Still no jobs. I'm applying for about 2 a week. Milord has given up on his course and has applied for a job or two too. We are being kind to each other.
For Princess' 3rd birthday I gave her an actual real digital camera. A kid's version, but still a real camera. This is what life looks like at 3.5 years old...
(In very good light the camera takes a decent shot. In low light it struggles with a child's motion.)
Here we are, one month after Milord chucked in his job without consulting me.
I am no longer in denial, I am now quite cross most of the time.
I have not been able to find any part time work and am now looking for full time contracting work. Milord is apparently also applying for jobs, while struggling with the course he wants to complete before getting serious about jobhunting.
I am investigating local daycare options for the kids, because while Mom will help out all she can I don't expect her to be a stay-at-home-gran.
That's my dream job.
Fuckit.
We are in a holding pattern here. I'm finding it hard to blog because everything comes out bitter!
Milord is having trouble finding time to study his course, and won't jobhunt until it is done.
One of the reasons he is busy is because he is doing some paid work.
Not enough paid work to cover the mortgage and bills though. We do have enough savings for about 2 months survival though...
Until Milord gets work I don't know if I need to look for full time or part time work myself.
I am still very annoyed but am doing my best to be nice and not nag.
Princess needs another eye operation because her eyes are now doing this:
King has discovered walking and is very chuffed with himself.
Yesterday Milord chucked in his job. It is a shock as he didn't speak to me about it first, but not a surprise as he has been progressively more miserable there.
Of course we are now a family of 5 with no income and a huge mortgage. It's a bit stressful.
I have polished my resume and am looking for part time work, and Mom has agreed to look after the kids on the days that I work. Milord plans to do a short course and then job hunt.
Part of me is excited by the idea of getting back into the workplace. The rest of me is mostly annoyed!
On a lighter note, a Royal Fix:
My air conditioner died at the end of November. Yesterday the ridiculous heatwave that has been frying the rest of Australia reached Sydney and we got to 42C. It was like being in a furnace - we hid indoors where it only got to 32C. Yikes.
Today a cool weather change arrived. So did the aircon repair guys. Typical!
A week late... oh well.
So, a new year. The household is almost a week into a no-alcohol detox and I feel a lot more energised than usual. I'm not sure if that's the detox or simply the fact that I now turn off the kid's monitor and let Mom handle anything during the night!
Granny is bloody amazing! The kids adore her and my house is cleaner and more organised than ever.
We have all have the lurgy and Christmas is looming, so I haven't felt like posting, but it is all awesome.
And Princess hasn't had a wee accident since the day she realised there was no reward for wetting herself.... sticker charts and chocolate rule!
So, the sticker chart worked like a charm yesterday! All day Princess happily tinkled on the toilet and chose her stickers.
At bathtime Princess did one final wee and got her mini box of smarties and ate them while I ran the bath. Then she played happily with King in the bubbly bath while I sat close by and read my book and occasionally fished King out from under the water and set him spluttering upright again. (What is it with babies trying to kill themselves all the time, anyway?)
Princess read books happily with Milord while I sorted King out, and they both went happily to bed. And I sat down happily next to Milord and said "That was the nicest day I've had with Princess in ages."
...
Today I woke up tired after doing some programming work for Milord last night. Princess wouldn't sit on the toilet, didn't want to take off her nappy, didn't want her hair brushed, and did a huge wee on my couch before 7:30am in spite of me asking "Want to come do a tinkle and get a sticker?!" every 10 minutes.
Oh for fuck sake.
I'm losing my mummy mojo. It just isn't fun right now. Today is a Kindy day, and when I have King alone I try to give him some quality mummy time. He is sweet and cheerful and loving and I lasted 15 minutes playing on the floor before I turned on the TV for him to watch instead and walked away.
Meh. I need a holiday.
We do not have a great track record with toilet training Princess. I cannot believe my Mom started potty training her when King was born... 15 months ago!
In general Princess has gotten with the program. She does every poo and many wees on the toilet every day, and wears nappies only to sleep. She had started calling for wees in the night, and I figured we were on the downhill run.
But...
Lately, she's been wetting herself a lot in spite of being asked if she needs a wee shortly beforehand. At Kindy, on my bed, on my couch - and not just a bit of dampness before she alerts me to needing a tinkle, but a ginormous full bladder release! She doesn't want to get up at night to wee, and literally fights going to the toilet.
It is driving me mental!
Milord suggested getting cross with her, and maybe taking away privileges. I dunno. My life has enough toddler bickering and whining in it right now without adding more! Plus I'm pretty sure Princess is using her weeing as a power play.
So, time for a positive spin on the toilet training and added incentives. Today we started: a sticker chart! Princess loves these stickers - she has done double her usual wees in order to get stickers on her chart.
6am: Dawn. King awakes. Some initial grumbles and then goo-gahs and so on as he plays with the toys in his cot. Thank god we have daylight saving in my state - otherwise this would be 5am!
6:30am. Princess joins in the singing with her version of nursery rhymes. I send a mental apology-in-advance to my Mom who is going to be moving into their room in a week!
6:45am. More grumbles than singing: time to get up. Milord and I roll out of bed, tidy the covers, throw on some clothes and stumble out of our room. I heat a bottle of milk, fill the kettle, tune in the news channel and intercept Princess on her way to join me.
