you may not have thought about before becoming a parent. However, there are some things that all parents need to know- no matter what age they are when their first child arrives- and these tips can help make your parenting journey more manageable. They will also bring more happiness into your home.


Trust Yourself


Being a first-time parent can be very scary, full of many unknowns. Trusting yourself to make the right call for your child is a big part of this journey, and it can lead you down paths that may seem more difficult than others, but they are going to guide you towards being a better parent in the long run.


Practice Self-Care


Being a new parent means sacrificing time with family and friends, so having some alone time every now and then or even just taking times during your day where you have 15 minutes of downtime from your child is so important. It will help you to not only recharge but also stay sane during your parenting journey.

Your self-care routine as a new mom should include the following activities:

  • Get enough sleep: sleep is an essential part of self-care. Ensure you get adequate sleep regularly.
  • Eat healthy meals: your diet will affect your mood and energy, so you should ensure you’re fueling your body with good foods.
  • Take breaks when needed: put the baby down in a safe place and take a few minutes for yourself to do something that relaxes you, whether that is reading, taking a bath, or watching your favourite show.
  • Cracked nipples: You may experience cracked nipples when you start breastfeeding. Therefore, you need a way of caring for cracked nipples to return them to the right condition. Lanolin cream can help soothe the pain and speed up healing time
  • Take a relaxing bath: Add some soothing essential oils to your bathtubs like lavender, chamomile, or rosemary oil
  • Exercise: Taking walks with your baby, doing prenatal yoga, or light weightlifting are all excellent exercises for new moms

Be Kind to Yourself

Being kind to yourself is one of the most critical aspects of keeping your family happy. It may seem easy enough for non-parents, but it is more complicated than you think when you are a new parent. However, you can be kind to yourself by making time for yourself each day that is not about your baby.

Try to keep your social life alive by inviting friends over or going out once every few months so that you do not feel too isolated. This way, you will have opportunities to talk about adult things other than just work-related topics, giving yourself an outlet away from all the stress of parenthood. These little acts might seem insignificant on their own, but they can add up when done regularly.

Accept All the Help You Can Get

Asking and accepting help may seem difficult at first, but it is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your family. It can be difficult to let go and allow others to help, but you will create a sense of community and support that will benefit everyone involved. Friends and family want to help – let them.

There are many ways they can help, from watching the baby while you take a break to grocery shopping or even cleaning your house. If people offer to help, accept the offer graciously. Not only will you get some much-needed assistance, but you will also be strengthening your relationships with those around you.

Be Flexible in Your New Parenthood Journey

Flexibility is vital for adapting to the many changes that come with being a new parent. Things will not always go according to your plan, so be prepared to roll with the punches. There is no right or wrong way to do something as a parent, so go with the flow and let yourself be open to learning as you go. It will help you to be less stressed and more patient as you navigate through this new chapter in your life.

Adjust Your Expectations

Every parent has expectations of what parenthood will be like. However, it is essential to remember that things may not go as planned, and you must be flexible. So please do not get bogged down by the small stuff; enjoy your time with your child and let the rest work itself out.

One of the most important things to remember as a new parent is that you are not perfect, and that’s okay. Accept that you will make mistakes and permit yourself to relax your expectations. You don’t have to be a supermom or dad – try your best and enjoy this new chapter in your life. As your child grows, they will teach you what works best for them, and slowly but surely, everything will fall into place. Until then, take it one day at a time.

Seek Opportunities To Bond With Your Baby and Make Memories

Bonding with your newborn is a cherished experience that will be filled with lots of cuddles, laughs, and tears. There are so many beautiful moments to enjoy during those first few months, so take the time to soak it all in. Whether you’re reading stories, singing songs, or taking long walks together, make sure you’re spending quality time with your little one. You’ll cherish those memories for a lifetime.

In addition to bonding, try to create some unique traditions with your family as soon as possible. It could involve weekly meals together, playing games on holidays, or setting aside specific days for special outings. These traditions will help to anchor your family and provide consistency during what can be an unpredictable time.

Find your Tribe

One of the best things you can do as a new parent is to find your tribe – a group of people who will support and encourage you and who you can rely on for advice and friendship. It could be friends from before you had kids, other parents you meet through activities, playgroups, or even online parenting groups.

Having this support system in place will help make the challenging early years easier. Knowing that you have someone to talk to when things get tough – or to share funny stories about your kids with – can be reassuring. Plus, it’s always nice to have people to celebrate milestones with.

