The half an hour tidy workout!

Mum life tends to mean, 1079839 things to do and about 22 seconds to do so. The juggle is constant, and I frequently feel like I need to compromise on one thing in order to have another.

Its exhausting!

So the other day I devised a sneaky plan to try and conquer two things at once. I tried not to say it out loud, or mention the plan in case the mothering gods made sure it didn't happen. And my wonderful parents had Mr.3 for half an hour while Mr.8months slept and I set to work.

I call it,

The super sonic, 30minutes, super clean, super sweaty work out. 

Its got a nice ring to it, hey?

So, this is how my living area looked

Its looked better, and its looked worse. So I decided in my half an hour I would to a general tidy of these rooms, the kids rooms and the bathroom. Which I did. Then I put on a load of washing and folded the dry load of washing and put it away. I did the dishes, I wiped the benches and I dusted. It took me 26minutes but it made a difference to how my house looked and of course my general sanity.

Its not a huge difference! but things looked tidier and I felt a little more in control of my own life.

And the sweaty workout?

For  every thing I put away in a cupboard I did 5 squats
For every thing I picked up off the floor I did a pushup
I jogged on the spot while I folded the washing
For every adult piece of clothing I folded, I did 2 squat jumps
For every baby piece of clothing I folded, I did 2 bench push ups
each toy off the floor I put away individually so I had to walk back and forth
For every dish I put away I counted and did a plank for that long at the end.

I did 30 squats, 22 pushups, 44 jump squats, 18 bench push ups, a 48 second plank and I did 1200 steps and burnt 138 calories!

So in half an hour, I did a quick clean of my house, I did a small work out and I felt my sanity somewhat return.

Oh and a quick extra tip?

Burn a candle, it looks good, it hides the musty odours and if you have guests pop in? It make it looks like you've got your shit life together.

How do you juggle the constant demands of motherhood?

Those moments...

Do you have those moments as a parent?

Those days where you just think, why? Why am I doing this?

When the screaming and the crying and the tantrums seem like way too much?

I had one of those day this week, I was overwhelmed and exhausted and I just thought I had done all I could possibly do as a mother and it still wasn't enough.

It wasn't frustration at the kids, it wasn't anger at them. It was disappointment in myself. I felt as though I was letting the children down. Like I wasn't enough for them, like the needed more from me. More that I just couldn't give them. It hurt my heart, it hurt my brain and by the time Mr came home I was a hopeless mess.

Im lucky, because he gets it. He comes home and he takes control. He is my life saver, my one and only and he makes the roller coaster of parenting so much easier.

That night I tucked my beautiful boys into bed, I kissed their heads, read their books and cuddled them tightly. I stroked the hair behind their ears and looked into their beautiful blue eyes and do you know what I saw?

I saw the love they have for me as a mother, I saw my reflection staring back at me and I realised,

I am enough, I am all that they need.

Every one has their good days and their bad days, mums, dads, sisters and brothers. Some days are hard, some days are wonderful.

But as a Mother, I ensure that every day is completely full of love.

Thats my job and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Fat shaming, its not ok!

One of my biggest issues in life is the way people treat on another! Why is it that people feel they have the right to judge other people? No body in this world is perfect and there is nothing worse than keyboard warriors hiding behind their computer screens and attacking one another.

It happens to everyone!

In the news in the past week alone I've seen two celebrities having to come out an explain their "weight" to the people of the world.

"fat shaming"
- unkind and usually public criticism of someone for being overweight

This is just one example of the online bullying that is going on.

Tim Dormer, former big brother Australia winner, had to come out this week and defend himself in regards to photographs that surfaced of him at the beach

photo obtained from http://www.news.com.au

Apparently the world thinks this is an unacceptable body? What exactly does the "perfect man bod" look like? A tanned, ripped, 6 pack? How unrealistic! Hand me a man who is happy and comfortable in his body, regardless of the way he looks any day! I think Tim looks fab and find it digusting he has had to even come out and speak about his body. Of course Tim being as fantastic as he is, he put a positive spin on it, telling the world how happy he is about his body and shaming the fat shamers! Go Tim, you look great!

