Being positive makes all the difference

This last 5 weeks have taught me and probably my husband a lot and as we head into Christmas week we can probably say we are starting to relax ready for the festive period. I'm not saying break...because really who has that as a parent?

With Gav back at work post paternity leave it was essential for me to have a positive attitude about the days with a school run, a fiesta toddler and a hungry baby to contend with. A positive mental attitude has really helped me this week.

So how have I found this week and what has helped...

I'm lucky in the first week we still had Gav on a few half days and a day off from work and over Christmas he is off bank holidays too. It's given me a phased return into having to manage the day to day. It's given us time to see what we need to change or ideas for how to manage ourselves going forward.

We get organised every evening for the next morning. Gav does the school run and I've done some swaps with other parents so sometimes I don't have to leave the house if I don't need too.

Get dressed before the school run. All of us are washed and dressed before Gav and Fizz head out for the day. This helps my attitude to the day. Although it's great to have a PJ day nothing makes you feel better than being clean and brushing your hair and teeth. It just doesn't feel the same if you do this around 2pm before you head out!

Spend 5 minutes first thing having a cup of tea! It'll make you feel human! Some friends bought us matching thermos cups and I can honestly say these have meant I've had more hot cuppas! A small simple thing to start the day like savouring a cuppa does brilliant things for the day.

Chill out about the housework and switch it about a bit. We now do watching up in the evening instead of first thing and I load the washing machine ready to go for in the morning. During the boys naptime I grab something to eat first and then hang a load of washing out. If I manage this it's a bonus to my day and means less to do on a evening. We've also got a cleaner for 1.5 hours a week. It's a cost of £15 and for me I will shop cheaply and sensibly to ensure we can keep this up. I'll be honest and say there is a benefit that our weekends are family time and not cleaning time because of this.

Start each day with a positive. You'll find it really does help!
                                                                                 

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