Grooving Mums Challenge Week 2

It’s that time of the week again when Kate at Kate on Thin Ice  sets her linky up for Mums trying to get their groove back.

Last week my own challenge was to keep the washing up done and kitchen tidy, well it is now 12th January and my washing up is still being done, and the kitchen is still tidy – although some paper work is starting to pile up a little so need to tackle it ASAP. So I am pleased with myself and have also encouraged the children & hubby to put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher as it makes a huge difference to my workload.

Now to Kate’s challenges:-

1. Body – Lotions and Potions.  What is in your bathroom of the creams and pampering products variety.  Nothing. The same old thing or something new?  Is it time for a lotions and potions revival?

I’m not a big one for lotions and potions, but NJ did give me some nice hand cream for Christmas which is really nice and seems to be good for my hands and not greasy like so many of them are. I am more into the cheaper body washes that are on offer in the supermarket, which does mean I change what I am using every few months or so. My favourite thing though is my perfume, its Versace Woman.

2. Mind – What are the very best things about you?  Try and write down 5 of them. Now stop putting yourself down and beating yourself up.  What is brilliant about you?  You are reading this for a start but there is so much more to you.  Why not let the world see it a bit more?  How could you achieve that?

I’m not particularly good at saying what I am good at, I suppose I am always afraid that someone will disagree with me and then I will feel silly or stupid for even thinking such a thing, but as this is supposed to be about getting your groove back I will attempt some!

And there you have it, I am sat here worrying over what to write, so I am going to have pass on this one – Sorry Kate!

3. It is World Religion Day this week.  Has religion featured in your life and if so, how?  Have you left it behind?  Does it interest you?  What can you tell us about your own religious beliefs?  Does religion cause more harm than good?  Let us know what you think.

For those who would like to know about the day itself http://www.worldreligionday.org/about-us/the-aim Please note that Groovy Mums and myself have no association with this day.

From the age of 11 I was in the church choir, I loved singing and also enjoyed going to church. We (myself &  my sisters) were never coerced into going to church it was something we chose to do, my parents started going to church at a similar time and from then on till I went to university that is what I did. At the moment I am not entirely sure what I believe, I believe in something as there are so many religions based around the same ‘characters’ that I think there must be something. Also most religions are based around being kind and thoughtful, treating others as you would wish to be treated. So it is in this theme that I am trying to bring up my 3, we are not a religious family, but I do teach my children the reasons why we celebrate Christmas and Easter. At some point I am sure they will make their own minds up if they wish to follow a particular religion or not and I will support them. I think what causes the harm in regards to religion is the extremists out there, in all faiths, that make people cross and angry that someone is trying to make them think the same as them.

4. Blogging – what good could you do with your blog? That’s a really open question so you have plenty of scope to answer it in a way that makes sense to you.

I hope with my blog to help myself have a place to write and express my own thoughts and feelings, it would be lovely if someone out there gets some sort of support or relief from reading some of my experiences with PND and bringing up children.

5. Big Question – who can you ask to help you?  Who can you delegate some of your tasks to?

I have never been very comfortable with delegating tasks, at home I often end up doing most things as it just seems easier, however I have just put in place a chores chart for AJ & FJ. These chores will help me, alongside helping them to gain a sense of achievement at the end of the week. I am not expecting them to toilet cleaning or hoovering, before anyone gets concerned, they are just expected to empty their lunch boxes and put their dirty dishes away (in the dishwasher) at the end of a meal. I am also on the war path to try to get them to keep their bedrooms tidy, but I think it might be a loosing battle.

Over the last few months NJ has helped a lot more with the morning chaos, helping with getting breakfast for whoever still hasn’t eaten, and all the rest of getting 3 children ready to leave the house in the morning. This makes a huge difference to me, I tend to be calmer before leaving the house and also I have time to do my hair and makeup.

 

This week I have started to feel more confident, feeling more like ‘me’, I remember when I was first ill with PND and a few CPN’s asked me ‘who is Kate?‘ and I could never answer them, I had lost me somewhere and didn’t know who I was. I now am able to think a lot more clearly and be stronger in situations I wish to change or help with. I am hoping to get more involved with The Joanne Bingley Memorial Foundation and hope that my new-found confidence will be a help to them.

I have also started to eat more healthily, which I have blogged about here and am going to try to update each week, so far I am doing ok!

If you are feeling its time to find ‘me’ and stop just being a mum, wife, sister, friend etc etc then link up with Kate and join the Grooving Mums.

I’m trying to be a Grooving Mum!

So yet again its been a fortnight since I last posted, and yet again I have not managed to look at other posts and comment. Apologies to all, the house has been in chaos and I was slowly sinking in piles of paper, washing and dust!