Live in the Present Moment

Practice mindfulness with your child every day so that you can be fully present when it matters most later on. As new parents, you may get distracted very quickly because there is just so much to take care of. Try to focus intensely for short periods throughout the day while playing games like peek-a-boo, patting their back until they fall asleep, giving them tummy time while singing songs, etcetera. With enough practice, this type of engagement will come naturally over time. You might also want to read up on meditation if you find it too hard to stay focused.

Talk About Money Decisions With Your Partner

It is one of the most vital conversations you will have as a couple regarding your family. Money is one of the leading causes of stress in relationships, so you must be on the same page regarding financial planning and budgeting. Discuss your goals for the future, how you want to save for your child’s education or future expenses, and what kind of lifestyle you hope to provide for your family. It’s also essential to be honest about any debt you may have accrued and develop a plan to pay that off together. By communicating openly and honestly about money, you can avoid many potential conflicts down the road.

Conclusion

Parenthood can be very challenging, even for seasoned parents. However, new research shows that there are ways you can increase your family’s happiness. Promising statistics show that including these tips in your lives will help to improve the well-being of both you and your child.

3 Tips for Balancing Out Parenting and Self Care

Parenting / 2 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

Image credit 

Practicing self-care as a parent is something that feels a little too far out of reach at times. Being a parent, no matter if you’re a mother or father is really just an incredibly tough job. It’s a job that you’re constantly doing around the clock and there aren’t any breaks or timeouts like a normal job may have. Regardless, parenthood is simply a beautiful experience that reminds you of how far you’ve come with your little one. While we’re taking care of our children, we can’t neglect ourselves either.

Parents tend to constantly put their children or others before themselves. This can be good, it shows your dedication, but it does mean that sacrifices are made such as sleep and even a decline in health. It’s important to focus on self-care habits as these affect the mind, body, and soul. Here are some ways to help change your mindset so you can begin focusing on your little ones and on yourself too.

Do not guilt yourself for your needs

Parents tend to guilt themselves for not putting in enough time and energy doing other things. Self-care tackles mental health and it can be a way to help improve your mentality as well. You need to first start with yourself and understand that you’re not a bad person for wanting to have time to yourself.

You’re not a bad parent for wanting to take care of yourself and tend to your needs. If you want to tend to others’ needs, such as your children, you need to focus on yourself so you can properly be there to help the ones you love. So first begin getting it into your head that you need breaks, you deserve breaks, and you have to take care of yourself.

Know that your sleep matters

Parents and lack of sleep go hand in hand, it’s the dark truth, but it’s something that eventually gets accepted. You may have even seen some funny memes online about the lack of sleep that parents get. While it may be one of the facts in life, it’s important to know that your sleep matters and you have to try and get it.

You can look into getting a Moses Basket for your baby and have it right next to you at bedtime, this way you can immediately tend to your baby in your room and get back to sleep. Alternatively, you can talk with your partner about taking shifts and days in balancing out who will tend to the kids and who’ll sleep.

Think of the little ways to get yourself feeling good

There are plenty of ways to help your soul feel good such as eating your favorite sweets, getting yourself a little gift you’ve had on your wish list, but you should think about the things that will make you feel physically good as well. This includes eating healthy meals that will nourish your body. A healthy meal is going to drastically help in giving you more energy and making you feel physically better. The same can be said with regular exercising, even just doing a bit of movement each day such as walking can do wonders to how you’ll feel. 

The Baby Detective Blog Tour

Book Reviews / 4 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple
Baby Detective Blog Tour

I received The Baby Detective by Sarah Norris to review, a parenting book unlike many others I’ve read. This book doesn’t dictate what is the right or wrong way to care for your baby. Neither does it tell you which parenting style to go with, instead, it gently guides you through caring for your newborn.

The Baby Detective

The Baby Detective

Sarah Norris gently guides you through investigating what the problem is and why it is happening. With 25 years experience as a maternity nurse caring for hundreds of new mothers and families Sarah developed a new method. The unique AIM (Assess, Investigate, Modify) method to help parents solve the challenges any new parent may face.

Sarah Norris

A Unique Parenting Book

New parents can often feel confused and overwhelmed with unasked for advice, tips and tricks to care for their newborn. This book encourages parents to use their own tuition rather than telling them what to do. This book will give you the confidence to care for your new baby with confidence. Solving each challenge you face from sleeping, feeding, routines and winding.