A similar story has come out about Selena Gomez this week, as she too had to come out and defend a bikini photo of her that surfaced. She came out explaining how the comments ended up causing her to go to therapy! How is it ok for people to judge others that they have never met, about the way they look? Or the choices they make? 

Its not ok! Both Tim and Selena look incredible and are happy with the way they look! Why can't we spread words of love and positivity to one another rather than negativity and hurtfulness. It really makes me sad that I have bought two wonderful boys into this world that is surrounded by such negativity and I only hope that I'm able to bring them to a place where they can be happy within themselves, regardless of comments made by others.

This is my little soapbox for a lovely Monday afternoon! Lets share in love and positivity!

Breastmilk donation!

Breast feeding is a huge part of my life. I was lucky enough to feed E for 2 years and although the journey of breast feeding this time was quite difficult (ill chat about that at a later date) I've stuck with it and now have a happy and healthy 4 month old who enjoys his boobies. He enjoys them so much that I have a few litres in the freezer that i'm not going to get through.

So I searched for an alternate 

Breastmilk donation!!

Unfortunately that was not an easy thing to find in Victoria! I'm not sure what its like in other states, but here there aren't many options for women to donate their breast milk to bubbas who really need it! I had the luxury of doing a placement in a special care nursery and I wish I had the ability to donate to the beautiful tiny babies who's mothers weren't able to establish breastfeeding. 

The options for donation in Victoria are:

The Mercy breast milk Bank,

The mercy hospital for women fundraised 2 million dollars in 2008 to open a breast milk bank. The breast milk is collected from mothers who have given birth at the hospital, screened and then pasteurised and supplied to the babies within the NICU and SCN in the hospital. Its a fantastic foundation that supplies special little babies with breast milk from mothers who have a surplus!

I unfortunately did not give birth at the Mercy so I was unable to donate

Mothers milk bank

As above, mothers milk bank collects donated breast milk from mothers who have a large supply or excess milk and screens and pasteurises it. They then donate the milk to mothers and babies in need. From mothers unable to feed their babies or mothers trying to establish their breast milk supply, they have milk available! It is the first breast milk bank in Australia that is community based and is a wonderful foundation.

This is how I donated my breast milk and have set up an ongoing donation, meaning I will continue to give them my excess milk to donate to mums and bubs around Victoria

Human Milk 4 Human Babies

A fantastic Facebook page that is set up for women with breast milk, or mothers seeking breast milk post on the wall and then people are able to donate or receive donations. Im not saying this service is for everyone and I understand that people may be apprehensive about the lack of screening. But if the milk has been correctly stored and looked after and the mother can provide evidence that they aren't suffering from blood borne viruses then its a great alternative to donate your milk!

I am so proud that I was able to donate my milk to a family who truly appreciate it and I look forward to doing it again in the future! 

Have you ever donated your milk? Would you consider it? Would you use donated milk?

Post night shift narcoleptic

Have any of you worked night shift?

I am currently completing my final placement before I become qualified and have decided bravely cleverly crazily to do nightshift to get them done.

The reasoning behind this was O is such a great night sleeper that its easier for Mr.T to have him while I work and then when I come home we high five at the door and he goes off to work. 

Now, this works for us and i'm only doing one shift a week at the moment so its slowly but surely getting done. The only problem is, staying awake with two small children for the day whilst Mr. T works. As previously mentioned  O is a cat napper during the day, sleeping in 20 minute intervals and E decided the day we bought O home that is was a  good idea for him to drop his day sleeps (Torture: noun, the act of inflicting pain or revenge). So I spend the day setting up quiet activities with as little mess and noise as possible.

And try to not close my eyes, even to blink, in case I can't quite open them again. 

For those who have done night shift before, you will know the delirium that comes with no sleep after 10 hours of work and the need to stay awake. E usually thinks I'm hilarious as I walk around forgetting what I'm doing and laugh histerically at him doing silly things. 

Luckily the kids are pretty good and we manage to make it through the day unscathed. And as soon as Mr.T walks through the door I breathe a sigh of relief and shut my eyes. 

Sweet sweet power naps get me through the rest of the day. Which is always dangerous with a 3 year old around. I usually wake up with a sticker somewhere, or covered in teddies and blankets. Todays sticker was for being great at making hot chocolate :)

How do you guys manage shift work and families?