Catch up!

Hello!
I can't believe it is Thursday already! The time is flying by! I have not had a chance to write all week. Monday started in the usual way...rushing here and there getting the children ready for school. I managed to fit in a 7 minute workout first thing in the morning. Monday is a yoga day at school so we had a stressful few minutes locating the yoga mats before school and sorting out a fight between Child2 and 3 over a blue mat. Child#3 did not want the purple mat as it was a 'gay' colour. This is coming from the child who threw a huge tantrum in JD Sports last summer for a baby pink hoodie. (I did not buy the hoodie because it was too expensive...not because it was pink.)
I dropped the kids at school and continued on to my physio appointment. It felt odd not having the baby with me and I kept glancing in the rear view mirror expecting him to be there! Physio went well and I was discharged on the recommendation to do a few sessions of one on one pilates with a chartered physiotherapist to build up my core. I managed to make healthy choices regarding food and after physio I thoroughly enjoyed myself browsing through Pennies and Dealz. It is a bad state of affairs that I get excited over going to Dealz and Pennies but such is the state of my finances at present!
I make it home in time for the school run and it is back to the usual routine. It is seriously cold in the evening so I decide to use the treadmill. However, after constant demands from the kids while I was trying to walk, I hurriedly pulled on an extra pair of trousers and my husband's high vis work jacket, and I ran up the road for peace!
Tuesday was a rush also as I had a nail appointment booked straight after the school run so I had to have the baby up and ready to leave with me. My mother in law came too to collect her pension and do her shopping. By the time we are finished in town, it is nearly time to do the school run again. I try to put away my groceries amidst the baby's cries for attention. I squeeze in a quick walk on the beach even though it is baltic and I get get caught in a shower of hailstones. I return home with a scalding face and hurry over to pick up the kids. I feed all the children and battle with them over homework and I get dinner on before bringing Child#1 to his Music Lesson. The roads are icy and I give out to Child#1 for forgetting his tester. He is so lax-a-daisy about his diabetes care lately.
He has rugby training straight after music and I warn him to cover so he won't go into a hypo. I hurry home and swap with my husband who rushes out to the rugby pitch to give Child#1 his tester. Thunder and lightening starts and Child#4 and 5 are afraid. Even though it doesn't last long, they use it as an excuse to sleep in our bed. And so, I have another sleepless night. I shove my husband during the night to stop him snoring but it turns out it is my daughter who is snoring like a wild boar. I make a mental note to check her tonsils in the morning.
All night, the kids toss and turn. My husband cries out a few times during the night as Child#4's toenails slice in to his skin. He says it was akin to a tinopener digging into his legs. I get a few wallops into the face as my daughter flings out her arms during the night.

Though we have very little sleep, we both get up early and follow the regular routine on Wednesday. I rush down the stairs to take the children to school when I discover Child#2 has returned to bed even though my husband had got him up! Child#3 gives out and complains that he will be late. I drop them all off and return home for my breakfast. I do two sessions of Lucy Windham Reid's 7 minute workouts and write in my planner. It is a beautiful, icy day so my mother in law and I take it in turns to go for a walk.
I walk the beaches and admire the snowy mountains. The two dogs roll on a dead bird and they absolutely stink. I gag as I transport them home in my nice, clean car. By the time I go to pick up the kids, I am stress free and feeling super active and healthy.
It all goes downhill from there between hearing about a problem at work even though I'm on Maternity Leave, pleading with Child#4 to do his homework , putting Child#2 off when he wants to take over my kitchen to bake and trying to make dinner while the baby cries again. My daughter wants me to find her Tom Cat who is off chasing female cats. I give in and walk down the road to find the cat. We soon locate him in some bushes and he mews at us in a warning tone. My daughter begs me to carry him home and so I comply like a fool. The dogs run around my feet, scaring the cat. The cat claws my neck and shoulders in a bid to escape. I let him go and he runs up a tree. I tell my daughter that he can stay there the rotten thing. She wails 'Nooooo' and I promise that I will go down again in the car the next day.

We return home and finish off dinner. I look forward to my healthy dinner but then I realise that there is no sign of my husband to do the rugby run. I ring him and he informs me that he is held up! And so, I have to abandon the dinner and pile the kids into the car and rush out to rugby even though it is freezing. I am so stressed and angry I can barely see straight. The baby cries hysterically all the way out to the gym...his new antics, he hates the car seat now.
I drop the kids off and take the baby out of his car seat, soothe him, feed him and strap him back in again and head for home. I take my 'healthy' veggie burgers and wraps out of the oven and they are all dried out. Feeling very sorry for myself, I tidy up and try settle the baby who keeps crying. I decide to give him a bath that he loves. While bathing the baby, Paige the cat wanders in mewing, urging me to feed her. I ignore her and she then runs up my back and sits on my head clawing me. I try to shake her off whilst holding the baby safely in his bath. I am getting sick of these entitled cats.
The children return home from rugby and I am delighted to hear that my husband's darts have been called off. Child #2 insists on baking and bangs around the kitchen while we put the younger kids to bed. I spend a long time trying to get the baby to sleep while I watch Operation Transformation.  My husband is in a grumpy mood because his tooth is sore AGAIN. He won't take time off work to go to the dentist.
I finally fall asleep.

We wake this morning to torrential rain and hail. My husband is rained off so he gets all the children ready while I feed the baby. I do the school run and pop in for a quick meeting to see what the issue was yesterday. I return home and cook a nice breakfast and do my 7 minutes belly blast exercise and 7 minutes posture improvement. I was hoping my husband would go to the dentist today but no...he has gone out in the rain collecting scaffolding. I will have to do the music lessons now myself when I was hoping he would be around to do it.
I plan to tidy up a bit and then hopefully write a few chapters before picking up the kids again.
Time goes by too quickly!
I'll try check in later!

Slán
PS I have ordered a Samsung Gear Fit pro from Littlewoods! It tracks activity so I hope it will motivate me to get my steps in when I can see what I have done!

Later...
My husband returned home and did the Music Lessons for me so I had a couple of hours to myself to write...or so I thought. The baby has turned cranky all of a sudden. I don't know what to do with him. I have tried everything! He must be teething. He was crying so much that I decided to change him quickly on the bed but he pooed all over my lovely white lace bed spread. I jumped off the bed to get baby wipes and landed on my lap top. Thankfully, it is still working. I turned back to clean the baby and he peed up into air and soaked through the duvet. I spent over an hour earlier trying to help Child#4 catch up on his homework but his mind was firmly on his tablet and when he could get it again. I argued with Child#2 for being cheeky and using bad language and now I have a throbbing headache. Tomorrow, Child#1 and 2 have an orthodontist appointment at 8am so they have to be up at 6am.
Child#2 and 3 have a credit union quiz on Saturday and Child#1 has a rugby match away on Sunday. It is all go, go, go and I just want to dive under my bed covers and hide (if they weren't covered in baby poo and wee!)
Good night!

Ranting Sunday!

I wake early this morning but make the age old mistake of cuddling the baby for a few extra minutes and next thing I know, I jolt awake to the roar of my husband's tractor spluttering to life. I curse silently in my head. I fell back asleep and now he has escaped and I am left to do everything on my own again even though it is Sunday morning.
I feed the baby, check Child#1's blood sugar and get dressed. I am putting on some make up when my husband reappears only to warn me that he has to go again. It seems he is the silage fairy, delivering bales to everybody in his trusty, rusty tractor like a feckin milkman.

I go downstairs and tidy the kitchen and put on a load of laundry. I make rounds of chocolate toast for the kids and warn them not to eat in the sitting room. Child#2 is on a sleepover with a friend. I decide to go straight to lunch on my Operation Transformation app as it's nearly 11 30am and there is no point forcing down porridge that I don't even enjoy. I eat my ham and cheese wrap though the app clearly says chicken and I decide to eat my afternoon snack as well.
My husband arrives home again and declares he has to put two front tyres on my car as if he is on the verge of saving my life, when really he wants to spend an hour down at the neighbours talking sh#te while the tyres are being fitted. He also has to go to a funeral and bring his Mom somewhere.
I ask if I should go for my walk now then while he is eating his lunch. His face falls and agrees reluctantly warning me not to be long. I fight the urge to claw his face off and remind him that I am not solely in charge of the 6 children and housework and I deserve time out too. I might seem very down on the poor husband today but I just feel so stressed all week and weekend as the housework has piled up due to all the appointments and every time I tidy one room, the children wreck it again!

Farming started off as my husband's past time just as walking, writing or shopping is my past time. Yet, I don't get any time to do my activities until late at night while he farms every evening after work and Saturday and Sunday. I don't expect him to clean the whole house but it would be nice if he and the kids would help tidy up their own messes or put away their own clothes or just stop being fecking slobs! Even if they acknowledged my efforts it would be something! My husband gets to do everything he wants while my life slips away in a blur of housework and laundry. I angrily pull on my running leggings, slightly concerned about how tight they are, and before I go I remind my husband that I will be back at work soon and he'd better start to help out then or get a housekeeper. With that I stalk out the back door with my head in the air. Unfortunately, I catch my glasses in the door as I pull it after me and I have to return, tripping over a load of cats.

I hop in the car with the two dogs and head for the beach. The sky looks very dark and grey but it was like that yesterday and the rain held off. I went to the toilet this time before I left as I did not want a repeat  of yesterday's walk.  Yesterday, I had just locked the car and walked about ten steps when I had the sudden urge to pee. There were a few cars dotted here and there in the distance so I knew there were people walking on the beach. I walked further along the beach doing my pelvic floors and willing the urgency to pass but no such luck. Where I was on the beach was clear from any walkers but unfortunately some enthusiast was kite surfing back and over the bay in clear view of where I was. So I had no option but to go in search of a nice high rock. I spied a wide expanse of high, pointy cliff type rocks with a deep crevice in between. As I got closer, I realised the crevice was about 5 foot high. I gingerly climbed down to pee safe in the knowledge that the tide was well out. My two dogs looked at me with curiosty and within seconds I hauled myself up again, greatly relieved. As I power walked across the beach, I chided myself at how stupid I had been. If I had slipped and twisted my ankle or worse banged my head rendering me unconscious, I was not visible to any passersby and the tide would have come in and drowned me. I scared myself so much with my dark thoughts that I quickly turned around to go home to safety!

