Confessions of a Lazy Mother

(Warning: Content may leave you feeling smugly superior)

I admit it: I am lazy. I am not one of those mothers/wives/people who bounce out of bed in the morning brimming with energy.

I am an all-or-nothing type of person: some days it's all... and some days it's nothing.

My housework gets done in a burst of energy - cupboards are sorted, floors scrubbed, pictures and pelmets dusted, bathroom and kitchen shine... and then for the next three weeks I do the bare minimum (pick up any obvious dustballs, sweep the worst crumbs, let the washing pile up til there's no clean clothes, make my bed just before I get into it...) You get the picture.

I have some other confessions...

1) I hate Shopping. This is a whole separate subject which I could title: "Confessions of a Shop-a-phobe". Let me clarify; there are two kinds of shopping I hate in particular: Grocery Shopping and Clothes Shopping. I solve the grocery problem by being an online shopper. I swear by it. My $7.95 delivery fee is money well spent: they pick it, pack it and deliver it right to my kitchen table. I only have to put it away! My Clothes shopping phobia is a whole other post.

2) I hate exercise and avoid it like the plague. The only running I do is after my kids. Rather than walk five minutes to kindy, I take the car most days. I have yet to be a volunteer on the Walking School Bus. Shame shame shame. But I am trying to do better (I walked to kindy three times this week; it's a record. My stroller is still recovering from the shock).

[Not Likely]

3) I don't actually like Baking or cooking. I do it because I have to *Gasp* Everything I cook is designed for optimum speed and the least amount of time spent in the kitchen. Any food posts I write have everything to do with making life (and cooking) simpler and quicker. I buy cheese already grated and potatoes already washed. I do baking when the kids nag me enough or there's a birthday. I choose cake recipes which do not involve creaming butter!

One of my worst mothering moments recently involved a Cake.
EVERYONE at Dash's school had to make a cake and donate it to the school Gala. Dash kept reminding me all week (he's at that age where the teacher speaks and must be obeyed).

On the day I was meant to bake the cake and take it to school, I was soooo tired after Mr G's birthday party. So the hubby said, "Hey, just buy one and put it in the box. It'll be fine..."

That's bad enough.

But then I forgot all about it... until the next morning, when Dash came racing into my room waving the empty cake box and wailing (sobbing) "Mum you didn't make my cake!"
I swear my heart skipped a beat; I went cold and numb all over. My SON was counting on me and I let him down. It was too late to do anything about it. I am sure I am the only mother from his class (school) that didn't bake a cake. How sad am I??

4) I am a hands-off Mum. Now I don't want to mislead any of you gentle readers. Just because my blog is called "greatfun4kids" don't get the idea that I am some kind of creative super-mum, brimming with crafty notions. I read the blogs by some of my creative crafty friends and feel very slack by comparison.

I have bursts (usually preceded by nagging guilt) where I will dredge up some crafty encounters, but mostly I am big on free play and letting the kids entertain themselves (and each other).

I am not the entertainment committee; my babies have always crawled around the house and found things to amuse them (after baby-proofing of course). I make sure they have a great backyard, plenty of friends, stuff to use for inventing games and then I leave them to it.

We do special occasions very well (anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas) and try to have lots of fun together as a family. We laugh a lot, dance around the kitchen, dress up, act like clowns... But I'm not very crafty.

In my defense...

My kids seem to be turning out pretty nice. They all have great imaginations, lots of friends and are very active.

OK they watch a fair bit of TV some days and we do have a Playstation and Wii, but I monitor what they watch and we only play interactive games like Buzz and SingStar and Wii-Sport (well, mostly!)


 I give them lots of kisses and cuddles; mornings start with a Mummy Sandwich (I'm the filling, they're the bread). We have great conversations about all kinds of big and small stuff.

I know what's important to them, what makes them tick and who they are as people. I am working on shouting and growling less.

I know they know I love them and think they are great (because I tell them all the time).

So what if I'm a teensy bit lazy???