6 things I wish someone told me about Motherhood

I didn't expect some of the things I've gotten so far from Motherhood, but it doesn't seem to care. Just when I think I have it all figured out, I'm surprised again. Here are some of the biggest surprises to date.

Gaining alot of weight after my pregnancy. I excepted the weight gain while I was pregnant. I mean there's the 7-8 lb baby, some fluid and other stuff, so we're looking at 15 lbs tops, right? Wrong! No one told me that it stayed there. No one told me about how easy it was to gain weight after you had the baby. I'm talking a stone weight. I guess all that sitting around cuddling a new baby and drinking teas and eating cupcakes didn't help. Be careful! It creeps up on you.

Just how little sleep I would get. It's not much people. There aren't even any good, long stretches. No such thing as a lie in either. If someone doesn't first wake you up, you're waking up to make sure everyone is breathing. Don't laugh! When they do finally sleep through, you too will check if the baby is breathing. When my daughter slept through for the first time, I panicked and thought something was wrong. I put a mirror under her nose to see if she was still breathing. She was. So I didn't touch her. I'm six years in and still rarely sleeping through the night.

How difficult it is to change a nappy. Between the belly button and the fact that they're so small and fragile, the first couple weeks of nappy changes were life-changing events. By the time you've got everything cleaned, creamed, and replaced, it was time to start it all over again. And that's just the girls. Add the boy pee-stream in your face and it just gets better. Oh, but wait. Wait till you have a 2 stone, 2 year old who's favorite pastime is to kick and wiggly his way through his nappy changes. My floor and clothes have seen more poo than they ever wanted to.

How long it takes to do...everything. I can't really tell you exactly what I do all day now. I just know it involves lots of preparing meals, cleaning meals up off the floor, butt wiping, breaking up fights, 10 times more laundry than before, and picking up toys that are pulled out at twice the rate I'm cleaning them. And don't even think you can "run in" anywhere. What was once a five-minute run to the shops will literally take 30 minutes with kids. And that's just to get them into the car. Seriously! 

That my children would ever be those children. You know those kids. The kids that are sitting on the floor screaming because they can't go on the train at the supermarket. The ones running wild like the only meal they had that day was a bag of sugar. The ones that can be heard over every other kid at the playground. Those are my kids. And one day it will be yours. Why? Because it's payback! We were once those kids.

That my kids will make my heart burst with love.  I took my kids to the park for a picnic during the summer when we had the weather for it and on the way home my daughter said " Mom, You're the best Mom ever. I love you!" . That right there, melted my heart. All the drama in the supermarket and the lack of sleep was all forgotten because of that. That is why we become parents. That is why we do it.

Being a parent has been, by far, the hardest and most rewarding thing I have ever done. Some days? I'm so done. I'll be the first to be honest and say those days where there were no kids? They were way easier. I never thought I was loosing my sanity from lack of adult conversation. I never found myself crying and asking my husband to take them back. But life has never been as full of joy as it is today. It may be crazy, loud and grey-hair causing, but it's completely wonderful and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Motherhood is hard but the rewards are worth it. Big time!!

Thanks for reading!

Bye bye Dummy : Tips for saying bye to your child's dummy and a Giveaway

A few months ago I noticed that my sons teeth were starting to change shape because of his dummy. I don't really like dummies but he was a baby that needed something to settle him. My daughter never had one but she did use her smallhand to suck on and so I never had to deal with getting rid if the dummy.

I decided we'd try and send his dummy off to the North Pole with Santa and we'd be done. Not a chance. As much as he loved Santa, and he loves him, he loved his dummy more.

I trolled pinterest for tips to help the process but nothing came up. With all the mothers in the world I thought someone would have shared their wisdom to help us less knowledgeable mothers. Information is power after all.

So I decided to write my own list of things that worked and didn't work for me and some of my friends.

Give advanced warning. 

Let your child know that you're going to be taking away his dummy. Usually, a week’s notice is enough time as long as you continue to remind your child daily.

Try the Slow and Steady Approach

I had to remember this was an addiction. Just like any other addiction, he was not going to give it up easily. I tested the waters every few weeks to see if he was ready. When he didn't seem to miss it I took it away a little at a time. This made it easier, for both me and him, even if it takes a little more time than some other methods.