Different Case Studies

Each case study is unique and as a parent of 2 daughters myself, I’ve faced most of these problems. Looking back at my own experience these problems sometimes took month to solve due to conflicting advice, especially with Eva. Sarah’s explanations of looking for clues as to what affects your baby is fantastic for new parents. I honestly wish I had a book like this to hand as a new parent. Everything a new parent will face with their newborn is covered. From environmental factors, biological states,temperamant and emotional response.

Record Keeping

Sarah explains how record keeping can help new parents keep track and solve problems. From feeds taken, winding times and issues, sleep patterns and issues, nappy changes, Sarah makes record keeping seem a breeze . She also goes on to explain whilethis can be reassuring it can also increase anxiety at times. If this happens she explains what to do in that situation. This kind of book would have been helpful when I had Eva. I became obsessed with weighing Eva weekly until she was over a year old. Because she was born at 4lb 14oz, then dropped to 4lb 4oz due to jaundice, I was constantly worrying. Record keeping can be useful, but it needs to be kept simple and not become obsessive as Sarah explains.

How To Be Your Own Baby Detective

Rather than tell you which problems may arise with a newborn Sarah explains situations she has faced with new families. With each challenge the parents face The Baby Detective explains how to assess the situation, investigate the problem and make modifications. This method can be applied to big and small problems even those minor day-to-day issues.

Planning

The Baby Detective covers planning ahead using AIM. This can be applied to family gatherings at home, medical appointments or treatments. It can also be applied to Social events away from home, foreign holidays and as baby develops. This in depth look at planning helps you plan aheadwith ease to suit you and your babies needs.

Winding Your Baby

An in depth look at winding, why your baby gets wind, anatomy of babies stomach will help you understand what is going on with your little one. This will fill a new parent with confidence instead of leaving them feeling clueless. With an extensive look at winding techniques that will help your baby you will quickly become a winding expert!

Useful Tools And Equipment

As a new parent all the baby products everywhere can be really overwhelming. You can feel really unsure what will actually be useful day to day and how to use them. Sarah looks at each tool and why you may need it, reasons it can be useful. She also explains how not to overuse items like pacifiers and tips for sensible use. Each item is fully broken down again, filling a new parent with confidence that they are doing the right thing to comfort and care for their newborn.

What Is Normal

As a new parent knowing what is normal for your baby can be very confusing and scary. Again Sarah gives an in-depth look at every part of a newborn. From skin colour, umbilical cord, eyes, arms, feet, noises and crying. The Baby Detective also looks at head shape, appetite, wind, hiccups, breathing and temperature, febrile convulsions and sleep. A look at birthmarks, urine, feaces and constipation, menstrual blood in baby girls and skin rashes will leave you confident in caring for your newborn.

Where and How To Get Help

As you face new challenges you may require support and have no idea where or how to get help. Sarah makes this easier for new parents by point5ing out exactly where to get the help you need and how. From other peoples opinions, hospital, community midwives, health visitors, GP’s, consultants, maternity nurses and support groups. Whatever help you need, Sarah Norris has compiled an extensive list to make finding help easy.

Emergency Action

We have all faced a newborn screaming, having a total meltdown whilst feeling overwhelmed and exhausted ourselves. Sarah offers some fantastically useful advice and suggestions for this situation. Sarah provides comforting ideas for your baby, an emergency routine to reset and calm a baby. These aren’t long term solutions but will help you get back on track and continue with the AIM method in desperate times.

Genuinely Helpful Parenting Book

Having read The baby Detective, I love Sarah Norris’ way of looking at caring for a newborn. I remember too well how stressful those first few months with Eva were. I never felt confident that what I was doing was right and everyone felt I should try their way. It’s very overwhelming and stressful but The Baby Detective would make that time much easier for any new parent. I genuinely couldn’t recommend this book more, it’s unlike any other parenting book I have read.

Easy Mornings With Left & Right Shoe Stickers From Easy2name – 3 Sets To Giveaway!

Family / 5 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

Want easy mornings with left and right shoe stickers? Easy2name have these fantastic stickers perfect for pre-schoolers & young children & we have a set each for 3 lucky winners! We received several sets of the lovely animal design left & right shoe stickers for our review. You can find a whole range of fab stickers & labels at Easy2name & I recently reviewed their Gorgeous Personalised Woven Labels with a giveaway (Ending: 2/4/18) too!

 

Easy Mornings - Left & Right Shoe Stickers - 3 sets to give away!

Left & Right Shoe Stickers

The left & right shoe stickers are designed as a simple but effective solution to teaching children to put their shoes on the correct feet. This makes putting shoes on more fun and getting out the house a bit easier! Both girls still need help with their shoes, Izzy is learning and Eva struggles to stay focused. Needless to say, it can cause stressful mornings so spotting the left & Right shoe stickers seemed a great idea.

