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.

And the Soirée was a success!

Dimples's birthday party was lovely. Exhausting, even for me as a lowly guest, but lovely. Dimples behaved quite well in her role as the Party Girl, not getting grizzly until we were leaving at 6 o'clock, which is right near her bed time.

Madness, however, decided the scream the house down every time I didn't have a bit of cake for him in my hand. It didn't matter if I'd just put cake in his mouth, either, I had to have the next piece prepped and ready to go while also putting cake in his mouth, cringing at the crumbs all over the carpet spread by screaming babies with mouths full of cake, holding the plate and trying to drink my cup of coffee.

Mini-M has always been a Very Good Boy. He slept through the night while we were still in the hospital, and has ever since unless something is wrong. He doesn't cry when he falls over, even if he smacks his head. He didn't even blink when he dropped a model car on his foot last week. And that thing was heavy.

Apparently, all this wonderful, easygoing behaviour disappears out the window when cake enters the equation. So very obviously his mother's child. I am now, officially, both excited about and dreading Madness' own birthday party this coming Friday. Hopefully, everyone will be intact by the time I'm done.

Fun tip: Wear invisible earplugs to your in-laws' house.

Serious tip: No, really, wear invisible earplugs to your in-laws' house.