Coming Up for Air

Here I sit on a misty Friday morning in my sexy stripy thermals not at the gym. Not icing a rainbow layer cake. Not baking gluten free muffins or cookies. Not racing out to pick up prescriptions, drop off library books or kids. I am coming up for air.

My To Do list is slowly getting crossed off. But I ache in every corner of my being. I am churning through boxes of aloe vera tissues as I sneeze and cough and splutter around doing my many tasks. I am sick with an annoying and very inconvenient head cold. And feeling a little bit sorry for myself. You could call me Rust. I never sleep. (You know that saying? Rust Never Sleeps? That's me.)

Oh dammit, where did I put that tissue box?? Think I left it in the kitchen again. After I just went all the way in there to bring it back, too. Right. I'll go grab it, make myself a coffee... and come back to you in a sec.

Righto, I'm back. {takes sip} Ahhh, that's better!

Now where was I? Would you mind if I have a little venting session? Air my sorrows? Do a little whingeing?

Thanks, you guys are great.

MY LIST OF GRUMPS

• Scrag is being a real two-year-old. Toddlerhood has hit us hard and fast, right at the most inopportune time (like, this week when i am soooo busy). He has stopped having afternoon sleeps!!! He refuses to sleep in his cot, so we have moved him into Dash's bottom bunk. But he is waking up several times a night and wandering in to our bed. Some nights we wake up with him wedged between us, kicking us in our respective spines and heads. Last night he just sat on his bunk and wailed until Dash woke up. So I had to go lie down with him. Spent the night on the bottom bunk. Ouch. No wonder my body is aching!
  
   

• This gluten-free thing is bloody hard work!! I am having to learn so much so fast. And Miss Fab is being brilliant about it all, but yesterday it all got too much for her and she had a before-school meltdown. Just the kind that really gets your day off to a great start, with air raid sirens going full tilt. I went into her (gorgeous) room and sat on her bed, pulled her onto my lap and gave her a baby-cuddle. She calmed down. And said, "Mummy it's not fair. I just want my old self back." Oh my heart just broke for her. Tears dried, we returned to the dining room for her breakfast of cornflakes with sliced banana... only to discover that someone had beaten her to it! The bowl was empty, banana slices and soggy conrflakes trailing across the table. Proof indeed  that a certain little toddler had decided he preferred her GF eats to his weetbix. Oh yes, he also refuses to sit in his high chair too. (She dissoved into tears again, it was all too much).

• I won't even go into the whole gymnastics debacle! The one where on Wednesday I stood in the middle of the gymnasium with my crying daughter who loudly and with tears refused to join in, as the rest of the world watched us. Oh yes, that wasn't embarrassing at all. Can I be bothered telling you that I threw my hands up in resignation and returned to the spectator stands and drank my coffee while I tried to decided whether to cave in or persevere? How I told her that she had until I had drunk my coffee to decide to join in or we would leave and she could explain to daddy why his $75 fees were going to be wasted? My finest hour. But then, how I put on my Mother of the Year Hat and reminded her of her bravery when she was scared at Clip'n'Climb? And how when she fell off her bike at the Gold Coast she said, "I think I can do this!" and got back on her bike and carried on. Well, maybe I should tell you how it did the trick and she decided she could be brave after all. And how she joined in a group of girls and within minutes was wowing the instructors with her incredible strength and balance. Giving me the thumbs up and wide grins. Oh, go on, I might as well tell you that story. With the footnote about how I spent the rest of the hour chasing the Toddler trying to stop him from escaping. Not tiring at all.

There. That's enough. I've got it out of my system now {sips coffee}...

Now I can move onto the things I am grateful for this week...


MY THANKYOU LIST

• My new blog friend Leonie in Australia stunned me, when she emailed me saying, "Send me your address, Id like to send some GF goodies from here to encourage your daughter". Leonie has Coelics and has also sent me a bunch of GF recipes she has tested. She made muffins just so she could test the recipe for me!!  I am blown away by Leonie's kindness. She is KiwiAtHeart. If you visit her, tell her she rocks.

• My lovely friend Meg, who gave up her Wednesday morning to bring her sewing machine and help me re-size all the dressups I got for the Birthday party. I am sewingly-challenged, so this meant the world to me. Her sweet son KindyBoy played with the Toddler, and so we all had a lovely morning. Thankyou Meg. You are a beautiful friend.

• A lovely surprise in my Inbox: An email from the Editor of Parenting Magazine. She wants to interview me!! She's coming on Monday (when the dust has cleared) to interview me about mummy blogging. I am so stoked. I love that magazine, and it has been a dream of mine to be able to write for them. Who knows??

So I have plenty to be thankful for. Lots of bright spots in my crazy week.

And to finish off with I just have to share this with you...

Mr G handed a piece of paper to me this morning; a printout he found in Dash's room, of a speech he is giving at school. Oh this made us both laugh...

Ha! He is from England??? In his dreams! he was born right here in NZ! I should know, I was there!

His dad is from Scotland?? He's from England. His grandad was from Scotland. Not the same thing.

He is cool and skinny and farst! OK, that's all true. But what a crackup.

Right, my coffee has been drunk. My fingers are stiff from the cold. I can hear my sleepless toddler complaining outside my door... I will go now and dive into the rest of my to do list. Go and get dressed. Go and ice a gluten free rainbow layer cake. Bake cookies, muffins, pick up prescriptions and drop off library books. But I will flag the gym. I am sick, after all right??? Next week. Next week!!

I will try to have fun doing it. I will focus on the enjoyment. Five little girls will not care about the details. They will be happy to be together. with dressups and makeup and bling. With cake and icecream parfaits!The point is having fun with them, right? Right. So, fun it is. Roll on the Fancy Sleepover!

Thanks for hearing me out! You guys are great listeners, er, readers!

xx