Anyway, I was flying along today walking out my bad mood, when suddenly the skies open and hailstones pelt down on my poor face. I grit my teeth and keep going. The rain continues relentlessly so after 1.5km I turn back. I squelch my way to the car and drive home.
As I enter the house, my husband greets me with 'Got a little wet did you?' . I tell him I don't mind the rain and give the old saying 'There is no such thing as bad weather just bad clothing'. Child#1 pipes up that Nana and my husband were laughing while I was gone because I got caught in the rain. Of course, I see red and ask my husband why my mother in law was even down...could he not manage the baby himself. I shout why couldn't he make a start on folding the clothes instead of laughing at me with his Mommy. My husband retaliates saying I'm just mad because I got wet. I go to get changed and I hear my husband tell Child#1 to tidy the kitchen and stop being such a trouble maker. I turn to ask my husband why he doesn't clean the kitchen and let Child#1 tidy the sitting room that he messed. My husbands reminds me that he is going and has 'things to do' and then to add insult to injury , tells me to move my sh*t off the counter and with that he has the audacity to throw my new Emily Norris planner to one side. I banish him from my kitchen and tell him in no uncertain terms that this is my domain...my kitchen/office.

After a cup of tea and a biscuit, I calm down and feel energised enough to tackle my pile of clothes in the dining room. I fold clothes all evening in between feeding the baby and the kids. I clean out the utility and light a nice smelly yankee candle. By the time my husband returns, the place is tidy, the clothes are folded and dinner is on. My husband meekly smiles around the kitchen door and because I need him to carry all my baskets of clothes to the different bedrooms, I smile back. Relieved, he happily goes about his duties while I burn my fingers peeling boiled potatoes...the bane of my life.

I put the baby to bed and put away all our clothes. I paint my daughter's nails and try clip Child#4's nails but chase him off to scrub his nails with the nail brush when the nail clippers nearly broke on the dirt underneath his fingernails. Child#1 and 3 bite their nails unfortunately and Child#3 clips his own nails. I read the two younger kids a story and then tell them to go to bed. I do my 7 minutes exercise with Lucy twice, nearly doing the splits when my foot lands on the exercise mat and slips, then I run downstairs to put on yet another wash and evict my husband from Child#4's bed. Child#4 likes to have my husband lie there until he falls asleep. The trouble is my husband puts himself to sleep first.

I get ready for bed and remind Child#1 to have his shower. I don't want a repeat of last night when he nearly smothered us all with the smell of Linx. I plan to write this blog entry and then write a few chapters of my 'novel'. I got the urge to write again yesterday so after a hiatus of two years, I went in search of my memory stick and started typing away as inspiration flowed.

I have to go to physio tomorrow and I plan to leave the baby with my mother in law for the first time. I usually take him with me but he is getting more alert now and demanding and does not let me work with the physio. Last time, a student physio had to carry him around while I had therapy on my wrists! I have an early start so I will sign off here!
Good night!

Turning over a new leaf

I wake up this morning at 5am to feed the little guzzler. He decides it's play time and keeps laughing and playing until about 6 30am in between bouts of spitting up all over me, down the nape of my neck and in my hair. As a result, both my husband and I sleep in. I continue to hide under the duvet unwilling to face the morning while my husband roars at Child#1 to get up or he'll miss the bus. Child#1 indeeds misses the bus so my husband has to drop him to school while his coworker again awaits  his return outside. I run around in my nightgown, avoiding the windows in case the coworker sees me and get the other children up. I then run back upstairs to have a shower to get all the milky vomit out of my hair. I quickly throw on my fitness gear and soon I am ready to do the school run.

 I watched Operation Transformation Wednesday night so my weight loss goals have been renewed. I even downloaded the OT app. I am slightly concerned about the amount of food allowed but I console myself that I should be allowed extra as I am breastfeeding. My sister has purchased the bridesmaid dresses and as they are on the small side, I need to get my ass in gear and shift the last few pounds (ok 2 stone). According to the app, my portions are way too large.

Anyway, I drop the children to school and I am back home again in record time. Unlike yesterday...after my husband so kindly dropped Child#1 to school in my car, I had to turn around and go straight out again with his cross training gear that he had forgotten.
I rushed home to the baby and then had to return out to town again for my smear test despite my Mother in Law advising that I cancel it because they are horrible and that she never bothered with them. I try to explain the importance of regular cervical screening but she is of a different generation and thinks all those things are unmentionable. After my test, I argue with my mother in law to give me the baby so I can return him to his car seat. She wants to keep him on her knee in the passenger seat because he is 'happy there' and can 'see out'. We finally make it home and I see the man has arrived to fix the heat. He looks relieved to see me as the three dog mill around him, Lucky snapping his ankles and Holly sliming his fancy clothes.
I feed the baby and have lunch and then it is time to race off again to do the school run and music lessons. Child#4 and 5 get off at my Mom's and I continue on with Child#2 and 3 who declare they  are starving on route. I stop quickly to buy them some food and water in Lidl and then speed out to the Music Lessons. I decide to walk with the baby for the hour rather than sleep on the Music Teacher's couch. I manage 28 minutes and return to the warmth and cosiness of her sitting room pretending it is too cold out for the baby.
I arrive home and make two dinners to keep everyone happy. I walk in to the sitting room and I can't believe my eyes when I see the mess. I lose my temper with my husband and the older children for not picking up after themselves and for seeing me as a slave. I find it hard enough to cook, clean and do laundry and try to exercise and shop and mind the kids. I do not know how I will manage when I have to work full time as well. The days fly by and I feel I cannot get around to everything. So to see my husband and the older boys lounging on the couches with cushions, throws and Frube wrappers strewn around the floor and empty plates and dirty socks...I lose any bit of sanity I had.
I retire to my bedroom to put the baby to bed. I read about the horrific car accident on the M50 and so lie awake most of the night imagining terrifying scenarios and vowing never to drive on the M50 again.
Anyway, I digress.. back to today. Today was quite a productive day. After finishing the school run, I was happy to return home with no appointments or commitments to honour. I feed the baby and put on a load of laundry. I ignore the growing pile of clothes to be folded in the dining room. I know if I start into it now, I will not get my workout done. I put on two eggs to boil and while they are cooking, I turn on Lucy's 7 minute challenge and do 3 sets! Delighted with myself for completing 21 minutes, I go on to do 60 bridges and 10 clams.
I decide to design checklists for each time I exercise rather than fold the clothes and before I know it my mother in law has appeared again for me to take her for pension.
I wait outside the little post office/shop while my mother in law goes in to gossip and collect her pension. She arrives back out in tears saying the post office has been closed down. I feel sorry for her as tears roll down her cheeks as she asks what the old people are to do now. She really enjoyed going to collect her pension each Friday and chatting to her friends. It really is a shame that the government has closed down so many village post offices thus isolating the elderly further.

I check on my mom before collecting the kids from school. Her car went into the drain this morning because two pheasants jumped suddenly out of the bushes and put her off the road. She is a bit shaken but otherwise ok thank God. However, both mom and I nearly blow a fuse (well me, not Mom) as we spend at least five minutes chasing my sister's dog around the house with slices of ham trying to trick her into coming close enough to grab her collar. She has a new hobby of chasing cars. My mother in law declares that teachers should not have dogs and that my sister's dog is a rotten, bold dog. Once the dog is safely contained, I leave and I am just in time to pick up the kids from school. We go home to enjoy my freshly home made soup. The kids leave the majority of soup in the bowl and just dip their bread in it. I don't know why I bother. I go for a long walk on the beach to clear my head. I have been headachy for a few days now as the sugar leaves my system.

Child#1 calls me to go collect him in town. I rush out to get him and find him hanging around the play ground with his cool friends. I hurry him in to the car and speed home to make dinner. My husband promises that he will be home in time to do the rugby training. I feed the kids and I am looking forward to my own fresh fish dinner and honey roasted parsnips when I realise there is no sign of my husband. I finally get through to him on the phone and he says he has lost track of time. Well I lost my sh*t and roared a few choice words down the phone. I try to ring my mother in law to mind the kids but she is not answering. So I bundle the baby into the car and warn Child#2 to watch the other three while I drop Child#1 to rugby. Luckily, my husband meets me half way and takes Child#1 and I return home again to a dried out dinner. I notice the children have not finished their meals. When I ask why, Child#4 and 5 tell me that Child#2 told them to stop eating it in case they choked and he wanted to watch television not sit in the kitchen watching them eat! I give out to Child#2 and I tidy up after dinner. I bang pots and pans as I fume. The dinner is ruined because of my husband's lateness and the childen didn't even eat their dinners so it was all a waste of time! I try Lucy's 4 minute Arm Toning workout while I watch Coronation Street. It hurt like hell but I keep going as I imagine my lovely toned arms as I glide down the aisle in my bridesmaid dress.

Once my husband returns home from rugby, I take the baby and go upstairs to write. I have a splitting headache and I have to repeatedly banish Child#2 from my room. He is demanding I go over to his Nannie's to put WD40 on is bike chain before his sleepover with his friend tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I have to go to a rugby match and bring Child#3 and 5 to the Sweet Shop for their reward for two weeks of stickers for going to bed without trouble. I am already dreading Child#4's reaction to not getting sweets. He certainly won't be getting a reward for lowing like a cow every night.
My husband is working tomorrow so I will have to freeze on the pitch for ages.
I better go and get some rest to try get rid of this headache. 
Goodnight!

Appointments!

