We all cope with the day to day things in different ways - hand written lists, alarms on your phone, a paper diary, shared calendars, kitchen notice boards, drawers you shove stuff in and rummage through at the last minute.. you see, we all do things differently.
Never more so when it comes to food and snacks. Now I like my kids to eat healthily - we all do! We may just not always have the time, the fridge may not be full enough or sometimes, you just really can’t be arsed!
So, when a group of mums meet up with kids and it’s picnic time, their little upturned faces lit up with anticipation. We know they won’t be disappointed. One mum turns up with a tub of chopped up peppers and cucumbers and homemade hummus , one turns up with nicely cut sandwiches with ham AND cheese options, one has a co-op tub of cocktail sausages and a huge family pack of monster munch, and here you are with a box of barney bears and a little bit of hope.
But there, right there is why it works!! A full balanced range of picnic food where no child will go home without something fresh, filling and tasty, with a whopping big treat at the end (whoever is the barney bear mum that week definitely gets the glory!) Thank you to all my amazing Phenomemum friends - you know who you are 💕and I hope you guys are as lucky as me. (Promise I’ll be the hummus mum again next time!)
]]>Some of us are organised and patient and well prepared.. some of us are haphazard, slightly manic and leave everything to the last minute. But that’s ok. We do our best and the world will keep on turning, we need to just accept ourselves and adapt our lives accordingly.
I like to think I’m organised, but I always think I’ve got more time than I have, and everyone is lulled into a false sense of calm. So, when I realise I have 5 minutes and not 15, I start barking orders at the kids and running around like a loony shouting ‘put your shoes on NOW we’ve got to go NOW....’ and small people are wandering around startled and lost like baby rabbits looking for shoes and still eating toast.
Something to work on perhaps!
But I also play breadsticks like a recorder, pull silly faces at the kids in my rear view mirror and sing songs at bedtime, and they know they are loved and cared for. We don’t have to fit into a mould or be any better than we are, we just have to be US.
Be YOU and the love shines through 😊
]]>So here we are, new mums on the block.. Phenomemum. But it’s not really me. It’s YOU.
Having a think about what it means to be a phenomenal mum is a little bit silly really because ALL mums are phenomenal. At any point of the day when you dig deep, take a breath and do your best.. you are phenomenal. It’s just about believing it too.
]]>Having a think about what it means to be a phenomenal mum is a little bit silly really because ALL mums are phenomenal. At any point of the day when you dig deep, take a breath and do your best.. you are phenomenal. It’s just about believing it too.
A phenomemum is not about being better or best, but being happy with who you are right now and knowing you are good enough. Good enough for your family, your friends, your parents, the school PTA and the flippin milkman. (does he even still exist?)
It’s lying next to your 3-year-old as he goes to sleep, foreheads touching, breathing in sync. knowing those extra few minutes mean so much. Even if you are pissed off because your dinner is in the oven getting dryer by the minute and you’ve missed the beginning of MasterChef.
It’s not about being the mum that always turns up to the picnic with freshly chopped cucumber and peppers (I love those mums) but being the one that whips enough Barney bears out for all the kids when it’s time to bribe them back in the car… we love those mums too!
It’s getting up in the middle of the night when your baby cries for what feels like the 95th time, even though you fling the duvet off and feel a surge of desperation and desolation. Because every fibre of your being is moving your feet and guiding you to their room.
Phenomenal mums get in the shower tingling in anticipation at 3 and a half minutes alone, only for the door to barge open and a child pronounce ‘I need a poo’. We still get out of the shower to wipe their bums. THAT is sacrifice people. Loosing that 1 min 30 seconds and still loving that little human is what it’s all about.
It’s cooking 3 different meals in one evening because sometimes you do anything for an easy life and not argue about who’s having fish fingers and who’s having macaroni cheese and why suddenly no-one likes peas!!
Even on the very worst of days, dealing with whatever crap this life sometimes throws at us, Phenomenal mums wake up, get up and show up in any way they can. Even if it’s a packed lunch, a lift to school or just a smile. Whatever personal journey a mum is on, her children know they are loved.
So, it’s not only looking after your children’s needs, but knowing you have some too! Whether it’s catching up on season 2 of ‘This Is Us’ with a family bag of maltesers and a pack of tissues, or going out-out with your friends and drinking your body weight in gin once in a while. Time to be YOU matters.
It’s about not trying to be perfect or striving for perfection, as a parent or a woman or human being. What is perfect anyway? Who’s keeping score, cos it ain’t Craig Revel bloody Horwood. All we know is it should be ‘Love All’.
Being a Phenomemum is loving with all your might, even when you don’t feel mighty.
Being a Phenomemum is being you.
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