For me though this is about reflecting on the positives of my life and not on the negatives, or the issues I seem to be living with at the moment! So here are the things that I’ve managed to do over the last 2 weeks.

1. I managed to drag myself out of bed at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning to help run a carbootless stall in aid of The Joanne Bingley Memorial Foundation. I had offered my help a few weeks earlier and thought nothing of it till nearer the date and the realisation of the early start dawned! However myself and DW (one of the Trustees) managed to get there at a suitable time and get set up. I have to admit to being rather nervous at first, I had never done something like this before, I had only sold new products for my business, a car boot sale is totally different. Once I got going though I really enjoyed it, me and DW had a good natter in-between sales and I think halfway through the morning I realised how good it felt to be away from the children and doing something for me. We were there for about 5 hours in total and we raised about £100, which was brilliant, and everything we sold had been donated. It felt so good to actually do something for the Foundation for the first time. It kept me on a high for a couple of days!

2. At my local Toddler Group I set up a stall with the last of my stock from my business (Children’s wooden and soft toys & gifts), I was very nervous about it, but I needed to try to shift some of the stock, so it seemed a good idea. TJ was very clingy, but a friend was very helpful and took over the care of her for the morning. This gave me the chance to sell some stock, and also to talk openly to some mums about my PND, I never went into much detail, but I felt quite liberated to admit that I had been ill and with what. Most were very supportive (I hope to build on it this week at toddlers) but a couple were a little unsure of what to say. I did well though, which helps towards Christmas, but also towards the end of my business which I really want to move on from.

3. On Saturday we went out with a couple for a meal and then back to theirs for a drink, we had a great time as usual, and it was great to be without the children. We also had the luxury of a lie in as the children were on a sleep over at Grandmas! I managed to sleep till after 10.00! So I think socialising is definitely helping me find my groove again.

4. On Monday I went to Meadowhall (shopping mall) and met up with a very good friend who I see very little of, it was lovely to see her, we had a good natter and also managed to get some Christmas shopping done. It does remind me when I see her though that we don’t keep in touch enough, I always promise myself that I will but it never happens. Luckily this time we will be seeing them at Christmas so it won’t be long before we meet up again. I think part of getting my groove is keeping in contact with friends old and new, as it really helps to keep you ‘you’ and not just being a mummy all the time.

So this week Kate has set us a few challenges, I’m not overly good at this part, but I will do my best!

1. My challenge to myself, I think that has to be to blog more than once a fortnight! I challenge myself to do at least 2 blogs in the coming week, I have lots to talk about I just need to make the time for ME.

2. Poetry, I always loved poems, but never seem to read or look at them anymore. When I read the challenge the first poem that came to mind is one that I used when I was doing my A-levels, I’m sure it was my Drama teacher that showed it to me. It’s not a lovey dovey poem, its harsh and to the point, but I think it’s a great poem. Its called

‘Back in the Playground Blues’ by Adrian Mitchell

I dreamed I was back in the playground, I was about four feet high
Yes dreamed I was back in the playground, standing about four feet high
Well the playground was three miles long and the playground was five miles wide

It was broken black tarmac with a high wire fence all around
Broken black dusty tarmac with a high wire fence running all around
And it had a special name to it, they called it The Killing Ground

Got a mother and a father, they’re one thousand years away
The rulers of The Killing Ground are coming out to play
Everybody thinking: ‘Who they going to play with today?’

Well you get it for being Jewish
And you get it for being black
Get it for being chicken
And you get it for fighting back
You get it for being big and fat
Get it for being small
Oh those who get it get it and get it
For any damn thing at all

Sometimes they take a beetle, tear off its six legs one by one
Beetle on its black back, rocking in the lunchtime sun
But a beetle can’t beg for more, a beetle’s not half the fun

I heard a deep voice talking, it had that iceberg sound
‘It prepares them for Life’ – but I have never found
Any place in my life worse than The Killing Ground.

It would be interesting to know what others think of that poem, I think its very powerful.

3. Dancing, I would love to say I go out dancing every weekend, but I think you would know I was not being truthful! So I will do some dancing with the children, most likely TJ as she is so cute when she starts dancing and giggling about it.

4. I’m not so good with these lists, so I will have a think and see whether I can manage to join in or not, but 3 out of is pretty good going me thinks!

So that is me, have you enjoyed the read? Has it inspired you to start trying to find your groove? Why not pop over to Kate on Thin Ice and see what it’s all about.

Grooving Tuesday

So its been a couple of weeks since I last joined in, or even read anyone’s post, so apologies to all who are taking part. Things have been pretty hectic and I was starting to crumble a bit. Anyhow as this is supposed to be about getting going and things for ‘me’ I shall leave the struggles for another post.