We sleep in this morning again because I turned off the alarm while still half asleep at 6 30a.m. Child#4 is waking in the early hours and crying lately and Child#3 and 5 wake up then so we are having a lot of disrupted sleep. It is quite infuriating considering that the baby is sleeping through the night! Child#1 misses the bus so my husband takes him to school. I feed the baby and then run downstairs to ensure everyone is ready. My mother in law arrives to mind the baby and I step outside to discover that my car is gone! I ring my husband and demand to know where he is and why he took my car. He says he is nearly home and that he had to drop Child#1 to school. I know that Child#1 has been at school for well over half an hour so I am quite suspicious. My husband arrives within ten minutes and my suspicions are justified when I see him try to hide two breakfast rolls behind his back. I give out to him for delaying me as I still have to go to the city for Child#1's dietician appointment .

He sheepishly slinks off to his friend's car and takes off to work.

I complete the school run and return home to have a quick breakfast and pack for the baby. I manage to squeeze in two 7 minute Lucy Windham Reid workouts and then run upstairs to take off my trusty tracksuit put on decent clothes. I put the baby and the buggy in the car and speed out to collect Child#1.

I park the car and run up the steps to the secondary school. Teenagers peer at me beneath their long fringes with distrustful eyes. All the boys look the same to me as I look around for Child#1. I pounce on the smallest looking boy that I presume is a First Year and ask him to go and find my son. He runs off to get Child#1 and soon we are on our way.

I treat Child#1 to a nice lunch on route to the hospital. I pay six euro for a sandwich that Child#1 ends up pulling apart because he does not like tomatoes, lettuce and onion. We arrive at the hospital shortly after and I struggle to find parking. I rush through the hospital grounds towards the diabetes clinic, terrified of picking up some bug. The dietician calls us in and I settle down to ask my questions. However, she won't talk to me at all and directs all her questions at Child#1. I understand diabetes is his condition and that he has to manage it but I am the one who prepares his meals and argues with him about his diet. Child#1 gives a lovely edited run down of his daily diet as I fume in the background. I try several times to interject and tell the truth but I am shut down each time. Finally, I explode that he ate a chocolate bar just before we arrived at the clinic. She looks at me disdainfully and condescendingly tells me that we are not here to discuss his diet right now but to revise carb counting. We spend over an hour discussing carb values and how to use his insulin pump in a more effcient way. Once out of the clinic, Child#1 and I argue all the way back to the car park about him damaging his braces from drinking fizzy drinks. We hurry home to make Music Lessons and thankfully Child#1 decides not to go to rugby training. It has been a very long day and I am dying to get home and have a cup of tea. I pick up the other four children off my Mom and head home. 

My husbands has dinner on. The house is freezing and I give out to him because the heat is not fixed yet. I confiscate all phones and tablets off the children and urge them to do their homework. 

They are now safely in bed and I am getting ready for an early start tomorrow...another hospital appointment. The laundry and hoousework is piling up as I have not been home all week between hospital and Doctor appointments and masses and funerals. I did not even blog yesterday because of the busyness!I was going all day, rushing from one thing to another until I got a rotten headache. 

I have a smear test Thursday morning that was due last year! Friday is an appointment free day so I plan to tackle the housework then. Child#1 will be an official teenager tomorrow! I must plan a little party and order something designer online.

I better go get some sleep so I won't sleep in again tomorrow!

Good night!

Lazy Day

I operate on go slow mode today to recharge the batteries for the busy week ahead. I snooze all morning while my husband goes to work for a few hours. The children sleep in later than usual also so the whole household is calm. The peace is soon destroyed as they get up one by one, fighting over the TV and the good phone charger. Nobody wants the cheap Pennys' one and I smile to myself, safe in the knowledge that my Samsung charger is hidden safely under a pile of laundry in the dining room. I stand for an age at the toaster and panini press making a selection of chocolate toast and cheese and pepperoni toasties. My husband has taken my car to work so my Mom offers to pick us up and take us over to her house to say goodbye to my sister. I have a quick shower and get dressed and change the baby and then Mom arrives. All the kids decide to go and squeeze into the car. Child#1 jokes that it looks like a clown car. We survive the journey back the road and I enjoy a nice cup of tea while the kids all play together noisily but happily on the floor.

I get a call to play at another funeral tomorrow. I feel slightly anxious as I have not met the singer to sort keys and songs but I am sure it will all run smoothly on the morning.
My husband picks us up from Mom's and I grit my teeth on the journey home as the five older children argue incessantly. Child#3 is screeching that Child#1 and 2 buy each other sweets all the time and leave him out. Child#2 is enraged and bellows that he bought him soup in the local pub after mass. Child#3 retorts that was three months ago. While the argument rages Child#1giggles in a fake voice breaking type way and Child#4 chants 'Kill the crows!' as we drive towards a flock of them. My husband declares that this is why he goes to work and he already regrets coming home early. Once home, I potter around for the day doing laundry and other bits and pieces. When my husband has finished the farming, he takes over and cooks a lovely dinner while I put the baby to sleep upstairs and sneakily watch a film on Netflix.

Right now the kids are in bed. The baby is blowing bubbles and teething hard. I have my trusty notebook beside me where I plan to plan my magic exercises for the week that should hopefully see me shed some weight rapidly. I finish the last few Rich Tea biscuits so I won't be tempted tomorrow. I watch some online photos on Lucy Windham Reid's channel of ladies who have miracalously lost many pounds doing the same exercises I tried and wonder why it did not work for me.
I am convinced if I saw the scales move down the way a little, I would be motivated to keep going.
Child#4 is returning to school tomorrow so I should be more free to go for long walks... weather permitting of course. I should also unfreeze my gym membership but I fear I will not get the time to use it and then beat myself up over the waste of money.
Gaelic training starts again this week and the rugby season has not even finished. Child#1 has an appointment with the dietician this week. I hope she makes him see sense and realise that he can't keep eating junk food. Child#1 also turns the big 13 this week. How time flies. I remember the day he was born so clearly. I went into labour in the early hours of the morning. I hadn't a clue that I was in labour and thought I just needed to go to the toilet! My husband ran up and down the hall after me with a roll of toilet paper, wiping the floor every few seconds as my waters dribbled all over the place!I had a rapid labour or preciptous labour I think they call it and Child#1 had crowned before I reached the hospital. I was only 23 when I had Child#1 but yet knew instantly this was what I was meant to do...be a Mom to beautiful babies.
Now, I better sign off and go to bed .I have my alarm set for 5.50a.m. for my new fresh start.
Good night!

Dining out

I hurriedly jump out of bed this morning cursing my husband and his crock of a van. I have to bring him to work because the clutch went in said van yesterday. I shout at Child#1 to get up for his rugby match as I quickly pull on my clothes. Last night, he was the Child#1 of old, full of energy and chatty and declaring that he was turning over a new leaf and would be up early from now on. Roll on a few hours and the moody soon to be teenager has returned. In fairness, he has had a bad night of low blood sugars due to excessive training and cross country running yesterday. He gets up eventually and then demands to know where his rugby travel top is and accusingly asks if I washed it. I tell him I washed it last week so of course it's ready and with the rest of his gear. He then drops the bombshell that he wore it at training last night. I find the top stuffed in a bag caked with mud. There is no time to wash and dry it so he is forced to wear a regular top. I dart here and there dressing the baby and packing Child#1's hypo kit...lucozade, bars, etc. My husband puts all his tools in my lovely car and soon we are on the way. I drop Child#1 to the rugby bus and warn him to be careful and then I taxi my husband to his building site. My husband is sulking because I wouldn't just let him take my car. He asks pitifully where he will shelter should it rain. I tell him I don't really care as long as I am not left stranded at home all day with six kids and no car!
I abandon him to his building and head off home. I stop in briefly to the beauticians to fix my chipped finger nails because tonight is my big dinner out with the girls.
Before I know it, I am home again feeding the baby and the other kids. Child#2 cycles to the shop with a friend. Child#5 and I go for a walk with the baby, three dogs and one cat. Child#3 and 4 play on their x box and tablet all day. The day passes quickly and by 5 30p.m. I have collected my husband from work and Child#1 from the bus and then it is time to  jump in the shower and get ready for my night out. I neglect to put a towel on the floor and in my hurry leaping out of shower I nearly do the splits as I slip on a pool of water. I shake myself off and continue to my bedroom to tackle my unruly curly hair; slap on the make up to cover the dark under eye circles, squeeze into my new outfit that my Mom gave me and feed the baby from both boobs so to be even and then I'm all set to go. I bid goodbye to my husband and kids and I speed off into the night in my friend's fancy car. We have gone a few miles when I feel a weird sensation and I wonder in horror if I have wet myself but I am relieved to discover that the warm feeling is actually her heated seats. We have a lovely dinner and as soon as I've gobbled up my white chocolate  cheesecake, I am yearning to go home. I stifle yawns as Friend#1 and 2 try to outdo each other in the comparisons stakes between houses and children. I am relieved when Friend#3, who happens to be my lift home, needs to leave early. All I can think of is my hot water bottle and fluffy pyjamas. I get home and rush up the stairs just in time to stop my husband giving the baby a bottle. I eagerly latch the baby on before I explode and I give a satisfied sigh. After all the shaving, plucking and beautifying, here I am, home sweet home, back where I belong.
Goodnight!

What motherhood means to me...

This is a short  piece I wrote for the I'm everymum campaign.

What motherhood means to you

My name is Laini and I am the lucky Mom of 6 beautiful boisterous children…5 boys and 1 little lady. My children are ages 12, 11,10,6,5, and 3 months. I work full time as a Teaching Principal but I am currently on a much loved Maternity Leave.

What motherhood means to me…Well what motherhood means to me right now at this moment in time is mayhem! But an enjoyable mayhem! Motherhood means early wake up calls, finding uniforms and mouth guards, school runs, cooking, cleaning and washing clothes while feeding and winding a baby in between. Being mom to six kids means a lot of juggling and to-ing and fro-ing from one activity to the next. Not to mention, fitting in working full time as a busy teaching principal too. Motherhood means a lot of listening, patience and understanding. There will be days where this can be hard to do but it is so important to strive to do so because if you don’t listen to the small things, children won’t tell you the big things. Also, each stage may seem hard while you are going through it but it actually flies by. So enjoy each and every minute because before you know it you will find yourself crying over out grown baby gros and panicking over rough rugby scrums!

