Papa is not a jumping castle!

Dear Madness,

it's not nice to jump on Papa when he's really sick. By the third pained exclamation, you maybe should have stopped, even though it was really fun to fall back onto the bed.

Also, getting your Bärli off Papa's face with your teeth wasn't very kind, either. We're really going to have to work on your developed fetching technique.

I hope you're having a lovely nap,

Mama.

So lazy/busy!

Wow, so what kind of mothering blog doesn't commemorate Mother's Day? The slack kind, obviously.

I am also posting on the fly right now, as Madness is sleeping (ah, blessed nap time, I shall miss you when you're gone) and there is laundry to be sorted and a bedroom that desperately needs some TLC. Heh, my dirty mind is putting a twist on that particular sentence. Never mind.

I hope everyone got spoiled on Mother's Day. Madness and Big M gave me a hot chocolate massage. Mmmm. Massage. Mmmm. Chocolate. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm hot chocolate massage. Can't wait to book it, but I seem to have lost my ability to make simple phone calls. I have until November next year, though, so no rush on that!

No tips today, except... life is easier when you can keep on top of the laundry! Really.

Baby nap times... or lack thereof

Madness had a 45-minute nap today. Forty-five minutes. As opposed to 2-2 1/2 hours! So this afternoon was fun. He was fine as long as I was doing exactly what he wanted me to do... like letting him throw his lunch on the floor.

Despite me telling him no twice.

Madness went to his bedroom for the first time today. Aww, my baby's growing up! Good times at Casa Madness! I counted to 45 before letting him out again. Tough love, baby. Tough love.

Today, I also discovered two fantastic resources for Madness Mums everywhere. One, Saving Mum, is Australian, but can be adapted to any country. You can always Google names of things you don't recognise to find out the translation. Sure bet is if you live in a western country, there aren't many things in Australia that you don't have in your country. It's generally just called something else.

Also, and the one I'm maybe even more excited about is FlyLady.net. Oh my! So very Organised and Efficient. If you feel overwhelmed, rundown and a little out of control because you're living in clutter and don't know where to start fixing it, then this site might just be what you're looking for. I've put both links in my resources, on the right-hand side of this blog.

After the short nap and the crazy overreactions, I was more than grateful when Dimples's Mum called to say that we could meet this afternoon, after all.

Big M was also grand when he got home, sweeping the kitchen and the soil that had mysteriously fallen out of the plant pot (I wrote power plant just then, so is my day!) onto the lounge room floor.

Fun tip: Let your Madness do whatever they want. Actual parenting is tiring, and a pain in the butt.

Serious tip: Count on the people around you, seek help from them, let someone know you're struggling. If you pretend you're efficient and coping, they won't know to offer help, so you have to ask them to, instead. Do it. Even if it means asking for an afternoon of You Time.

C'mon, Madness! Walkies!

Madness has started taking tentative steps (literally) to becoming the most tiring experience of my life. The very first steps were taken on the 29th of October, where he promptly fell forward onto his hands and then gracefully onto his side (honestly, I was expecting him to come up with shoe polish on his face, and a gun in his hand. He looked just like an escaping soldier in a B-movie. Only little.). He did not walk again for almost two weeks, obviously deciding that commando rolls were not for him. Which is a shame, as they go perfectly with the commando crawling he does through the house. The boy must have elbows of steel.

Now, he's taking two or three steps every hour or so, and no longer rolling to the side when he falls down. His little bum waddles contentedly in his nappy with each step, which is the cutest thing I've seen in a while. Which says a lot, for Madness is pretty darn cute. We've secured the house as much as we're prepared to go, the rest of the time, we'll just have to tell him no.

He's also going through a growth spurt, which means lots of late-night wake up calls. They used to last for hours (literally, at least two) but Big M got the tip off his sister to give him something to eat. When her daughter was going through her spurts, she woke up really hungry. So we tried that, and voilá! he went straight to sleep after his banana. Thank goodness, for it was 1am and I had stayed up late for no other reason than it was Saturday, and I could.

An advantage of growth spurts, though, is that Madness sleeps a lot. He's going for his second three hour nap in as many days as we speak. I napped for an hour and a half of this one, though, so I'm not getting anything productive done. Which is fine. I deserve a weekend, too!

Fun tip: Indulge in a bubble bath. A warm cozy bath after baby's bed time is the perfect way to relax. I often fall asleep in mine, which is not recommended as the acoustics in a bathroom don't do your snoring any favours! And the possibility of drowning (though my husband assures me you can't unless your drunk) is enough to prevent you from dozing off satisfactorily.

Serious tip: Make sure your child has independent play time and use this to have your own. A half an hour of doing your favourite thing (as long as it's not, you know, cracking open the Whiskey) does wonders for rejuvenating the batteries.

Nap time is my friend

So, nap time has finally settled on Casa Madness. It is, undoubtedly, one of my favourite times of day. I have a friend who feels a lot of guilt about enjoying her child's nap as much as her child does, but lap it up, I say.

I am now enjoying a cup of coffee that doesn't have to battle off curious, pudgey fingers (other than my own, naturally!) and eating a biscuit without the guilt of Not Sharing. In reality, I should be cleaning, for Hurricane Mini-M has devestated my lounge room, but for now I'm just enjoying my downtime.

Today, we have our first birthday of a child that has known Mini-M since they were born. Oh boy. A first birthday! Madness turns one next Friday, which is crazy as I swear I gave birth to him just last week. Didn't I? We bought Dimples a pair of comfy winter soft boots, which are going to look adorable on her, and I made her a little something for her to keep from us.

My husband, Big M, will pick me up after work, which is nice of him as it's raining. There will be cake. And pizza. And Other Mums. I will be in baby birthday heaven.

Fun tip: If you're in a relationship, and your partner works, nap time is the only time of the day you have entirely to yourself. Go wild! Let your hair down, invite all your friends over for a party, with booze, and tell them they better not break any windows and they better help you clean up before the baby wakes up! Which will happen in 2.5 seconds if they don't turn the music down.

Serious tip: Don't be shy in asking your child's friend (or, you know, their parents) what they'd like for their birthday. They know what would make the perfect present better than you do! And if you don't like the idea, then that's all right. Just ask for another.