The Cheaper the Better!

I’ve learned, over five years of parenting, that the cheapest forms of entertainment are often the best. Not just at home, where craft with household bits and pieces are a bigger hit than huge expensive toys, but on holidays too.

Bozo has a grandmother who insists on taking him to all the big, expensive things. Movies, Agricultural Shows, Luna Park, the circus and more. If there’s a cost of admission she’ll do it. It seems like she’s trying to buy his love. Husbeast gets frustrated at this, because he feels like it leaves us with very few things to do when we have him, but I disagree. I know that with kids, even older ones, the novelty value is key. Yes, Luna Park is pretty awesome fun, and the Show is full of rides, but so what? Let her spend all her money on things he won’t remember and hardly appreciates! 

Kids get joy out of new experiences, they don’t care how much adults spend on them! Last year, we took Boo and Bozo to Melbourne for a family event. The day after the event we had a whole day ahead of us with nothing to do, so we created a game plan. We packed lunch in backpacks, caught the train into the city from where we were staying in Ringwood, and gave the kids my Polaroid camera to play with. Each child had $10 pocket money to last them the day. Total cost so far? $28 (including the train fare off our Myki accounts).

When is a treat more than a treat? When it includes a train ride!

From Flinders St station, we hopped a train to Spotswood and walked to Scienceworks, where we spent at least 2 hours exploring, learning and playing. We ate our lunches outside in their amphitheatre and hit the playground, then spent more time in the section for smaller kids, giving Boo her fun. Total cost so far? $38 – Scienceworks cost next to nothing.

Unlocking the secrets of the universe.

Another train back into the city and we walked through the Royal Arcade off Bourke St to visit Suga. Suga is a traditional hard candy store that actually makes their candy out on display for people to see. The kids were allowed a sample each and used their pocket money to buy a sample bag to share. No cost there, they already had their money!

When you're 4, a playground is all the excitement you need.

We wandered around the city, taking in the atmosphere – the kids and I are mad for finding alleys with graffiti, and this time we even found graffiti artists at work! The kids had a blast in Federation Square taking photos of birds, passers-by and trams on Flinders St. Tired now, especially with me being 5 months pregnant, and knowing we had to drive home after reaching Ringwood, we jumped back on the train. By the time we reached Ringwood Station, the kids had only spent $2 each of their pocket money and had spare to save and the whole day all-up cost Husbeast and I around $50 total. 

I'm a sucker for this kind of thing - Photographer's paradise!

We do trips like that anytime we’re in Melbourne, finding cheap or free things to do either just as a family or with friends. My kids always take a film camera of some sort, and I take my digital one. They always remember these excursions and talk about them for months – the trip I’ve talked about was a year ago and Bozo still talks about it everytime we see him!

Why bother spending money on showbags full of junk? It’s fun to spoil the kids occasionally, but so often it’s true what they say – ‘The Best Things in Life Are Free’!

I’m linking up with Ann at Help!! I’m Stuck for Things I Know, and Flogging my Blog at With Some Grace today. Happy Friday!

Things I Know and Things I Wish I Knew - The FFS Friday Variety Hour.

It's Friday!! Apparently Good Friday (hands up all the Stay At Home Mums who beg to differ?) And I'm FFS'ing with Move, Fuel, Love, sharing the Things I Know with Help! I'm Stuck and Flogging my Blog at With Some Grace. Enjoy! 

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I know for a fact that my oldest two children are out to collectively kill me this week. The oldest, my stepson Bozo, is enlisting the help of his mum and grandmother in this task…FFS

I know that Bozo has been lying to all of the adults in his life, because I’ve caught him doing it on more than one occasion. When his father and I bring it up with the mother and grandmother (hereafter known as the Tweedles (as in Dum and Dee), we’re told ‘He’s just a little boy testing his boundaries’. 

HE ISN’T A LITTLE BOY, HE’S NEARLY 11 YEARS OLD! HE’S ONLY LYING BECAUSE YOU TWO MAKE IT ACCEPTABLE!! FFS

I wish I knew why the Tweedles, seemingly two adult members of society believe that lying to everyone for everything is at all acceptable.

I know that Boo is using my own stress and panic in her efforts to kill me. She’s taken to picking up and carrying around her baby sister. FFS

She’s 5 years old, her sister weighs well over 11kg, and Boo’s muscle tone isn’t the best because her ridiculously huge tonsils have stunted her development. FFS

I finally lost it this week and made her spend 6 hours in her room. It was cruel, but all I’ve done this week is tell her not to do things – 4 to 5 times per thing.

I wish I knew a way to get the ‘no means no’ message into her head.

I know I don’t want to smack her.

I know that Diddy is teething. How do I know? 3 weeks of screaming, drooling, chewing baby. And half a tooth. FFS

Half a tooth?!? After the carry-on she should have five of the mofo’s….

I know, trust me I do, that it’s hurting her, and I’m doing everything I can to soothe that hurt.

But I wish I knew why it was designed that teething is such a bitch for everyone involved. FFS

I know my darling Husband wants Diddy to have her first chocolate on Easter Sunday. Surprisingly I'm ok with this. In fact, I have a photo shoot idea I want to try.

I'm just not sure I can handle the mess. FFS

I know, after denying the fact for ages, that if I get up a little earlier and do my makeup and look presentable, I feel 1000% better about my day of kid-wrangling.

I know that I turfed most of a my makeup a few years ago, and the rest of it has gone gluggy, so I need to go shopping and replace my stash. No FFS!

I can hear my credit card sobbing already FFS

I wish I knew how to apply makeup properly.

I know now, after 2 weeks of school holidays that the first day of school (Tuesday) can’t come fast enough. My little button-pusher Boo is aching to go back to school and I can’t wait to drop her off because she’ll be much more pleasant. 