What surprised me most about Motherhood (after being peed on and the projectile vomiting) was the overwhelming love you feel for your child. You feel like crying at the mere thoughts of someone ever treating them unkindly. You feel overprotective and irrational at every moment of the day but you cannot let your children see this and instead you encourage them to grow and learn and find their place in the world.

Many will say that every Mom needs more time or patience. However, while this may be true, I believe that every Mom needs praise and encouragement. Give yourself that pat on the back. There are days where you will doubt yourself and question your every move but always trust your mother’s instinct and know that as a Mom, you will always do the right thing for your child. As a Mom, you will go through a myriad of thoughts and worries each and every day, usually all centred on your children. But remember, it is all worth it and that while there is no way of being a perfect mother there are a million ways of being a good one.

Am I doing the right thing?!

This morning starts like every morning this week...waking up feeling sluggish with a sugar hangover. I have well and truly relapsed and I am struggling to get back on track. I am a sugar addict and the little bit of everything theory obviously does not work on me. I need total  abstinance or I end up like a drug addict deperately seeking their next hit. I always convince myself that I deserve something nice as a reward for something or other. I use sweets as a bargaining tool with myself! Anyway, I stumble down the stairs in a daze asking if the children are ready. Child#3 limps into the hallway holding his chest saying that he has a cough and is wheezing. He tries to force out a wheezy sound. He looks perfectly well to me. If anything it should be Child#5 complaining of feeling ill as she is as white as a sheet. I recognise that Child#3 needs attention after all the spoiling Child#4 has had all week so I go along with his alledged illness and let him stay home from school. As soon as the threat of school has passed, Child#3 speeds up the hallway to the sitting room to watch TV. 'I thought you were going back to bed' I holler after him. 'It's ok' he calls back, 'I have my duvet in on the couch'. I shake my head and proceed to chivy Child#2 and 5 into the car. Child#1 has already left with my husband and my mother in law is with the baby.

After the school run, I prepare and put a chicken in the oven to roast; make a lasagne and then put on the never ending laundry. I watch TV and open my diary to plan my day. I feel very uneasy and anxious. The reason being is that February is coming very fast. February 15th is my date for my tubal ligation surgery. I booked it myself a few weeks ago as I know my family is complete. Yet, as the date comes closer, I start having misgivings. I go through all the reasons why I am doing this...
Firstly, I cannot tolerate the contraceptive pill or mirena coil because the hormones turn me into a moody, headachy antichrist. In addition, I have very tough pregnancies...severe Symphisis Pubis Dysfunction and Pelvic Girdle Pain whereby I need crutches; backache all through the pregnancy where I am never sure if it's backache or premature labour thus clocking up many miles into Maternity Hospital to check; stress fractures in wrists from crutches; hospital stays for bed rest; low blood pressure; weekly physio and having to sign off work. Also, though I have speedy labours, the epidural never works. I made a holy show of myself on the last baby because of the pain. I tried to crawl away from the midwives and was hanging off the bed! The midwives were disgusted by my behaviour exclaiming that I should know the score by now as it was my 6th baby! I swore to them dramatically that I'd never be back. They rolled their eyes and said they've heard it all before.

They were glad to see the back of me as I was on the antenatal ward for weeks before I had the baby, eavesdropping on other's consultations and sometimes offering my opinion.  I spent my days with student doctors describing at length all of my ailments and reminiscing on each pregnancy. Some of them even visited on the postnatal ward afterwards to meet the much awaited baby. I was a familiar face in other parts of the hospital too where I'd be found waddling along trying to bring on labour. An irate doctor once banished me back to the Maternity section and told me to just bounce on a yoga ball. Once I got home after the birth, I could not walk properly for weeks because my hip felt dislocated! I needed intensive physio on my pelvis and wrists and it is only now I am starting to feel better!

And yet, I look at my baby, panicking as he grows so fast; nearly hyperventilating as I carefully fold away each baby gro that he has outgrown and positively fight back the tears as I imagine all my kids going off to college and not having a small baby in the house ever again. My husband thinks I'm mad. My mother reminds me that myself and my sisters did not go too far from her and that I have to call a halt at some stage! My gynaecologist agrees that even though I'm only in my 30s, six is enough for anyone and that my body has been through enough.

I am so grateful that I have six healthy children. I remember the anxiety and worry before each scan, willing everything to be ok. I had an ectopic in 2008 and lost one of my fallopian tubes. I was told back then I only had a 50% chance of ever conceiving again so I realise how blessed I am to have gone on to have four more. The funny thing is I was 'finished' after Child#5. She was five years old and I was so smug that they were all in school when one day I was shocked to discover Child#6 was on the way! Though it was a difficult pregnancy, I was so excited and delighted to have a new baby in the house again. We are all fascinated with him and exclaim over every little thing he does. He brings such joy to the house and is such an easy going baby. I have been plunged back in to babydom. All thoughts of lesson plans, principal conferences, Board of Management meetings and parent teacher meetings have left my mind. I really enjoy being at home with the baby and pottering around cooking, decorating and watching TV while all the others are in school. While I thoroughly enjoyed all of my babies, I had my first three before Child#1 turned three years old. By the time Child#3 turned 4, I had two more babies under the age of 15 months so the time passed quickly in a blur of nappies and toilet training and work!

I remind myself that I am finding it so easy now because I do not have a toddler to run after and that if I was to have another, I would be running, possible limping after a toddler while trying to mind a newborn. I also recognise that the other children still need me in different ways. It can be quite difficult dealing with a soon to be teenager and then reverting to caring for a newborn! I am never off the road with their many activities. As soon as rugby stops Gaelic starts, an endless whirlwind of training and matches. Our weekends are spent freezing our asses off at sidelines willing the coach to play my sons so as not to damage their fragile self esteems. I go between ringing the coach on his mobile (I'm not allowed on the pitch)  to play Child#2 before he loses interest to warning coach not to play Child#1 because the opposition looks too big. Child#1 has banned me from rugby matches because I embarrass him. But anyway, back to my reasons not to have another baby. 
My husband makes the valid point that we will please God have three in college at the same time and that we have to provide for the kids we have. As well as that ,we have 6 healthy kids and to roll the dice again would be madness. 
So, I think I have to accept it is time to put baby thoughts out of my head and continue to enjoy the children I am lucky enough to have.  One day, please God, if I have done my job right, they will leave home and have their own lives like they are meant to do. When people tell me to live my own life and take up enjoyable activities I realise that I am already doing what I love...being with my children. When you become a mother, you are no longer the centre of your own universe...you relinquish that position to your children.
I have signed up for many an activity, many a course. I am probably the most trained principal ever!  I have danced zumba without much coordination, half killed myself in step aerobics, nearly drowned myself in aqua aerobics, dangerously played golf, had one on one pilates and pilates in a group (I was told not to come back), yoga (also told not to come back...she thought I was deliberately falling around to make people laugh...I wasn't), swimming, gym, Gaelic for Moms (bad idea), walking groups and a personal trainer who despaired of me. I have enough equipment to start a gym!
Home wise, I have thrown myself into trying to be the perfect housewife. I have reorganised rooms; maria kondoed every drawer; moved furniture about regularly for feng shui, moved bed rooms and wardrobes and watched numerous you tube vlogs on speed cleaning and baking!
I have dabbled in drawing, writing a novel, psychic development, angel card reading, mentoring other principals, teaching music, fostering for a dog shelter and much much more! 

So while I try new things with enthusiasm and vigour, my heart will always be with my children. Whether dealing with tantrums, grumpy teens or watching the heart melting smile of my baby, when people wonder why I'd want more children, I will always wonder why wouldn't I because each baby is truly a blessing. However, I know my limits and I need to be strong and healthy for the children I have. So, I'll try relish each moment with my children and celebrate each milestone that they reach because it will all pass much too quickly. 
There will be days where I will feel like a servant and will probably rant here on my blog about the many things my children do and don't do but at the end of the day being a mom is a priviledge and seeing my children healthy and happy is the reward.
And now...I better stop rambling and go to sleep. My husband's van broke down and I have to drop him to work in the morning. I also have a day of worry ahead of me as Child#1 is going to his rugby match alone (I'm banned remember?)
Good night!

Migraine returns!

I wake this morning feeling like I hadn't slept at all. My husband comes home from Darts practice around 1am and the baby wakes at 4am. As I turn to lift the baby from his crib, I notice my daughter is in the bed, hidden on the other side of my husband. I feed the baby and I am just drifting off when I hear a lowing sound like a cow. I turn to find Child#4 staring down at me whining 'I want daaaaad'. The past few nights my husband has been sleeping with him to keep an eye on him after his surgery. I tell Child#4 to go downstairs and that Dad will be down shortly. I elbow my husband to wake him. He grunts and turns away. I elbow him harder and dig my toenails into his leg for good measure. Just as he goes to get up, Child#3 bursts into the room giving out that poor Child#4 is crying and asks can we not hear him. My husband trudges down the stairs to deal with Child#4 and I fall back to sleep. The baby wakes again at 6am and it feels like in no time it is 8am and I am rushing around getting the children up for school. Child#1 is snuffling and coughing again and refuses to go to school. Child#2 and Child#3 are stretched on the couch watching you tube and I urge them to hurry on and get their shoes on. Child#5 is ready and waiting like the good girl she is. I guide them all to the car, cleverly side stepping the St. Bernard and bid my mother in law goodbye and off we go.
 I can hardly see as I drive over the road to do the school run. My eyes are scalding and I keep sneezing. I meet a teacher at the school gates who tells me that I look sick. Feeling justified now that I am indeed very sick, I rush over the road home promising myself a nice hot water bottle, lemsip, bed and netflix.
On arrival home however, I remember why I am at home and I wearily feed the baby who guzzles away draining me of any remaining energy I had. I make breakfast for myself and Child#1 and 4 and put on a load of laundry. I tidy the kitchen and search in vain for the hot water bottle. It is nowhere to be found. I decide to make pancakes for the kids for after school and then I go for a quick walk with the baby. Before I know it, it is time to pick up Child#5 from school and I have missed my window to rest and watch Netflix.
I buy myself a bar in the shop to make up for it and once I've settled Child#5 at home, packed the few pancakes and rice cake bars and music folders, it is time to go collect Child#2 and 3 and continue on to town for music lessons.
I speed into Supervalu first to buy a loaf and milk so I won't have to stop after music lessons. I decide to use the self service check out as I have very little time to spare and of course the damn thing gets stuck half way through. I desperately look around for help. Two cashiers studiously avoid eye contact. Finally, a nice man comes to my aid and soon I am on my way to Music Lessons again. I feel strange like I am outside my body and my head is fuzzy. I am craving sugar like crazy and I have the urge to run away through the fields or swim in cold water.

