so homeschooled!: August 2014

Later tonight it will be 4 weeks since our beautiful little bundle arrived earth side. It has gone far too fast even though I have been able to spend a maximum amount of time with her, I just wish I could stop all the clocks for a while.

These days are so precious I find it hard to understand the huge push to get back to normal. While I fully understand that there is no other option for many new mothers except to get on with things, I also know women are often comparing how soon they were back on their feet and out doing grocery shopping again despite the fact that they could have easily spent a bit more time enjoying their new baby. It's not a race is it? Sure it is pretty darn amazing that some women can hop back on their bicycles without so much as a hiccup in their busy schedule, especially those who do so after major surgery, but at the same time I think our Western culture should stop expecting mothers and families to just carry on as if nothing has happened and could do with a bit more respect for those early days and the mothers and babies who need to, or would rather, take their time before emerging out in the proverbial "real world" again.

I have heard the scoffing tones and the raised eyebrows at the mention of "baby mooning", I guess if a Mother wants to spend time getting to know this new person and recovering it is perceived as falling in the realm of some over privileged, lazy minority. Possibly the same category as those homebirthing hippy women who think they are too special for the hospital and the cocktail sipping housewives? Except of course there are many other cultures where the Mother and Baby are allowed, and even expected, to be cared for and looked after for long periods of time during the post partum period, so perhaps it's not unique to just the lazy or crunchy granola Mammas, perhaps there is a reason so many of the more ancient cultures have these traditions?

Now that's out of the way...

I always forget how hands on those first few weeks are.
How you may as well throw any ideas of routine out the window.
One day you can make a meal, and have a bath, and read a book with your other children before you hang the washing, all while baby naps. So the next day you plan a Sunday roast along with a scrumptious pudding made from scratch only to suddenly find yourself in possession of a baby who refuses to be settled, and you're lucky if you find yourself with free hands for more than 5 minutes, and everything just feels a bit frantic and like you'll never get anything done ever again.
That said this time has been very different.
With having the Father person at home full time and not just the few pathetic days paternity leave that new Fathers usually have to try bond with a person they have never met before, it has made things much easier for me...and definitely much harder for him.
I'd get him a medal except of course I know he'd prefer a playstation game.

The more recent lifestyle choices we have made mean that this time we can demand feed both our baby and our other children at the same time.
No, I'm not talking about tandem nursing, although there is absolutely nothing wrong with that either. I mean that when baby feeds coincide with meal time, none of the ravenous horde have to wait while slowly succumbing to starvation because SuperDad is there to fill the gap.
When I am trying to change a nappy and one of the other children yells that they are done on the loo, I don't have to decide what sh*t to deal with first.
If more than one child is hanging off the edge of a cliff (or screaming as if they're in some sort of life threatening situation) I don't even have to decide which to save first, because as a team we can save both at the same time.
It's great.
More people should try it.

Picture time, prepare to be bombarded!

Nothing better than squishy happy faces in the morning