Left & Right shoe stickers come with 4 fun designs included in each pack of 8, costing just £4 each. They are really easy to use, peel off and place each half of the sticker in each shoe to complete the picture. These labels are white and come in either black or pink print, you can select when adding to your basket.

Left & Right Shoe Stickers from Easy2name

Izzy barely let me photograph the stickers before claiming a pink pig set of left & rights stickers for her trainers. Straight away I noticed the quality of the stickers, Easy2name have amazing quality products, I’m still in love with my woven labels too! The left & right stickers looked really cute and Izzy loved her pig! The very next day she got ready to go shopping with the Mr & proudly showed him which shoe to put on each foot. It really made me smile, it makes putting on shoes much more fun gives kids that little bit of independence too.

Easy Mornings

I’m looking forward to easy mornings and Eva coming out of school with her shoes on the right feet! Eva picked a Dog for her trainers and a Zebra for her wellies which she struggles the most with. She wore her trainers to school for a few days (she keeps destroying school shoes, eek!) and came home with them on the right foot every time. I was even more impressed on P.E days as she generally has to swap her shoes over before walking home.

Making mornings easier with left & right shoe stickers

One morning we woke up & it was raining hard so Eva needed her wellies for school. Eva usually can’t figure out which welly to put on which foot, as they are so similar. Reminding Eva the images go on the outside, isn’t helpful as the pictures wrap around. With the Easy2name left & right shoe stickers though we had an easy morning with no stressing over her wellies being on the wrong feet. Relief all round!

Shoe stickers for kids

 

I would definitely recommend these cute left & right stickers to parents of young children. They really do give you an easy morning and a happy child, these stickers are just fab!

Giveaway

If you love the idea of these left & right stickers enter the rafflecopter giveaway below for your chance to win 1 of 3 sets. Each set of  8 left & right pairs of stickers come in 4 cute animal designs & winners can choose their preferred colour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

First-Time Mum – A Letter To Myself #VicksBabyRub

Britmum's Linky Challenges / 5 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

I wrote a letter to myself as a first-time mum as part of the Britmums #VicksBabyRub Challenge. looking back to those days really did get me thinking about what I would tell myself. There are so many things I wish someone had told me. I was sent a gorgeous notebook & pen to help me jot down all those tips, tricks & simple pieces of advice a first-time mum deserves.

First-Time Mum #VicksBabyRub

 

To A First-Time Mum

Ember,

Being a first-time mum is both terrifying and exciting. Everything is about to change but you CAN do this! Pregnancy is exhausting and being a first-time mum is just as exhausting yet so rewarding. I have a few tips to help make the first year much easier for you. Everyone tells you to sleep when the baby sleeps but what if baby doesn’t sleep?

When Baby Isn’t Sleeping

Babies are well known to be terrible when it comes to sleeping but there usually is a reason. As a first-time mum, it can be so overwhelming when your baby is crying, here’s a few reasons your baby may cry & products to help soothe them.

Vicks Baby Rub – Perfect for soothing your little one, this moisturising and soothing rub is designed to comfort babies. A combination of mum/dads touch along with mild fragrances of Rosemary, Lavender & Aloe Vera can help soothe and calm your little one. Vicks Baby Rub is a cosmetic, non-medicated product which can be used at any time to help wind down & settle your baby.

Infacol – Colic is so stressful for baby and parents but Infacol is an absolute life-saver! With a handy pipette built into the lid, Infacol is easy to give to your little one and helps relieve Colic.

Dentinox/Bonjela/Ashton & Parsons Powders – Teething is possibly the worst part of parenting, knowing your little one is in pain is hard to bear. These fab products are designed to help ease the pain and soothe your little one.

Sudocream/Bepanthen – Nappy rash is a nightmare, it looks awful and causes little ones to cry out in pain. Creams like Sudocream and Bepanthen are specially designed to help heal and soothe babies skin.

Calpol/Nurofen – If all else fails and your little one is clearly in a lot of discomfort, or has a slight temperature, painkillers can help. Always read the labels & correct dosage instructions. Remember smalle/premature babies will need a smaller dose. Talk to your GP if you are unsure.

Helpful Notes

Money Saving

It can sometimes feel like we have to buy certain brands & products with little ones but the truth is there are some less-known brands that are just as good. Take Mamis Nappies & Wipes, for instance, these cost a lot less than most brands and just as good, if not better in my own opinion.

