Who looks after me?

A problem I hadn't really thought of arose in our house today, I was sick. I have, obviously, been ill since Toddler B was born but we had family and friends around to help out but now we have uprooted ourselves to the country life we are a good hour away from family and don't think I could expect the friends I've made up here to mop my fevered brow after knowing me for all of five minutes. So today I was left being sick with one very giddy toddler to entertain and it made me think - Who looks after me?!



If Toddler B ever got ill (so far we've only had one throat infection and teething to deal with) then of course I would be on hand fussing with warm drinks, snuggles, medicine and plenty of cbeebies to help the patient along and if Mr B got ill I would allow him to lie in bed for the day and provide plenty of care of attention for the 'dying' patient (he's a man, of course he would be dying) but who looks after me when I get sick? Mr B had to go to work and as much as I may try to get Toddler B to fetch me a duvet and some hot water the most she managed was a cuddle and kiss for me., which, lovely as it was, was not the kind of medical attention I was seeking.



I feel during this self indulgent post I should point out that I am a rubbish sick person, I'm the kind of person who wants to take to my bed as soon as the first sniffle of a cold appears so lo and behold if anything more sinister than a cold presents itself and despite numerous attempts at eating healthy, taking vitamins and general immune system boosting I seem to be susceptible to all manner of virus's within a ten mile radius which means I spend a large portion of my time just wanting to lie wrapped up in quilt being fed grapes an having dollops of sympathy poured all over my aching limbs so imagine my horror today when I got that horrible nauseous feeling in my stomach and realised I had to carry on living... I had to feed, clothe, play with and unfortunately nappy change a toddler regardless of how I was feeling. After about three hours of this I wanted to pick up the phone and call in sick but I had a feeling no one would answer?



I am now thankfully starting to feel a little better but I'm just about to head off to Google to see if there some kind of Nurse I can hire for days like today... either this or I simply cannot get ill again but if this is the case I will definitely miss the grapes.

It's Frowned Upon...

On my way to the shop today I overheard a mum gossiping to her friend about how their mutual friend was raising her child 'completely wrong' they were 'discussing' (read bitching) how she doesn't do anything by the book with her baby and at first it made me feel a bit guilty because they could genuinely have been talking about me but then it made me think that I've done a fair few things that are frowned upon by the professionals and it doesn't seem to have caused Toddler B any harm so I decided to list them in the hope it makes you feel better for any 'awful' things you have done:

• I Didn't breastfeed her
• I Moved her into her own bedroom at 15 weeks and we didn't use a baby monitor. I lay awake all night long trying to listen to the gentle sound of her breathing from across the hall which I couldn't hear so then I would get up and down to check on her all night.*
• Weaned her before 6 months which means her digestive system will probably fail her by the time she is 5.**
• Allowed her to co-sleep because quite frankly we were too tired to fight with her and I like cuddles.
• Allowed her to fall asleep on me. I presume she will now not be able to self settle until she is married and then she will need to sit on her husbands knee and have her hair stroked before she can nod off.***
• We bought a forward facing strolling when she was 4 months old so obviously she will be years behind in her social development as a result.****
• I picked her up when she was crying. Now she cried whenever she needs my attention.*****

I understand that some of you may read this and be truly horrified at what an awful mother I am but I also know that many of you will read it and feel a whole lot better that you are not the only one....

And for those who didn't get the sarcastic tone of my admissions:

*I slept perfectly fine as did she

** her digestive system is in perfect order

*** she goes to bed of her own accord at 6pm every night and sleeps for 13 hours or more.

**** her social development is not hindered at all. She is a lovely average 17 month old.

***** If she cries for my attention she does not get it so she stops and watches Cbeebies instead.

A Move Away from Stepford.

I will admit I have been very neglectful of my blog, I have been very busy recently but essentially it's down to the fact I have a short attention span and an awful memory but lets gloss over this and just welcome me back with gusto.

As I mentioned I have been very busy, this is largely due to the fact that we have moved house and not in the normal moving a few roads away house move, no, we moved two counties away and into the countryside. In doing so I have unearthed a whole new me... I am, and say this unbelievably with pride, a housewife! Those of you who have read My blog before will know I have been a stay at home mum since Toddler B was born (I can't hold onto her baby stage any longer, she is fully fledged toddler now) but I have never partook in any household activity such as cleaning or cooking, I was the epitome of the undomesticated goddess but since moving to the country and into my quaint little cottage I am a changed woman, not only in the fact I have sprouted a few more grey hairs and turned 27, but I have made myself a 'cleaning timetable' (ok the pride slightly dwindles when I admit I have a cleaning timetable...) I allocate times of the day to cleaning, I have tea ready for Mr B when he gets home from work, I get annoyed when I see dust and I have made Toddler B learn the 'put away' game, ok so this is a game I obviously made up to get her to put her toys away but it works.

Aside from me being a move away from the village of Stepford, my little bundle of joy has also changed. She is now, as mentioned briefly, a toddler and comes complete with sound effects, tantrums and cheekiness. On one hand I absolutely adore seeing her develop a sense of humour and honing her communication skills yet on the other hand when she is demonstrating her communication skill in the form of a high pitched scream similar to that of a chimpanzee in pain and accompanying it with hitting and biting I could quite happily return to Ormskirk Hospital, Ward 5 and ask for a refund.

So anyway, this is where we are up to in our lives. I am now 27 (I can see that big 3-0 looming in the not so distant future now) and a country bumpkin housewife and Toddler b is 17 months and a handful, if my hands were the size of the lovable BFG's that is and I promise I will make a very concerned effort to let my attention wane and to continue with these posts.