I fall asleep on the Music Teacher's couch while the boys are in class. The opening door wakes me and I hurriedly try look wide awake and sound coherent as the Music Teacher describes their various pieces for the exam. As I walk to the car, I get a pain in the side of my head and it all becomes clear...my migraine is back. I always feel strange and crave sugar before it hits but never cop on what's happening until the actual headache arrives. I had a welcome break from them for about a year...the 9 months pregnancy and 3 months postpartum.
I warn the boys to stop talking and distracting me from the road as we head for home. I am in my own world when suddenly Child#2's screeches and accuses me of running over a dog. There is no dog on the road...I ask him what the hell he is on about. He says he thought he heard a dog whine. Enraged I ask him what he is playing at and explain that he could have put me off the road. He mumbles something under his breath eager to forget the whole thing, probably embarrased over his irrational outburst. Suddenly, Child#3 snaps out of his day dream and gets with the conversation and asks in surprise 'Did you run over a dog?'
I explode and roar no and think  to myself, this is how rumours start. Next Child#3 will go home telling everyone I hit a poor dog when there was no fecking dog in the vicinity in the first place!

Once home, I run upstairs with the baby and Child#5 to escape Child1, 2, 3 and 4's constant demands. Child#1 is looking for football socks even though he is meant to be sick; Child#2 is looking for memorabillia from the Marconi Station as he heard somewhere that his great grandfather worked there and so in his mind fully expects to find artefacts around the house. Child#3 is opening and closing the fridge looking for something nice (perhaps he is the cream bun thief). Child#4 wants me to read things on his tablet while Child#2 asks him why he can't even read yet. I ring my husband to buy me winegums on his way home to ease my suffering and then I settle down to feed the baby and help Child#5 with her homework. I try not to get exasperated as Child#5 admires herself and her flamingo top in my full length mirror when she is meant to be completing her maths worksheet.
Thankfully, my husband arrives home. He hands me my winegums and I quickly sit on them before the kids see them. Child#1 bursts through my bedroom door asking if he just saw winegums in Dad's pocket. I say that I already ate them. As his face crumples in disappointment, I try to convince myself that I am not sharing because of his diabetes and not because of my sheer greediness. However, I relent and give him one.
I haven't done any of my Lucy Windham Reid workouts today or ate a clean healthy diet but that's ok. Tomorrow is another day and I know I will 'be good' once I feel better. I have to bring Child#4 and 5 to the health nurse to be measured tomorrow and Child#1 resumes football training too.
But the good news is my Mom will be home and I plan to reclaim my rightful place on Mom's couch eating pancakes by the stove. Unfortunately, I'll have to battle for her attention as my two sisters are coming home for the weekend too.
I must go now and watch Fair City and have a well deserved cup of tea.
Good night.

Wednesday Woes

I wake this morning feeling fluey and tired. I do not want to get up. I hide under the duvet hoping the rain will get heavier and my husband will be rained off work but no such luck. Child#1 had a hypo (low blood sugar) during the night and the baby woke at 4am so it feels like I've had no sleep.
I tumble out of bed and have a quick shower to wake myself up. I hear the children downstairs wondering a loud where I am. My husband gets them all up this morning. I quickly get dressed and feed the baby. I put him down without winding him so I can do my daughter's hair. My mother in law arrives down and picks him up and he gets sick all over her. It serves her right for trying to change his name.

Child#3 is screaming again about being late and so we speed over the road to school. I drop them off and hurry home again to the baby and Child#4. I run upstairs to relieve my mother in law. I notice cow dung on my barely used yoga mat. I play dumb and ask my mother in law what is on my mat knowing full well she walked all over it in her shitty wellies. She remains poker faced and blames poor Lucky the dog. 'That black dog is grinning at me all morning' she declares in ominous tones. I think the word she is looking for is grimacing or glaring but her message is clear...she is trying to say that it is dog poo on the mat when it clearly is not. Poor Lucky is not 'all there' or 'not the full shilling' as they say around here if you are not the smartest. She sits there groaning with a dirty sock in her mouth not realising what she is being accused of. I give a dramatic sigh and get the baby wipes and proceed to clean the mat.
I take the baby off my mother in law to go downstairs and she warns me all the way down not to fall. I turn on Ireland AM and watch it while I prepare breakfast and sort laundry. I try to listen to a segment on bras as I need a good supportive bra before my bosoms reach my knees. However, I cannot hear a thing as my mother in law keeps exclaiming 'What a thing to be showing on the telly..women's breasts and bellies! It's a disgrace!'
Luckily, my mother in law decides to go home and I am left in peace for another while. My eyes are stinging and my nose running and I feel so sluggish. I wander in to the bathroom to get tissues and apologise to the cat for barging in on him until I realise it is a cat and I am talking to a cat. My phone pings and it is my messenger from the girls. Feck it anyway...I had forgotten that we are meant to go for dinner on Saturday night. I had forgotten that I was meant to be looking all thin and svelte with them exclaiming how well I look after having a baby. Spurred on and in a panic I grab the skipping rope and try to skip. My first attempt sees me trip on the rope and tumble head first towards the freezer. Not to be deterred I try again and manage 5 skips before I feel something pop in my knee. I think of my sister's knee dislocating and decide there and then not to chance anymore skipping. Instead, I turn to Lucy's 7 minute workouts on you tube and do two of them. I also throw a few shapes on my yoga mat and jot that down in my planner as pilates and soon I am back on my stool enjoying a cup of tea and watching This Morning.

I decide to fold some clothes before taking Child#4 for his daily cream bun. I thankfully put Child#3's freshly laundered Tommy Hilfiger briefs in his basket. He got two pairs for Christmas to copy his older brother. My husband and I were shocked and horrified to discover a few weeks ago that he was wearing the same Tommy Hilfiger underwear for a few days in a row such was his love for them. I am sure to keep them washed now!
I feed the baby and bundle him into the car with Child#4. Child#4 has started talking like a baby in a lispy voice since his surgery. I fear he is getting too spoiled but only two more days of cream buns before he will be banished off to school again. As we drive around the town, I am dismayed to discover our three favourite coffee shops are closed for renovations and will reopen in the Spring. I am forced to take Child#4 to a restaurant where he gobbles down a pizza while I nervously check the time. I make it back to pick up the other children at 3pm. The rest of the afternoon passes in a flurry of toasties, dinner and laundry. Child#1 arrives home to say he is sick again and that he won't be going to school tomorrow. I tell him in no uncertain terms that he will not be missing any more days due to the sniffles.
I drop Child#2 and 3 to rugby and decide it is too cold to walk while they train and so come home again.
There is a Fitness Class starting in the local hall tonight. I am debating whether or not to go. It would be good to get out and mingle but I fear the real exercise and if it would be too much for me and my weak pelvic floor.
Then again, tonight is Dart night so maybe I should go out for a while before my husband leaves me with all the kids. More worryingly, my sister bought her wedding dress today which means the wedding is getting ever closer. I need to be super toned by then!
Anyway, I have half an hour to make up my mind. I think I 'll go and have a nice cup of tea.
Tomorrow is another music lessons day..ugh.
I really don't know how I will fit in work to my already busy days in April when my precious last ever Maternity Leave ends.
I am going now to join my smiling baby on his play mat....maybe I can get a few yoga moves in at the same time.
Slán!

Wind down

Hello everyone,
I signed off quite abruptly earlier. I had quite a busy evening so only getting to escape to the sanctuary of my room now.
 I thought I was prepared for the hungry onslought of kids after school with my chicken supreme and pot of pasta but no...they declare that they hate pasta all of a sudden and want rice instead. I grit my teeth and stick some rice in the microwave. I warn them to scrape their plates off outside for the dogs but find Child#2 scraping his plate on my worktop in the utility for the cats. I tell him that the cats will not eat rice and proceed to clean up the mess. I feed the baby and get his things ready to go to music lessons when my mother in law appears declaring that it is too cold to take him out. Rather than argue with her about the length of time he'd actually be out of the car, I just agree to let her mind him with the other 4.
I imagine bonding time with Child#1 as we drive along the country roads together to the music lesson. We get off to a bad start when I have to keep roaring up the stairs at him to come down as it is time to go. 'Just a sec', he keeps saying. I threaten to go up and tear his xbox out of the wall and he soon appears asking where his rugby gear is.
Soon we are in the car and ready to go. I try to strike up conversation but he is too engrossed in his phone, taking selfies for snapchat or streaks...After a few miles, he speaks. 'What was that? ' I ask as I didn't quite catch what he mumbles. 'I need credit' he repeats, quickly followed by 'Can I get a drink in the shop?' I pop in to Supervalu to get catfood and his fizzy drink and cash for the music lesson. Child#1 is more chatty for the rest of the journey. He talks of his friends and being popular and other materialistic things. I tell him that it is the person who matters and not what they wear and to be confident and to be your own person. I explain how I wear Pennys clothes and not designer and that there is nothing wrong with me. He disagrees and lists all the things he perceives to be wrong with me! He declares Child#2 runs the risk of being unpopular with his current hairstyle to which I reply maybe every other child will copy his haircut!
I know Child#1 is trying to fit in and that secondary school is all so new but I hope he will become more confident as time goes on. As the firstborn he has always been a bit of a worrier whereas Child#2 doesn't seem to care what anyone thinks...so far anyway!