Bulk-buy products you know you will need such as nappies, wipes, washing powder, fabric softener & dishwasher tablets. Buying items like these in bulk can save you quite a bit of money which can be better spent elsewhere.

It’s OK!

It’s OK to make mistakes, everyone does as a first-time mum don’t let them get you down. You won’t always know what is wrong with your baby or what to do. Do what comes naturally, you’ll be fine! It’s so easy to blame yourself and feel guilty because you forgot to bin that nappy or wash up bottles. It happens, you’ve just spent 9 months growing a tiny human which is draining enough. Add in an exhausting delivery & a baby who sleeps very little. It’s hardly surprising little things will be forgotten when we are sleep deprived. Ask for help if you feel too tired and need help catching up on chores.

First-Time Mum Letter to myself

Believe In Yourself

It is so easy to feel like you have no clue what you are doing. Trust your instincts though, they will often be right on point! Don’t blame yourself if you can’t breastfeed, it happens, as long as your baby is fed and happy it’s OK. You are doing your best!

If you feel something is wrong, act on it. If you think something isn’t right with your little one contact your HV or 111 for advice. As a first-time mum, it can feel like nobody trusts your judgement but you know your baby best.

Enjoy The Early Days

Make sure you enjoy the early days as a first-time mum. The washing up can wait, the tidying doesn’t need to be done right now. Focus on your baby and you and getting through each day, getting to know each other and enjoying those baby days. We often get caught up in trying to look like we have it all together. The truth is none of us really do, we all lose track and forget things at times. Just remember you are doing the best you can and that’s what matters most. Your baby won’t remember how tidy the house but they will feel the bond growing between you as you spend time together just enjoying those early days.

Remember, you CAN do this!

This post is an entry for BritMums #VicksBabyRub Challenge, sponsored by Vicks BabyRub. Specially designed for babies aged 6 months and over, Vicks BabyRub is available at Boots, Superdrug, Tesco, Asda, Waitrose and all good pharmacy chains. RRP £3.99.

 

 

 

Snow Day Fun 2018

Family / 5 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

The girls enjoyed some Snow day fun yesterday as did many other children around the UK. This was Eva’s first school snow day and when I told her school was cancelled we all cheered! Izzy had never actually touched snow until we got downstairs. She was so surprised it was soft to touch and loved how it felt, collecting handfuls of snow as we walked.

Snow Day

Collecting Snow

The girls quickly got into the spirit of things grabbing snow to ball up and throw and each other. Eva was a little younger than Izzy last time it really snowed so she doesn’t really remember it well. She really enjoyed the chance to play yesterday having sulked at the lack of snow the night before.

Snow Day Fun

You can see in this picture just how excited and happy the girls were to finally experience their first snow day. With enough snow to cover our feet, we decided to wander down to the river and enjoy crunching through the snow some more. Of course, not before the girls had practised making snowballs first!

Snow ball!

We took a walk along the sea wall, taking in the fresh early morning air as it was only just 9am when we ventured out. The girls played along the way, exploring over the steps to see the old lightship and back again. On the way back the girls decided they wanted to pose as statues… Not very good statues mind!

Snow StatuesIzzy was a little more concerned she couldn’t shake off all the snow on her glove to be fair! I’m not too sure what Eva’s ‘statue’ is supposed to be though! We headed back to play closer to home and eventually went inside to warm up.

All in all we had a lovely Snow day, did you?

Burnished Chaos

Turning #TearsIntoSmiles With Elastoplast

Britmum's Linky Challenges / 6 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

We’ve been turning #tearsintosmiles with Elastoplast this week! Eva can be rather clumsy at times and quite often hurts herself in some way. It has become a family joke that Eva could win an award for the most medical forms sent home from school! We joined the Britmums & Elastoplast #TearsIntoSmiles challenge and were sent some awesome Frozen and Star Wars Plasters to join in with.

Elastoplast

We headed out to the park at the weekend, the girls really enjoyed running around and playing on this awesome ship! Whilst playing outdoors is important in child development falls and scrapes can happen often. Eva loves to climb but she managed to lose grip fall off the climbing frame and hurt her arm. We dusted her off and she seemed ok, just a small scratch. We gave her a quick cuddle and tried to distract her with pirate jokes.

#TearsIntoSmiles with Elastoplast

Playing in the park

When a cuddle doesn’t help usually distractions work best. Usually joking helps but when she has a cut it can be quite difficult to calm her down. Luckily I had the Frozen plasters we were sent in my bag at the ready. We quickly cleaned the scratch and popped a plaster on it which instantly turned her #TearsIntoSmiles. We headed home for a cuddle on the sofa & watched a film and Eva soon forgot all about her cut.

