Time to be honest…please bear with me, I didn't realise how long the blog would be.
Both the midwife and health nurse mentioned something about the 6-week mark being a tough week. I thought, nah, I’ll be right but it has been rough. Never had it before but I guess I haven’t had six kids before either.
The housework is now much more. Finding it harder to keep up but I think I am managing it, just. The washing is now at a higher level due to the girls wetting through/spewing up on their clothes. I am very thankful for the second extra large clothes airer and the drier.
The older twins are acting like close besties one minute and scrapping like nothing else the next. They are about to turn three in June and are needing more stimulation. That is fine when I am feeling on top of things and able to get outside and into the garden for example. I need to find things for them to do that helps me too, like putting washing in the machine (MrW loves doing this).
As for MissZ and MrT, they are starting to spread and test out their wings. They are needing to be guided more than ever with bringing home new thoughts and attitudes from the school yard. It is hard but I know that putting in the hard work now and developing a strong loving relationship with them now will get us through the teenage years. The blessing is that they adore the girls and I don’t have issues with jealously or with them competing for my attention.
I have been able to pull out the sewing machine and have made some cushions for The Brown Dog in Stanley. I have put them on etsy and madeit until I have enough to take to the shop. I need to make some more shoes and bibs too. I have felt the pressure to keep up with status updates and product photos on FB: other WAHM’s (work at home mum) can manage why not me? I have to remember that I have six children, four of whom are at home and at needy/dependant ages and I am not using any form of childcare. I also have to remember that the craft side of Providence Meadows is a hobby not a business that we rely on to put food on the table. In six years' time all the kids will be at school and I’ll be looking back saying ‘how time has flown by’. I need to do what I do as it happens, in my own time and not just to please others or live up to expectations.
Aj thinks that I’m a bit of a martyr as I won’t ask for help (especially while he’s on camps) but the help I need isn’t so much with the housework but help declogging my brain. Help that only he can give me (or my mum/sisters). Having said that a good chat/cuppa/down time with a friend does help too ;) Go back years and women weren’t expected to do as much as they do now. It was known that mothering young children is tiring and a selfless job. Mums didn’t go out much and when they did their kids went with them. Now, we seem to expect mothers to to look a million dollars, have a spotless house, kids under control and have it all together. Reality check, it doesn’t happen like that!!!
May this blog be an encouragement to you as a mother that everyone has their ups and downs - some just never let on. Be yourself and don’t let the pressures of this world get you down. If the house isn't tidy; you didn't get any makeup on; the washing on the couch still needs folding...so what. My favourite saying at the moment is God doesn’t give us more than we can handle – with His help. Know that you are doing a fantastic job and you are blessed.