The music lesson goes well and Child#1 gets great praise. We head back to town for rugby and Chid#1 begs to be allowed to the teenage discos in the summer. I say no. The discos and bus to said discos are notorious for underage drinking.
I plan to go for a walk while Child#1 is at rugby but my husband tells me that the baby is cranky so I head home. My husband's face is looking a bit better now that the antibiotics have started to work. It transpires someone has eaten his birthday bun that was in the fridge. He didn't eat it yesterday evening because of the pain in his jaw. Everyone blames Child#2 but he is adament it was Child#3. Child#3 falls to the ground dramatically screaming that it was not him. As he splutters and shrieks and writhes on the floor my husband says he thinks it was Child#1 because he heard him lurking downstairs last night. Child#1 blames Child#5/. I remind them that Child#4 or 5 cannot reach the top shelf in the fridge to which Child#2 retorts 'They'd reach it for a cream bun!'
Now don't get me wrong...I don't actually care who ate the bun. What I care about is that one of them are lying and lying really well because I haven't a clue who to believe! We abandon the bun debate and start the bedtimes.
The baby stinks of baby vomit so I am waiting for the water to heat to bath him and then hopefully I can go to bed and watch my favourite you tube vlogs!
Tomorrow involves more rugby...more rushing to find mouth guards, boots and socks! The joys.
Good night!

Sleep in

The baby sleeps through until 8 30am this morning! He gives me a gummy smile and then within seconds screams the place down in self righteous anger as if I deliberately tried to starve him. I have been awake since 7am. My mother's instinct kicked in urging me to get up and check Child#1. He has no school today so is allowed to sleep in. However, something tells me to go in to him and lo and behold his insulin pump has fallen out and his bloods are sky high. I shake him awake terrified that he has gone in to DKA...diabetic ketoacidosis. He opens his eyes and a litany of abuse flows from his mouth, a sure sign of high blood sugars. I send him downstairs to do a set change and soon his bloods  sugars start to fall.
I should stay up then as I am already late but I go back into bed until 8 am torturing myself with 'What if?' scenarios. What if I did not check him on time? What if his pump falls out when he is all grown up and no one is there to check him? Every few days the reality of his condition hits me all over again even though he is nearly three years diagnosed. The panic subsides and I give myself a shake to cop on and get on with it. I run downstairs to get everyone up. My husband is already up staring in the bathroom mirror at his misshapen face. I turn on Child#3's light and brace myself... he starts screaming at me to turn the light off. I hurry away to do Child#5's hair. Buoyed on by yesterday's attempt, I chance two french plaits today and she looks lovely. I take photos of my handiwork before remembering that we are in fact late. I jog to the kitchen to put on toasties. Child#3 declares he wants a wrap not a toastie. My husband steps in and makes it and I run back up the stairs to get dressed and see if baby is awake. I am running and jogging all over the place because I missed my workout again. I plan to do it now shortly after I finish my tea and chocolate biscuits.
I have just finished applying moisturiser to my face when as described above, the baby wakes. I hop back into bed and feed him and then my mother in law arrives. 'Hello PJ!' she bellows into his face. As mentioned before, his name is not PJ or anything like it. She won't listen to us so we just ignore her attempts to change his name now. I skip down the stairs and shout at everyone to get in the car. The St. Bernard gets in passed me. She bulldozes through the kitchen snaffling crusts off plates left on table and sliming everything. I throw a slice of cheese into the utility and she follows. Safe now, I continue to the car to do the school run. I wave goodbye to my darlings and warn my daughter not to let anyone touch her hair. Her sneaky class mate took her hair down yesterday because the older girls were admiring her hair style. Part of me hates not being there as her teacher but the other part loves dropping them off and taking off home again to watch Ireland AM!

Once home, I peel a load of vegetables and brown off the meat to put a stew on in the slow cooker. I catch  a cat trying to steal my stewing beef. He gets thrown out the door . As he sails through the air, I battle the other three felines trying to claw their way in. Note to self: I must buy more cat food. I ring the GP Surgery to get an appointment for my husband before his face explodes.
I better go do my 10 minutes exercise. I think I'll try skipping. That way I can continue to watch Holly and Philip on This Morning.
I  still have to put the Chicken on for Chicken Supreme, bring Child#4 for his cream bun, do the school runs, rugby and music.
I'll check in later!

I still haven't done my workout. I just hop on here briefly to ask if anyone else jumps from one thing to the other like I do? I do it in my mind; when I am talking about something and when I am actually doing something! I noticed some dirt on kitchen floor so I go to the hallway to get my little brush and dustpan. While in the hall I notice dust balls so I go to sweep them up on route back to the kitchen. Then I spy the hoover so I decide to give the hall a quick hoover. As I pass the main bathroom, I duck in to hoover there too. Whilst in there, I replace toothpaste caps, flush toilet, rinse bath and remove hairs from Child#5's hairbrush and hoover with one hand. Then I finally return to kitchen to sweep up dirt there and I end up typing away here! Even if I make to do lists, I jump from task to task!I put the hoover away, wishing it was a Dyson 10 or even an 8, as I wind up the cord.

The baby sleeps for four hours so I tidy my kitchen counters, phone table and sort paperwork in the  office. I collect the children from school and make a shopping list for Supervalu. I will run in before the music lesson. I plan to drop Child#1 at the rugby pitch and then come home again to do homework and bedtimes.

Motivated Monday

Hello everyone,
I am blogging a bit later than usual this evening as I have been running around all day like a demented you tuber on a cleaning vlog. I am so tired right now but if I don't type about my day, I'll break the habit and probably abandon yet another activity.
The baby wakes at 6 30am this morning and so I have no excuse and after feeding him, I pull on the ole lycra leggings and runners and start lepping around the place to Lucy Windham  Reed's 10 minute HITT workout and her 7 minute Drop a Dress Size Challenge. I race back and over the upstairs landing as I cannot seem to jog on the spot without feeling my lower bits threaten to prolapse. I hear the complaints downstairs of the thundering noise overhead but I am a woman on a mission. Energised after my 17 minute workout, I run down the stairs so fast I nearly hit the wall head on. I wake the kids; lay out uniforms; fill a bath for Child#5; chase Child#2  in to the shower; roar at Child#1 to get in the shower upstairs and to correct his bloods (his blood sugars are super high again); put on a load of laundry and put the other load in the dryer and run back up the stairs to check the baby. The baby is wide awake and smiling happily so I take him downstairs and put him in his bouncer. I shampoo and rinse Child#5 hair and hurry her out of the bath. My husband feeds Child#1, 2 and 3 while I blow dry Child#5 hair. Child#4 does not have to go to school because of his surgery. I'm feeling adventurous so I french braid my daughter's hair. My husband leaves early to get his van DOE'd. My mother in law minds the baby and Child#4 while I do the school run. I have no time to change or do make up or brush hair. I hope I do not meet anyone. I arrive at the school and feck it anyway, the teacher comes down to the car to ask about Child#4. I try to hide behind the car door but all to no avail.

I hurry home to peel potatoes and fry mince to make shepherd's pie. I offered to feed my Dad too as he's hopeless in the kitchen and my Mom has gone away.
I make pancakes all morning for the kids afer school. I go to town to do the shopping, collect insulin and treat Child#4 to his cream bun.
I speed home again to pick Child#5 up from school. I just have time to put away the shopping before leaving again to pick up Child#2 and 3. I feed them, feed baby and put on more potatoes. I can't face peeling them so decide to boil them in their jackets. I ask Child#2 to mind the baby while I run up to the crossroad to pick up Child#1. I warn him not to pick the baby up and to just talk to him in the bouncer.
Child#1 arrives on the school bus but forgets his hoodie. I chase the bus driver over the road but he doesn't see us. We wait the few minutes for him to return back our way and get the hoodie. I race home to find Child#2 marching up and down the hall with the baby. He practically throws the baby at me and returns to the TV.
I feed Child#1 and check my potatoes. They have turned to mush and I burn my hands trying to take peels off to turn them in to mash. I lift my son's school bag off the kitchen table and strain my wrist that I have been weeks trying to fix at physio.
I fold some clothes and make the kids do their homework. My husband arrives home complaining of pain in jaw. I get the younger kids ready for bed and then have a quick bath to sooth my aching wrist though my husband asked why I couldn't just soak it in the sink. I nearly faint when I come out of the bath to see my husband's face. It has doubled in size and is all distorted. I ignore his pleas to leave it and I ring the Doctor on Call. My husband is currently out there now getting penicillin for an abscess on his tooth. I am going to go to sleep now if baby is in agreement!
Tomorrow will involve an early start and rugby and music lessons!
Goodnight.

Laundry day

Good evening everyone! Today has passed in a blur of folding clothes, feeding kids and folding clothes. The baby woke at 4am again this morning. He has a cold and a cough and so was very restless all night. Therefore, I skipped my workout again and stumbled out of bed at 9am to get ready for the mass that I had foolishly agreed to go to. I feed the baby and shout at my husband to get Child#2 and 3 up for mass. I then wish him a Happy Birthday in a nice voice. I had forgotten that I had intended to get up early and make him a nice breakfast. Oh well, what he doesn't know won't bother him. I hurriedly squeeze into a pair of 'work trousers'. If I'm not at work I live in jeans or workout gear. Not that I work out mind...but I have the intention of doing so and make lists about doing so every day.
I race downstairs to check if the others are ready. Child#3 is sitting in bed wearing a vest and adidas shorts. I blink in confusion. Is he planning on wearing that to mass? I ask him if he is ready and he retorts that he is not going and wasting his time at mass. Already late, I blow a fuse and start roaring at him to get dressed. My mother in law appears out of nowhere, her hearing suddenly perfectly restored asking why I was shouting. I gesture at Child#3 and explain that he is meant to be playing the tinwhistle at mass. She says 'Just tell them he is sick'. Oh thanks Mother in Law, now Child#3 won't move at all and suddenly looks like he has been struck down with a virulent virus. My husband and I try to explain to her that he is not sick and that that is not the point anyway. He needs to support the school...my school!
Running out of time, I have to leave, urging Child#2 to put his accordion in the car while shouting at my husband to take the xbox off Child#3 for his mutiny.
My mother in law makes some remark in the car about it being my husband's birthday and that the poor fellla had to listen to shouting. I retort that had he got Child#3 up for mass as advised all this could have been avoided.
We arrive at mass and I step out of the car a changed woman, smiling sweetly at parishiners and gliding up the aisle, I take my place in the choir. I strain my voice trying to out sing the lady beside me. I take brief glances behind me to see when it's time to kneel, sit or stand as I am up the top of the church with only young children to guide me. I always lose track at mass God forgive me so never know what to do. The sign of peace arrives and I awkwardly shake hands with people. I never know who to stop at or will someone be inevitably insulted if I leave them out.
After communion, the children get ready to play their instruments. Child#2 is staring into space. I silently will him to pick up his accordion but he is fascinated by something ahead of him. The tune starts and he hurriedly picks up his accordion trying to find his place. When he does play, he plays well and so I relax again.