"Let's take off your soggy nappy and put on some dry pants. Do you need a tinkle?"
"I don't want to take my nappy off! It isn't soggy! I don't need a tinkle! I want to go to the lounge room! I want to play on the iPad!"
She runs away from me - arguing ensues - Milord passes me carrying King and starts feeding him milk - I finally drag Princess into the bathroom and place her on the loo - she does a wee while I take away her sodden night-nappy.
"I don't want you to brush my hair! I want to go to the lounge room!"
I brush her hair with lots of detangler - dry pants on - we emerge into the lounge room and I get the iPad set up next to a bottle of water - make 2 cups of coffee - King has finished his milk and is roaming the floor, trying to reach the iPad - I barricade Princess with a few boxes of toys so he can't get to it.
Christ, it's only 7am!
7:30am. Milord finishes his second coffee, showers, and heads off for work by bicycle. I make the kids raisin toast (well, raisin bread for King actually as he's not quite up for toast yet) and feed King his cube by cube in the highchair while Princess eats hers on the fly in front of the TV.
8:30am. Clean kitchen, empty and reload dishwasher, set a load of laundry going.
9am. Put King to bed for a nap. Set out a snack of dried fruit for Princess. Take a shower and dress for the day. Nothing fits - this stay-at-home-mum gig does nothing for my waistline! Drag Princess protesting to the toilet and dress her in day clothes too. Hang out the washing.
10am. King wakes. Change his nappy, dress him in day clothes, put him in the pram with a biscuit and head for the door.
10:30am. We finally reach the main road having looked at all the house numbers, picked flowers, jumped in puddles and stomped in crunchy leaf litter. This distance takes me 2 minutes alone! We continue to the supermarket, stopping to talk about the fish in the fishmonger's window and the meat in the butcher's window. Luckily the brothel is no more than a lurid neon-lit stairway!
11:30am. Having had "help" shopping for groceries and having said "No. Stop. Leave it. Put it back. I'm not getting that. No. No. No." a million times we are finally out of the shop. Princess has a lollipop as this is the only way to get her past the sodding sweets at checkout. Every supermarket manager should be made to shop with their toddler for a week straight and then get asked about sweets at the checkout!
Noon. We check the PO Box at the post office and go for a snack at a nearby coffee shop. I order a huge pasta as I have forgotten to eat today, and both kids share it with me. I do manage one bite in about 5! Then we head home again...
1pm. King is in bed for a nap but Princess sadly no longer needs an afternoon nap. We do a bit of painting and some play-doh and a snack of cheese and biscuits, then I fill the paddling pool outside and Princess has a splash about while I sit close by reading my book. Not actually on my stunning daybed though, as that is an invitation for being leaped upon! I'm a bit fed up with being constantly clambered, jumped and leaped on.
3pm. King is awake. He has a biscuit or two and tries to take away or interfere with anything his sister is into. Thank goodness he isn't walking yet - Princess can escape by climbing onto the couch!
3:10pm. Princess wets the couch copiously in spite of being asked repeated if she needs a wee. WTF!? I am seriously annoyed but hopefully keep my demeanor no worse than just disappointed. Wash Princess and change her clothes. Wash the couch cushions. Pour a glass of wine.
4:30pm. The kid's dinner of crumbed chicken, oven chips and roast pumpkin is in the oven. Broccoli florets are ready to steam in the microwave. Both of them are hungry and grumpy but if they snack now they will not eat dinner. Pour more wine.
5pm. We all sit at the dining table and I feed King his dinner bit by bit (if he has more than one morsel in front of him he will fling it across the room) while coaxing Princess to eat hers. She tries to climb on the table and under the table and to run off... "I'm full!" "You are not! Come back here and eat your broccoli or you will go to your room!".
5:30pm. I give up, eat Princess' leftovers and let both kids get down. Bring in the washing.
6pm. Bathtime. King can't wait to get in but I have to catch Princess and strip her screaming into the bath. Pour more wine.
6:15pm. Milord arrives home to kids squabbling in the bath and his lush of a wife nearly a bottle of wine down. He has a large glass of water and chats about his day in the bathroom doorway and pours me more wine.
6:30pm. Milord takes King out of the bath and dries and dresses him and gives him some milk. By now he has a glass of wine too.
6:45pm. Princess does not want to get out of the bath. I have to use the threat of no books and straight to bed before she reluctantly gets out. We join Milord and King in the lounge room and read a couple of books. Princess is constantly trying to jump on me or run off and only the real threat of immediate bed keeps her next to me!
7pm. Teeth cleaning and bed for them both. Oh. Thank. God. Collapse next to Milord and listen to the kids singing while we watch the evening news.
7:30pm. Go into the kid's room and turn out the lights and tuck Princess in (she is usually asleep now, while King is often still playing). Cook the grownup's dinner. Pour more wine.
9pm. Raid the cupboards and snack on Princess' dried fruit, chips and chocolate! Finish the wine.
9:30pm. Bed time! I will be checking on the kids at least once in the night, and dawn comes so very early...
Yes, I chose this life. Yes, I could pay someone else to do most of it. No, I wouldn't miss it for the world! (most of the time)
