Toddler Free Friday

Today was Toddler Free Friday (TFF). The one day of the week where it's just Little Miss and I. Like every TFF I had a rest day, I got my hair and nails done, a massage and a few sneaky cocktails. I window shopped, dreaming of the things I will buy when I'm rich.... All the stay at home mums are nodding along right now. NOT!!! I wish my TFF was anything like this. No, my Friday is the one day of my week I have to achieve what feels like a million things in a few short hours. Today I had all 3 monkeys dressed and out of the house at 7.30am. A huge achievement, trust me. I dropped the toddlers at daycare admittedly with no breakfast (a banana can't really be considered breakfast can it?) but they refused at home and I can't force them nor did I have time to try. No worries though, they were both all over the communal toast platter like a plague of locusts, within seconds. Thankgod for daycare, I mean seriously. I don't normally drop them at daycare that early so the breakfast platters were new to me but they definitely eased my mummy guilt. I then headed off to the dentist, which Monkey Man really wanted to come to. Trust me son, once you've been once I doubt you'll be screaming to go to the dentist.

I've been having some pain in a tooth so needed it checked, and as far as appointments go it was 8 this morning or mid next week with 3 under 3 in tow. For the safety and well being of everyone concerned, 8am today was the only choice. Thankfully no fillings needed, a good clean, a telling off for leaving it two years between visits (I was busy having babies!!) and I was out the door.

Little Miss and I had a cafe breakfast in a cleverly gained, free hour - I did groceries online last night for this reason, or in case I had to have 55 million fillings and got stuck at the dentist. Little Miss was clearly a fan of raisin toast with it and porridge stuck all over get face. She made her presence known by dropping toast everywhere and shrieking but meh, who cares!

I had a hot chocolate and just enjoyed sitting for a bit as I suspected it would be the last chance I got to do either all day. And I was right.

After the dentist and breakfast I rushed home to put Little Miss to bed. A friend sat with her as I had a funeral to go to during morning sleep time. A cranky Little Miss is not nice to be around so its important she gets that first sleep. I changed, applied some face, showed my friend where everything was and raced out the door. I got there a few minutes late but I made it. The funeral was a lovely service, as funerals go, goodbyes were said and tears were shed. I hate seeing loved ones cry and I think I find that the most upsetting, as opposed to being sad about the loved one dying - depending on the circumstances of course. During the service I went hunting in my Mary Poppins type handbag for a tissue and a compact to check my face and reapply of course. I found a tissue and $100 cash I stashed how long ago?? Woohoo!! result! Who cares what the face looks like when I've got cash in my pocket! I raced home again to collect Little Miss and relieve my friend, allowing her to actually enjoy some of her day off and raced back to the wake, or after party or whatever you call the 'refreshments after the service'. Made it back and nearly everyone was gone. Ok. How long was I gone? Anyway, stayed for a a while then hobbled back to the car with blisters on my feet growing by the second. I suggested to Mum we get back to somewhere near home and go for a coffee. I had to collect the toddlers in an hour and a half so wanted to be closer to home just in case.

Once Mum and I had finished our drinks I hobbled back to the car - why oh why didn't I take spare shoes - and headed off to collect my monkeys. I got the call I've been waiting since Wednesday for, I didn't get the job. All good feedback but apparantly I am over qualified and the second round interviews have been granted to two ladies 'much junior' to me and they believe 'I will be bored in the role'. I'm disappointed re the location and the company but the actual job not so much. I wanted it, but then wasn't upset when I didn't get it which says to me its not THE job. Not to worry though, something will come up. There is no rush as I can now get the kids into the daycare I want rather than just taking whatever I could get, and I can find THE job.