My mother in law and Child#2 run into the shop after mass to buy my husband birthday cards. I arrive home just in time to feed the baby. I smile in a concilatory fashion at my husband as it is his birthday after all and tell him I plan to bring him for lunch and do something nice for his birthday today.
Much to my surprise, he explodes that 'he has things to do' and can't be 'swanning off to lunches' and that I shouldn't make plans without consulting him. He then proceeds to rant about 'ye mixing up the rubbish and recycling' and with that he goes to take his leave.
Such was my angry reaction at the time, that I can't rightly remember what I said but I do remember needing  a cup of tea and a bar afterwards.
I feed the baby again and watch a cleaning vlog on you tube to motivate me to tackle the laundry. I fall asleep watching it but wake with renewed vigour. I ask all the kids if they want something to eat before I start into the laundry and they reassure me that they are fine. I go to play my favourite music on Spotify but all I can see are rap songs. Child#1 has taken over my account. I keep scrolling and soon I am folding away to Easy 90s and 00s.
Child#2 comes in screeching that Whiskas the cat has shit in his room and he demands that I clean it. I chase him out telling him to clean it himself as he let the cat in and to wear gloves. Child#3 comes in offering to fold socks...he just wants his xbox back. Child#2 returns shouting at me to go to his Aunt's house to pick up a treadmill. I don't know why he wants the treadmill so much...last time he was on one in physio he flew off the back of it and hit the wall. I disgraced myself by laughing but I am sure the physio thought it was funny too.  Child#3 comes back asking for food. I stop what I am doing and sort them out. I wonder where my husband is. I jealously imagine him driving along in his tractor, the lovely fresh breeze blowing through his hair while I am stuck inside folding clothes.
I do 10 squats while waiting for Child#3's toastie and then I return to Clothes Mountain. Child#2 tells me that Dad is helping a neighbour move silage bales. Of course he is. Meanwhile bins are overflowing here.
I take a bundle of towels down to the main bathroom and whilst there I clean the sink; the toilet; close toothpaste tubes and hang fresh towels. I wash all the toothpaste off the mirror and then return again to the clothes. Child#2 helps carry all the baskets of clothes to the relevant bedrooms. I get a strong smell of Lenor and ask why. It turns out my husband uses my fancy Lenor, the concentrated one, to mop the floor in Child#2's room to get rid of the smell of cat poo. I remind him that we have floor cleaner under the sink but apparently it doesn't smell nice enough.
I put away about 10 baskets of clothes and sort baby clothes that the baby has outgrown. I organise my smalls in the Maria Kondo method. I ring my GP about the baby's cough and feed all the animals.
I realise that I now have to cook as my husband does not want to eat out. I take bolognese out of the freezer, smugly congratulating myself for freezing last week's leftovers. I tell Child#4 that I plan to take him for a cream bun every day this week when he is off school. Child#5 asks him to buy her a bun and take it home to which he screechily responds ' I am not spending ALLmy money on you buying cream buns'.
I serve dinner. Child#1 states that it tastes like it was frozen. I silence him with a stare. My husband holds baby towards me while I try to sort dinner saying 'Here...he needs to be changed'. I tell my husband to kindly change him as I am sorting dinner. Soon I am delighted to hear roars coming from the sitting room. My husband shouts at Child#2 to get baby wipes . Child#2 gets distracted while on route to get said baby wipes. Cue screams...the baby has pooped all over my husband and the couch. Child#3 runs in looking for nappy sacks. Finally, my husband emerges with head tilted and chin jutting out which means he is sulking. I ask in a concerned voice if everything is ok and he doesn't reply.

After the mayhem of dinner, I sneak off upstairs to put the baby to bed. All I hear is the thud thud thud of the treadmill. The boys are fascinated with it. No injuries so far. I must try it out myself later. I have a busy day tomorrow so I plan to have an early night. But first, I need to do more laundry, put kids to bed, sort uniforms for tomorrow and socks; upload Child#1's blood sugars and set my goals and intentions for the week ahead. I need to restart  my 100 days active challenge and healthy eating regime. Anna Saccone is back to her pre pregnancy figure and I am no where near ! I tell my husband that she is probably half the size of me when I hear Child#2 whisper into Child#1's ear 'Try quarter!' Cheeky fecker.
I better go do my chores!
Adieu!

Headcold

Hello everyone,
I am not myself today. I have been struck down with a rotten cold, passed on from one of my kids or worst case scenario I have contracted some horrid virus from the hospital yesterday. I am rudely awoken this morning at 4am by incessant barking. I wait for at least ten minutes willing the dogs to cease their racket but no, they suddenly decide they are guard dogs instead of the useless lumps they usually are. I drag myself down the stairs to find my husband. He decided to sleep with Child#4 last night to keep an eye on him after his surgery. I shake my husband awake surprised that the dogs haven't already woke him. 'Whaaat?' he blearily asks. I tell him to get up and stop the dogs barking. He asks why I can't do it. I splutter in shock. How could I open the door and risk a load of masked robbers attacking me? Does he not realise he is meant to be man of the house. He gets out of bed sighing and trudges up the hall. I fly up the stairs to the safety of my room just in case. I hear him roar at the dogs to 'Lie down' and then returns to bed. No matter what the dogs are doing, my husband will roar 'Lie down'. It doesn't matter if they are barking, trying to get in, sitting down, stealing food, chasing cows...'Lie down' covers a multitude.
I check Joe's blood sugars and they are sky high...a result of the birthday party. I scramble around looking for his insulin pump and give the correction. The baby stirs so I decide to feed him so I won't have to at 7am and then I fall back to sleep.


I wake much later knowing I have again slept in. I pat around the bed for my phone to check the time, but it is dead. I stretch to find the ipad...9. 30a.m.! I have to be leaving for music lessons at 10a.m. I race downstairs to wake the kids. I race back up to check Joe's bloods...they are still high but starting to descend. I feel so tired and sluggish and I wonder what's wrong with me. I go into the bathroom and nearly faint with shock. I think I am haemorrhaging and will die on the bathroom floor until I realise it is my period that has decided to return. I suppose I should be thankful. Now I know why I had a sugar relapse. It was my body's fault not my lack of willpower. I get dressed, feed the baby, pack up his stuff, grab the music folders and put Child #2 and 3 , school friend and baby in the car. Child#2 roars that he is starving. I tell him too bad. He had all morning to get breakfast but instead chose to play on his xbox. I know well what Child#2 is playing at. He does this every time we go somewhere so he can either eat rubbish from the petrol station deli counter or treat himself to a panini in the local coffee shop.
I start the car and off we go. I have no workout done and no make on and I am wearing my husband's jacket. I didn't want the baby to get sick on my own.

Soon we arrive at Music and the music teacher is waiting at the door smiling. I wish her a Happy New Year to distract her from Child#2 and 3 furiously kicking each other in the legs in the back of the car, neither one wanting to go in first. Child#2 loses and marches in with a face like thunder.
I sit on the couch winding the baby while Child#3 and school friend play hide and seek behind the couch. The baby projectile vomits all over the couch. I grab the trusty baby wipes and hastily clean up before the music teacher returns. Child#3 goes in for his turn and Child#2 continues to moan about being hungry.
Soon it is time to go and the music teacher tells me of her delight that Child#1 has agreed to move on to Grade 2 piano. I nod away smiling knowing full well that Child#1 hasn't a notion of doing Grade 2. Rather he misunderstood the music teacher when she asked if he was moving on, he thought she meant moving on to something new and not Grade 2 and he agreed.

We leave the Music lesson and I speed towards town to get to Aldi before baby wakes up. Child#2 doubles his efforts to get his own way and coming into town I find myself handing over cash for him to feck off and get his panini and I continue on to Aldi.

I hurry through the aisles getting a few essentials, no time for browsing. I find Child#2 at the car glowering. The Coffee Shop has closed for renovations. I promise him chicken dippers at home and chips.

Half an hour later, I am serving up Chicken Dippers when suddenly I sneeze. Child#2 nearly loses his life and berates me for a good ten minutes for spreading my rotten germs around his food. I ignore him and proceed to take chips out of the oven...they are burnt. Child#2 goes crazy then altogether. I feed all the children and myself. I do my daughter's hair and admire her outfit of the day. She has chosen floral leggings and jumper and looks like a little doll.

I have been trying to keep busy and distract myself from the fact that there is a half bag of jelly snakes in the press and Romantica ice cream in the freezer. But as my cold takes hold, I need comfort food. I sit on couch in dining room ignoring the piles of clothes to be folded and I watch Emily Norris on you tube cycle along delightedly like a graceful duck with her three boys following like ducklings behind. My boys are sprawled watching TV today or feverishly working xbox controls.
I normally do nice walks and activities with them though..maybe not a bike ride but I do try.

I ring my husband to tell him that I am sick and I need to rest. He tells me he will be home when it's dark. So I am sitting here now staring out the window willing it to be dark. It is his birthday tomorrow so I must plan a nice dinner. I had hoped to eat out but we can't now until Child#4 is recovered.
I still have to drop the school friend home, make dinner and have a shower as I am covered in baby puke. I have to go to mass in the morning to an Enrolment Ceremony for the Holy Communion Class. I don't have to be there as a teacher but I feel I should show face as I'll be teaching them again after Easter.
It's nearly dark now so I better go and look poorly before my husband walks in.
Goodbye for now!