The last few weeks are a bit of a blur with building, birthdays and parties! But I did manage to get out for a coffee with a friend without any children. We chose to sit in the comfy seats and allowed ourselves to have some cake, we even had a second cup of coffee! IT was great really relaxing and I must make sure we find time to do it again soon. It’s so easy to forget that the simple things like a coffee out of the house can be so relaxing and refreshing to the mind!

I have also managed to have a girly night in with a couple of friends, a pizza and some wine. The plan was to have a chat, watch a girly film and do our nails, although it kind of happened we were so busy chatting the film didn’t go on till late (Dirty Dancing!) and the nails were done in a rush, then the men arrived back and it was the end of the night. Even though we didn’t manage to watch the film (i think we probably all knew the words off by heart anyway!) we still had a lovely relaxing evening, and hope that we will manage to do the same again soon.

I’ve also managed a night in with a takeaway and friends, it was great, we all have a good laugh – my cheeks were actually aching I had laughed that much! I can’t remember most of what we were laughing about, I just know that we had a good time.

So for me getting into my ‘groove’ I have been socialising more, okay it is with just a select few friends, but its been great and starting to make me feel more like ‘me’ and not just a mummy.

So if you haven’t already taken part, why not pop over to Kate on Thin Ice and see what Grooving Mums is all about.

Getting Your Groove Back Tuesday

So it’s that time again for Getting Your Groove Back Tuesday being run by Kate on Thin Ice, it’s a place for us all to remember who ‘we’ are. Yes we might all be a mum, wife, house keeper, taxi service, chef etc. But what about you and your ‘Groove’, this is a time to celebrate who you are, and what you have done to get a little bit of you and your groove back this week.

This week has been a big mixture of ups and downs for me, but as this is all about getting your groove back I will just post about the highs.

1. On Wednesday I went out to another mum’s house to join up with the local toddler group committee meeting. There were only 4 of us there, but a glass of wine, some chocolate cake and natter was great, interspersed with talk of what the plans for the next few months at toddlers were! Some of the conversations were quite strange in the sense of ‘how did we get to that?’ but it was good to get out and not have children round my legs. Being on the committee really doesn’t entail much, but it does give me a sense of doing something so I feel good about that.

2. On Saturday I met up with a couple of friends that I went to school with, we went for lunch at a lovely small bistro and sat out in the sunshine. The food was lovely and the lemonade I had was excellent. It was great to catch up with them, again with no children in tow. The only thing missing was a nice cold rose, but as I was driving it wasn’t to be. We also went round a couple of lovely shops selling gorgeous housey nik naks, the sort of shop you spend your time saying ‘don’t touch!’ or you just don’t bother going in, so it was great to have a little browse round. We hope to try to meet up more regularly, although it won’t happen now until after Christmas, too many things happening now.

3. The last thing this past week that I have done, was great. I met up with one of the trustee’s from The Joanne Bingley Memorial Foundation to see how I could get involved, I don’t think either of us expected to be out quite so late! Dinah is so passionate about PND and ending the stigma and so am I that we just couldn’t stop talking! I am really pleased that I am going to be involved, I’ve got some research to do at the moment, which will hopefully keep me occupied for a while. I am also going to try to find out when Dinah can visit the health visiting teams in the area. The main thing that Dinah wants to set up is a support group within our town, which is something I really want to do too, so I hope that I can somehow get involved in that too. For me this is hopefully going to help me realise that I can still do things, that I am not useless and eventually it may help me back into work as I will be using my admin skills again (although I’m not sure I want to go back into admin!).

So onto the ‘challenges’ set by Kate this week:

1. Breakfast is always important to me, where possibly though I like to have it alone and watch a bit of the news, this is not always possible as children decide to get up and want feeding too (how dare they!!). I tend to go for cereal most mornings, corn flakes or shreddies is my choice at the moment, and I am trying to stop putting so much sugar on them! Not forgetting the cup of tea, which invariably goes cold before I get to drink it all. When it is a birthday or a special occasion we tend to go for Pain au Chocolate (unless NJ is choosing and then its bacon butties) and croissants. So this week I will get some for the weekend and indulge us a little. I mean it would be rude to not follow the challenge set!

2. The second part of the challenge is not so easy, I’m no good at selling myself and really not sure what to put here…

Thats me this week – not sure how the next week will pan out, but I’ve not managed to be kind to my body, still eating lots of chocolate and other foods I really should be cutting back on!

So what have you been doing this week to help get your ‘groove’ back, pop over and link up with Kate and share.