I collected my two very tired, filthy dirty, monkeys from a long day at daycare. Missy Moo was so tired she cried when she saw me and wanted lots of 'cuddles'. Monkey Man had a great day and was so SO proud to tell me he did his first wee on the toilet today!! Woot!! Go little dude! He talked about it all afternoon and was busting to tell Daddy when he got home and asked me if he could ring Nanny and tell her. God love him. Missy Moo carried on for a few hours after she went to bed, crying, screaming to get up, which she does pretty much every Friday. I think she just gets herself so tired that she's beyond overtired, she's hysterical. Online shopping delivered my groceries an hour or so after the kids went to bed and hubby watched the football while I caught up on the interweb. Friday evenings are always eventful here!

Toddler Free Fridays are exhausting and stressful at times but so necessary for us. My monkeys need a break from me as much as I need one from them and they love love LOVE daycare. The centre they go to is warm and friendly and all the staff, regardless of which room they work in, know all the kids names and little things about them. They're just lovely. Little Miss is on a waiting list for a Friday place and then, perhaps when I am completely child free on a Friday (provided I'm not working of course) then I will go get my hair and nails done after a massage and with a cocktail in hand - of couse! Until then, we soldier on.

all I want for xmas

All I want for Xmas this year is a DSLR camera. I'm a simple girl really, with simple (sort of) tastes... Ok so it won't be cheap but if I really really want it, surely that makes it ok? I don't want a professional super dooper expensive one, just one to get me started. I take loads of pics of my kids on the trusty point and shoot camera but I really want to learn how to take proper photos on a proper camera. Plus I figure I better get as many shots of the kids as possible before they get older and tell me to bugger off with my camera! I'm working on a photowall for our house and what's been done so far looks really good. I just need to get some more photos printed. Thats the thing with the digital age though, we take thousands of photos, delete hundreds yet probably print a dozen or so? If my house was on fire I'd grab my children, of course, and then my photos. And yes I have an external hard drive full of photos as well as a folder of back-ups on cd (learnt my lesson after my laptop died!!). This is all strategically placed so I can grab it and run. Am I the only one that thinks like this??

In our parents time they didn't have the luxury of digital photos, and whatever photos they took they printed out and framed or stuck in dodgy albums. I'm old enough to remember the old way, and the excitement of picking up prints. Wondering if there was any good shots or even wondering what was on the film in the first place as its been sat waiting to be printed for how long?? I still prefer the digital option though where I can delete horrid double chin shots or edit out red eyes, both I do alot!! Heck I even use technology to scan/photograph my children's artistic creations and capture them for future tormenting (can't wait to show potential partners the 'cow' my child drew at 2yo) and memory sake (mine, *sigh*).

Someone once told me never to delete photos of your kids as you can edit, crop, paste, layer them etc and something that looks odd now might be the perfect size, look, shade etc for some photo compilation you make in the future. I try very hard to capture my children on 'film' so I can remember how they were. My own baby photo album has alot more photos than my younger brothers does, and I spose thats due to my Mum not having the time and/or the funds to print all she took. That was the time I grew up in. The digital age grants me more freedom in that respect, plus I have a thing about equality and do all I can to take equal numbers of photos of my three kids. I have issues re equality but won't go into that here! It's hard to be equal though when trying to take pics of my youngest, I mean just how many photos can you take of a sleeping baby?? Haha! The digital age means places like facebook and blogs serve as online baby books. And while I have proper baby books here for my 3, I am going to have to refer back to my digital entries to fill them in. What counts is that I've written everything down... somewhere?!! I've loved looking at my baby book, more so now I have babies myself and while I think this keepsake stuff is more important to women, I'm still doing it all for my son. Looking at photos of me as a baby, I still don't see any of myself physically in my children despite what others say. It appears the genes from my husbands side are much stronger than
mine. Dammit!

So Santa if you're listening, please bring me a nice shiny DSLR camera for Christmas. I've been a good girl. I'm doing my best to be a good mummy, I'm not naughty (ok sometimes), I try to do my bit for others... plus lets be honest, you've forgotten me the last couple of years so I reckon you owe me. Actually come to think of it, your pal the Birthday Barbie and Anniversary Annie have forgotten me too so let's say the camera is a big IOU/joint present from all of you. Ok? Throw in Michael Buble's Christmas album and we'll call it quits. Cheers!