Be the best Mum I can be

How happy
when you discover
a bird’s nest
in your back yard and smile.

How happy
when you yank
out a tooth
that’s been bothering you
and taste the blood.

How happy
when you finish
reading a book
that’s enormously thick
and sigh.

How happy
when you find
a bit of chocolate
hiding in your fridge
and your spirits lift.

by Selma age 10

I’m not taking any credit for this but just wanted to put it on here because I think it’s such a great poem. Lucky she makes my job of being a mum so easy!!!

Today was the best of the best. Got woken up really early by a very excited daughter because it had snowed! So off we went in the morning all wrapped up warm and hit the hills with our sledge. George, the dog, dug up a skateboard with no wheels so we even had a go at snowboarding. It was brilliant fun and it was free! Watching her go up and down the hill, soaked to the skin but absolutely fearless was a joy to behold. Bliss!

One of my resolutions this year was to set my daugher a good example by leading a healthy lifestyle and exercising. It seems to be working. This weekend she finally learned to ride a bike and tonight came with me on a 3 mile bike ride while I ran. She’s the best!!! And I feel pretty darn good too!

This evening was a good one. My daughter came home after a week with her father and we just chilled out. We took time in the park to laugh and have fun and then when we got home we had supper and I got her bed ready. Once during the day I caught myself being short with her and I immediately regretted it and apologised. It made me realise how snappy I am a lot of the time and so much of it is completely pointless – it’s because I am too stuck in my stress and listening to all the white noise in my head and not her. I am definitely going to pay attention to that and try to stop it.

And it is the little things too like brushing her hair before she goes to bed and spending those last minutes of the day making sure everything is OK before she gets into bed that I have missed so much of the time because I am ‘busy’. I am going to commit to actively putting her to bed every day for the next week and see how that goes. If it is anything like tonight then it is going to be great!