My life is nothing like it used to be since the arrival of our baby. And it is a good thing. I have been tagged by Rachael, over Little Red Farm to do a “meme” (what does that word ever mean anyway?!). I never answer memes because it isn’t really my thing but I will do for her. She has a lovely blog you should check out by the way!
So….how do I find the time to….
Do the laundry – Good question. It is easy to run the wash, the hardest part is the folding and putting away process! When Sixtine was under 6 months old, the laundry was crazy! She was suffering from reflux and both her clothes and mine had to be changed two or three times a day (I have to confess that I was more likely to change her clothes and keep my spat up on shirts or pants on! Who cares?!)
Write a blog post – I write mostly when baby sleeps and hit “save draft” or late in the evening. My family comes first but writing this blog is something I like to take the time for, it is my own little thing, I enjoy doing it and no one ever said you should stop enjoying yourself because you were now a parent. I started blogging in February and my goal was to post once a day but I haven’t been doing that for a while…Paris is too busy for me! 😉
Spend time with your other half? – My husband and I are very close and we spend as much as possible together. During the week: when he gets home we chat about our days, and he takes over with baby while I do things I wasn’t able to do during the day. I cook and we eat supper. Once that’s done, we get baby ready for bed, he reads her a story and we put her to bed. And then, the world is our oyster! On weekends: we mainly spend family time together and enjoy it fully. We have a lovely babysitter who comes over and looks after Sissi for us so we can go to dinner, the movies or anything we want to do without her. My sister-in-laws are also great babysitters (with children so even more fun for Sixtine!)
Be the parent you want to be – I try really hard. I read a lot, mainly to get informed. And I always try to understand my child’s perspective rather than “adultify” everything. It helps me a lot. ie. The teething situation. It is sometimes hard to keep calm with a baby crying what feels like 24/7…when that happens, I try to remember how much she is going through rather than thinking that she is whiny. Instead, I try to let her know how much I love her by supporting her and giving her as much attention as she needs.
Find time for yourself – Oh that! I find it hard as a stay-at-home mother. I don’t like to get ready in a rush so I always make sure to pamper myself when I know my husband can look after the baby while I do it. I used to wear make up all the time, and would never go out without my hair done…what ever happened to me!? 😉 If I have to make a confession, my husband and I have been geographically apart for two months and I am going to need a whole day to get presentable for his arrival.
I am staying in France at my mum’s and she looks after the baby sometimes so I can go out with my friends, or go to the movies. I wonder if I will ever feel OK to leave baby with someone else just because I need to get out of the house by myself.
My questions:
– Find time to read: I absolutely love reading and I haven’t read a book (that wasn’t baby or parent-related) since I had Sixtine. I really miss it…the thing is, I only read in bed or in the train. Now all I want to do in bed is sleep or spend time with my husband. And there are no trains on the island. I have just started reading French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon and although I am only a hundred-pages through, I highly recommend it!
– Find time to dance: I dance in the shower, for my daughter, and my husband. But I don’t dance enough…I miss dancing. I think I will sign up for a dance class in September. I owe it to myself.
– Achieve your goals and dreams: I want to be the best woman I can be for my daughter. All she needs is happy parents that love her. I give myself the time to think of what to do to improve myself as a person.
Now for the tagging! I chose Bellissimom, An Everyday Story, Debut Dad and Mum of Three Boys.
So for the people that I have just tagged here are the (new) rules:
- Please post the rules
- When answering the questions, give as much information as possible.
- Leave a comment on Sex, drugs, rocker…and stroller,baby. This is so we can keep track of the Meme and take a polite nose into everyone else’s lives.
- Tag 3 or more people and link to them on your blog. Add new questions, delete old questions and play about with the rules.
Sixtine et Victoire 