I know, however, that in a week and a half she’s going for her tonsil removal which means ANOTHER WEEK AT HOME. FFS

FFS Friday: Booby Bitching

Diddy is feeding C O N S T A N T L Y ...FFS

I don’t mean a feed every few hours... I mean 5 minute snacks so that each feed lasts 2 hours and they all run into one another...FFS

This would be fine, except the past 2 weeks have been school holidays, meaning Boo home all the time wanting things like food...FFS

Husbeast devised a plan – put out ALL her snacks at the start of each day and let her help herself when she’s hungry... No FFS

This was a fantastic plan until we realised that 4 year olds have no self control...FFS

She ate everything within an hour...FFS

5 minutes later, ‘Mummy, I’m starving’... Mofo FFS

Despite the constant feeding, thanks to my darling tiny girl being a lazy sucker I’m fighting a constant battle with blocked ducts...FFS

She’s 6 weeks old. I’ve had 3 bouts of the dreaded mastitis...FFS

Breastfeeding may be the best option, but it sure as shit isn’t the easiest...FFS

Luckily, I managed to score the mother of all breast pumps on eBay yesterday...No FFS

Someone else fought me like a demon to get it, but I won! ... No FFS

I may, however, have neglected the tiny screaming human for 4-5 minutes while I battled it out...FFS

Told myself it was better for her in the long run...FFS

My boobs hurt...FFS

We’re roadtripping to Melbourne to see one of my favourite friends this weekend...No FFS

And to buy the baby things our little corner of the world doesn’t seem to bother getting – ANYWHERE...FFS

3 kids, 3 hours in a car with no AC, Boo’s DS is dead... FFS

Bozo is going through a phase of antagonising me, his stepsister and everyone around him...FFS

I swear to God, I'll leave him on the side of the road...FFS

I’m stressing that Diddy won’t sleep in a strange house...FFS

Likely she’ll sleep the whole damn night while I lay awake stressing that she’ll wake at any second...FFS

Wish me luck! FFS!!?!

Linking up with the fabulousness that is Dear Baby G.

Diddy's Here and 6 weeks of turmoil

6 weeks ago, my life changed in ways that, though expected, were totally beyond belief when our youngest, our Diddy, joined the world.

2 weeks old, check the superior little face on her!

I’m still getting my head around her birth story, which I plan to write down and share soon. It was much more positive than my Boo’s birth in so many ways, but the joy at their respective arrivals was all the same. With Diddy’s birth, however, I feel our family is complete. I’m done now, we have the people our family was always meant to comprise.

First photo -  My cruisy little miracle

When I had Boo, I was 19. I hadn’t yet developed the ‘housewife instinct’, the home pride, the organisation, the vanity even. Sitting around with my baby, feeding her and hanging out with her was all I had to do. I didn’t care if my house was a bombsite, I was sleep deprived and sore from birth. I sat around with my baby, let my house deteriorate and got fat. 

Now, at 24, having spent 4 years developing house pride, organising my life into some semblance of order, and working myself back into a size 10, the post-birth weeks have been overwhelming. I have adored every single second with my tiniest princess. I relish every second with her, watching her grow and change. But then I look at the kitchen... or I realise my diary hasn’t been updated in 3 weeks and there is paperwork to be done....or I look in the mirror. And for a split second I wish I had just a skerrick more time to get done all the things I worked so hard to get in order. But then I look into my baby’s big, blue eyes and I realise she’ll only be this age for a very small amount of time. 

The world can wait, right now I have mumming to do.

Loving on my babies

I wasn’t sure I was going to breastfeed Diddy. I was going to express what I could and comp with formula, but I have sensitivity issues and wasn’t able to feed a tongue-tied Boo. My fears got to me, and I’d talked myself out of it. But I tried, for the sake of it and am so pleased that with the help of nipple shields (silicone is AMAZING) I’m managing to exclusively breastfeed my baby girl to give her the best start I can possibly manage.

What could be more beautiful and natural than this?

Every day, I realise how different it is to parent a newborn with a preschooler and occasional tween in tow. We’re in the second week of school holidays right now, meaning I have all 3 babies home ALL THE TIME. Husbeast returned to work a little over two weeks ago, leaving me solo-parenting. It’s exhausting, but I’m learning everyday to manage my time and tasks effectively. I’m even trusting Boo and Bozo to be big siblings who help, and they reward me by going above and beyond to love and care for their baby sister. Especially Boo, who refers to Diddy as ‘my baby’.

Went for a shower and left them watching TV....came back to this...LOVE

I mentioned that Husbeast returned to work. He was offered his old job (which he hated) back after 6 months. He left this job in February for a combination of physical and mental health reasons. But after struggling for 6 months on welfare, when offered the opportunity he went back, with promises of change from his boss. Needless to say, when he returned none of these changes had happened and he rapidly slipped back into anxious and stressed territory again. It is a small mercy that last week a job elsewhere was offered to him, working with a previous employer for whom he has a tremendous amount of respect and with whom he enjoys mutual admiration. This gave him the out to again leave the job that was making him miserable and unpleasant to be around (thankyou, my dear and fluffy Lord) and we’re on our way to a fulfilled, satisfied Husbeast.

All in all, we’re getting there. We’re past the 6-week mark, where things will hopefully start to turn the corner and we’re all working on making that so. I’m doing my best to be a happy, relaxed mummy for my kids and enjoy my precious tiny girl while she’s precious and tiny and I can’t wait to get back to blogging and share all our adventures with you all.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD IMOGEN, born 19^th August 2013.

SMILE!! Mummy's back on the Blog!

After a LONG hiatus, I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for I Blog on Tuesdays. Exciting, isn’t it?