Appeal to your child’s sympathies. 

This didn't work for me. He loved it too much and didn't want to part with it. "No baba" is what he used to say. But it might work for you as long as you don’t mind telling a little white lie. Simply tell him that dummies are for babies, and since he's a big kid now, he can give it to a baby that needs it. 

Snip It. 

Snip a small hole in the end of the dummy with a pair of scissors or poke it with a needle. This will reduce the sucking effect that he gets from the dummy. Then, explain that the dummy is broken and has to be thrown away. If he doesn't want to throw it away let him suck on it. When he doesn't get the same effect from it he throw it away himself. I'm hoping he won't ask for a trip to Tesco for a replacement.

Don’t Offer the Dummy. 

As your child gets older and no longer needs the dummy as a soothing device, stop offering it to him. If you’re lucky, he may forget about it for longer and longer periods of time, effectively weaning himself. This work for me during the day. Still fighting the battle at night time.

Limit the Quantity of Dummies in the House

Many parents make the mistake of stocking up on dummies because they are so often lost. I did this and as he got older he knew where they were kept and would try and get one himself. So as they got lost they stayed lost. We now have only one dummy and that is the last one. When it's gone it's gone for good.

Enlist Some Magical Help

My little guy was and still is too young for this but it might work for an older child.

We have a long history of telling little white lies to ease our children’s fears and put a little magic into their childhoods. Recently, the Dummy Fairy has taken up ranks with Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy as a popular night-time visitor. Prepare your child beforehand for the Dummy Fairy’s arrival and be sure to leave a thank-you note or even a gift when you (um, I mean the Dummy Fairy) snatches the dummy while your child is sleeping.

Go Cold Turkey

The tried-and-true method of turning your dummy-sucking toddler into an independent big kid, going cold turkey, is effective. Simply take the pacifier away, and don’t give it back – no matter how much your little one begs, pleads, and screams for it. Stand your ground, and in a week or two, you and your child will be free from the pacifier once and for all. But it takes a great deal of patience and determination on your part. Something I simply don't have right now. If you can do this then well done to you. I just couldn't watch my little guy going through it. I know what it's like to have to give up something your addicted to and it's not easy.

Distraction

Toys, books, cartoons. Whatever your little one loves, use it. If he has a tantrum or just won't stop asking for it, distract him. I have found lego to be a life and sanity saver.

I am by no means an expert. Some of these have worked and some failed. We are now at the stage of no dummy during the day. I'm not offering him it at night but if he looks for it I'm giving it to him. I'm more concerned with him getting a good nights sleep so the next day won't be full of melt downs.

If you found this helpful, let me know. leave a comment or pin it.

Is there anything I left out? Do you have a tip that could change the way us mothers deal with this.

Share your knowledge and put it in the comments.

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Rachel, Marie and the team over at Babytalk, a pregnancy and baby festival have contacted me and have given me two weekend passes to give away to a lucky reader.

Babytalk is a festival for babies and their families, expectant parents and anyone thinking of starting or adding to their family.

You don’t need a bump to go to babytalk – everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy the comfortable, family-friendly festival weekend and supportive inclusive atmosphere. The festival is taking place on the 22nd and 23rd of February 2014 from 10am to 5pm daily in O’Reilly Hall, UCD, Dublin.

All the details for a fun stress-free day out have been considered with free car parking, buggy parking, baby changing areas, lots of comfy spots to feed either out and about or in their quiet feeding area and their gorgeous Easy Parenting café area where you can refuel and relax. With face painting and children's entertainment too,the little ones won't get bored while Mom and dad look around. They're even giving out goodie bags. What more can you ask for?

If your looking for a festival that has no nonsense information form parents that have been there and done it all, then Babytalk is the festival for you.

If you would like to win a pair of weekend passes to the festival all you have to do is one or all of the following:
Head on over to my blog Facebook page by clicking HERE and like the page.
You can leave a comment below.

You can also like and share the post on my Facebook page for an extra entry.

I'll be running the competition until next Tuesday where I'll pick one luck reader to give the passes to. 

Good luck !!