All kids react differently when they hurt themselves but when they do get upset a cuddle and distraction seems to work for us. Izzy rarely cuts herself and is one to get straight back up and dust herself off like nothing ever happened. Occasionally she will ask for a cuddle but cheers up fairly easily and carries on playing.

 

How do you #TurnTearsIntoSmiles? Do your little ones love character plasters too?

Check out Elastoplast’s #TearsIntoSmiles video below! What do you think?

*This post is an entry for the BritMums #TearsintoSmiles Challenge, sponsored by Elastoplast.

 

 

 

A little catch up

Family / 7 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

I’ve had to neglect the blog amongst other things over the last week or so & thought I’d give you a little catch up. Eva came down with tonsillitis & a viral rash. She is very rarely ill but when she is it can be hard work as she get’s very emotional and scared and to top it Izzy has been poorly too so I’ve literally fallen behind on everything!

Luckily they both seem to be a fair bit better today although Eva still has an upset tummy but I am at least getting more done now and a bit of free time.

A fair amount has gone on whilst I’ve been away including Eva’s neurologist appointment about her headaches Thursday just gone. She has been referred for an MRI scan on her brain but the Dr thinks it will come back ok.. I hope so! I’m now just waiting on a date.

Annoyingly my ESA assessment was cancelled and rescheduled for Eva’s birthday (10th May) in the afternoon meaning I’ll maybe see her for an hour across the day as she is also at school. I’m really gutted but we have planned to make the most of the good weather we are supposed to have this Sunday with a nice picnic at one of our local park’s and we’ve invited a few people. We also decided to let her have her presents & cake Sunday too so she has a chance to play with them as Tuesday will be a rush with school & me off to my assessment. We will still give her card’s a badge & some sweets to hand out at school on her actual birthday too which she is happy with as she says gets two birthdays!

I had some good news in the week from the council, giving us a date (18th May) for our new kitchen, toilet & bathroom! I can’t wait to finally have enough kitchen cupboards for all our pots & pan’s and have everything fit in nicely at last

I received an awesome parcel from The Insiders too! I’m taking part in their Calmurid Pro Campaign and received an entire bottle for myself to test as well as a ton of samples attached to a £3 voucher to give out too! (Feel free to get in touch if you’d like one!)

a little catch up

 

How’s your week been? Have you had any good/bad/interesting news lately?

 

 

Half term & chronic pain

Physical and Mental Health / 7 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

As a parent you look forward to the idea of half term even if its just a little bit, no early hectic school runs to do, no uniform to sort, more time with the kids.. But then we also kinda dread it a little knowing we have to make sure we keep the kids occupied as much as possible to prevent the dreaded repitition of ‘I’m bored!’ aswell as having twice as much housework to keep on top of!

For me although it is a welcome break from the routine and I love the girls having more time to play together half term has also become one of those times that I feel a little sad. Being in pain so much of the time often leaves me feeling so exhausted I end up feeling guilty for doing so little with the girls in the holidays.

We are half way through this half term and so far unfortunately I have only managed to take the girls to the park twice. I wish we had done more over the past week but I haven’t been feeling great so it has been a struggle to get us out and about as even the short walk to and from the local park wears me out most days.

We have been lucky to review weekend boxes which at times has been a godsend being able to occupy Eva during Izzy’s nap times & we have been doing a few crafts ourselves but I feel guilty that they aren’t out socialising and playing with other children more, especially Izzy as she is now at a stage where she loves playing with other children.

I need to find a way to fit everything in and still manage not to push myself too hard but I get so stressed with myself falling behind as it feels like I’m constantly behind on everything and the girls suffer by being stuck indoors bored doing the same things over and over simply because I’m either busy pushing myself to catch up or suffering from pushing myself.

I am lucky as I now having a working dishwasher so have to stand at the sink less, the Mr does the clothes washing, hoovering, cleaning & feeding the animals, the majority of the cooking and shopping etc but somehow I still struggle!?

I try to make it up to the girls by reading and talking to them, taking pictures and doing what I can from the sofa on bad days but I still feel like I’m letting them down. If anyone has any tips or suggestions I’d really appreciate it as over the last few days especially its been getting me down!

Parent’s with chronic pain.. How do you do it? Honestly? I need to change the way I’m doing things but have no idea what to do or where to start!