Hospital discharge and last minute birthday party.

Hello again!
I am currently hiding out in my bedroom with baby. I told my husband that I think I picked up a bug in the hosptial just to get a few minutes peace. However, I hear the tractor spluttering to life outside so I think he pretended not to hear me as usual and took off up the boreen to get his mommy's hay bales.
We get off to a bad start this morning when we sleep in. The baby is my new alarm clock lately as he usually wakes at 6 30 am each morning. This morning of all mornings he decides to sleep until nearly 8am and so makes us all late. There goes my lovely idea of making Child#3 birthday pancakes. I wish him happy birthday and promise to make the pancakes later this evening. I repeatedly ring my mother in law's mobile. No answer. She clearly does not want to mind the baby today. Child#1 kindly feeds the others while I feed the baby. He also packs the nappy bag and helps usher the younger kids in to the car. He loses some of his brownie points when I find him waiting outside in the cold with the baby in his arms in nothing but a light baby gro. I screech at him to get inside with the baby and asked what he was playing at. He looks at me blankly beneath his long fringe...the new style apparently. I put the poor baby in his car seat and run back into the house to catch the cats, turn off the lights, etc. The St. Bernard barricades me in the utility sliming me with her drool. I try to coax her out with a slice of cheddar cheese...her favourite. Suddenly we are both startled to see Child#3 stumble through the door screaming and leaning to the side dramatically as if he had been shot. Child#2 has alledgedly walloped him. I go outside to see why he'd do such a thing, especially on the poor lad's birthday. All I can see is Child#1 chasing Child#2 round and round the car trying his utmost to kick Child#2 up the arse for hurting Child#3 on his birthday. Apparently it is ok to do so any other day. I give one of my infamous screeches and soon they are all in the car. Then I spy Child#2's attire. I roar at him to get in to the house and put his school uniform on. He keeps asking me why. I get madder and madder thinking he has something seriously wrong with him wondering why he has to wear his uniform to school when suddenly I actually listen to what he is saying. He has an appointment today and is going with me to the hosptial. Ah yes of course. I am losing my mind. I was rushing so much I completely forgot that he was indeed coming with me and not going to school.
Finally, we are on our way. I drop Child#3 and Child#5 to school, then pick up my Mom and off we go.

I stop for diesel and warn the kids not to get out of the car. By the time I finish filling the diesel, Child#1 and 2 are in the shop ahead of me queuing at the deli counter buying sausages and bars even though they just had breakfast. I give out to them all the way to the big city every time I hear a rustle of a sweet paper or fizz of their fizzy drink opening. I dole out dire warnings about Child#1 diabetes and about them breaking their braces but they do not listen and just grin back at me in rear view mirror.

Soon we reach the city and I drop my Mom to the bus station. I am quite smug that I made it in so easily and I find my way back to the hospital quickly. All continues to go well as my husband meets me at the hosptial and takes Child#1 for his xray while I go to Child#4 in Paeds.
Child#4 is in his not speaking mood and just stares ahead when I arrive. We go to the playroom and I sit and feed the baby while the others play. The play therapist comments how they have a lot of patients in today. I say nothing and keep head down...most of them are my own kids and not patients!

We spend the day in the hospital waiting for Child#4 to be discharged. Each of us getting more cranky by the minute. My husband returns with Child#1 and I leave to go for lunch with baby and Child#1  and 2. The boys run ahead and when I catch up I find Child#2 in a Cafe having a hot chocolate and danish pastry!
As I am going across the road for lunch and out of the dirty hospital I hiss at him to hurry up. I am so afraid that we will catch Swine Flu or meningitis.
After lunch, my husband and I swap again and he goes to the dentist with Child#2.
I entertain the others in the playroom and call into the Diabetes Clinic to get some testers for Child#1.
I meet the dietician on route and assure her Child#1 is being good even though he had just polished off a bar of chocolate, a protein bar and a bag of crisps in the playroom.

Before long we are ready to go. I am so happy to be getting Child#4 home safe and sound again. I speed towards the exit of hospital delighted to be beating the traffic. I turn left for home and suddenly hear a loud screech from the back of the car. It appears Child#4 has regained his power of speech. 'What about Smyths?' he roars.
I promise to bring him next week. But no joy. I have to turn back...back into the traffic. He gets his toy and I finally head for home. My husband demands to drive so we swap over and I sip my tea while he slowly eats his Hunky Dory crisps. He slowly eats each crisp taking long breaks between each handful. I try to be patient and a kind loving wife. It doesn't last long. I lose it and roar 'Eat them, just effing eat them and finish them'. It is not my fault. It is a known medical condition called misonia or something. Sufferers cannot stand the sound of noisy eaters. My husband puts on his hurt face and silently drives on. He goes over a bump and hot tea goes into my eye. I accuse him of doing it on purpose but he denies it. However, the satisfied glint in his eye does not go unnoticed.

I have to pick up Child#3's school friend on the way home as I promised Child#3 a small birthday party and a sleepover. I really am a glutton for punishment.
I run into Supervalu to buy a cake. I again warn the boys to stay in the car. Lo and behold Child#2 appears again behind me in the sweet aisle, throwing in 'just this' and before I know it I have spent over 50 euro on a cake, 2 ice cream cakes that are conveniently Child#2's favourite and a load of sweets.
I open a packet of liqourice alsorts and assure my husband that I'll only have the pink and yellow ones which are my favourite. I give out about how I would be lucky to get three of them as they are normally so scarce in a packet so it would not jeopardise my recovery. As luck/unluck would have it,there are about 20 of the damn things in the packet and I arrive home wih glazed over eyes and sugar coma.

Child#3 is delighted to see his friend and his many birthday cakes and I am happy to see him happy. My mother in law tries to convince me that the lady whose funeral I am booked to play at tomorrow was actually buried today. I have to show her death notices on my phone to finally convince her that she is wrong.

Child#4 and 5 are in bed now and Child 1, 2, 3 and school friend are on the xbox.
No sign of my husband back yet. He has to work tomorrow as he missed two days while in the hospital with Child#4. I  will have to take all the kids with me tomorrow to music lessons now. I am always uneasy going back there as last time the baby had explosive diarrohea all over her carpet while I changed him on my knee. Child#3 melted the sole of his shoe on the glass door of her stove another time.
Anyway, I better go. I have to do laundry, stack dishwasher and take off my estee lauder makeup that I wore today for my big outing to the city.
PS No workout today. Anna Saccone put up a new video today on goal setting and how she did her last workout of the week. At 5 30 am. Emily Norris modelled all her new fit gear. I'll be more diligent tomorrow.
PPS My Mom is gone! For a whole week! My sister stole her away to Dublin. Poor Mom had no choice but to leave us when my sister kept complaining of a sore leg. It will be a long, lonely week for me and a long, hungry week for my younger sister!

What a Day!

Well I spent the day in paeds! I made it in after all to see Child #4 as there was a delay in surgeries. He looked so pale and afraid lying there on the huge hospital bed. I was lucky to have made it in at all with my Dad wanting to stop for a cup of tea half way in! I managed to organise a different organist for the funeral I was meant to play at, rearrange music lessons, ring my GP to complain, order a new windscreen to be fitted and speak to a car sales man about ordering a 9 seater all on the journey to the hospital whilst listening to my dad complain about my Mom's driving!

My poor husband is sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed when we arrive. Child#4 pokes him to wake him. He looks fairly sheepish to be caught sleeping in a child's bed but he has been up all night to be fair. Soon the porter arrives and we walk up to theater. Child#4 is worried but we reassure him and before we know it, two hours have passed and we are allowed in to recovery. Well, I sneaked in a bit before we were called by following a team of doctors through the theater doors. I couldn't wait any longer. Of course I got lost and my husband ends up in there before me. Luckily, the nurses allowed us both to stay. My husband asks me why I haven't boasted about my sister being a doctor all day. I look at him in shock. I never do that! I simply back up statements I make with my sister being a doctor!

My sister in law calls in to see Child#4 with generous gifts. I tell her how he complains so little and goes quiet when sick.  She asks where he got that from considering I complain so much! I am quite shocked at such a statement.  My son's nurse says I look familiar. I tell her that I am in and out alot as I have 6 kids so she must have seen me one of the times I was in. She says 'Ah that must be it, and when is number 7 due?' I cringe inwardly and with a tight smile explain that I had my baby a few weeks ago. I deliberately made it sound like I had him very recently even though he is 14 weeks old tomorrow! I am always surprised that people ask the ' When are you due?' question when they don't even know for certain that you are pregnant! It is so presumptious! I don't carry weight anywhere else so my tummy really pops out as I have no muscles left after 6 pregnancies back to back! I remember going for an echocardiogram a few years ago and a lady in the waiting room asked if it was for me or the baby. I wasn't even pregnant and my youngest was 3 at the time. To make matters worse I didn't correct her! I just answered 'For me'.
Such was my upset after the nurse's words today, I had a sugar relapse and ate a chocolate bar. I am a sugar addict by the way. I have been off sweets since December 31st. I can't have one and be happy. Once I get the taste, I go crazy.

I leave the hospital around 5. 30 pm to be home to let my mother in law to bingo. She has been so good to mind him all day. She is a great help..even though she refuses to call the baby by his name and calls him a different name entirely. And sneaks a dummy into his mouth when I don't give him one! However, I overlook that for now as I know she adores her grandchildren and they her. Anyway, the baby is so happy to see me and me him. I have looked like Dolly Parton all day and I'm seriously sore!
I pick up all the other children off my sister who was kind enough to mind them and now I am trying to get the older ones to bed.
I must get some sleep before it all starts again tomorrow...x ray for Child#1, dental appointment for Child#2, hopefully picking up Child#4 from the hospital, Child#3's 10th birthday party, picking up his friend for said birthday party and all the other bits and pieces!
Good night!
PS No workout today...does taking the hospital stairs count?!