Today I had one of THOSE afternoons.
Anyone who is a Mum knows what I mean when I say “THOSE!” You know, the ones where you have so much planned and a plan to get the planned activities done and then, of course, the plans just don’t pan out as you planned!
Like this afternoon.
Sleep time, great, I have so much to do – a post to finish, an appointment to receive an important phone call, emails to deal with, etc, etc, etc.
So this afternoon, instead of her uninterrupted 2 hour sleep, Immy decides to wake after 30 minutes, with a poo!
Change poo, resettle toddler, try to sneak out so not to reawaken her. Noisy motorbike squeals past.
Toddler re-awakens, resettle again, hand holding, rocking, sshh-ing, and then she says (in her sweet little voice) “sing” and of course, knowing that at that moment my phone is quite likely ringing, I don’t feel like singing right now and I can feel the muscles in my neck getting tighter and tighter as my frustration level rises.
Doesn’t she know I have so much to do, why today of all days?
Then I remember, this is why I choose to stay home. This is my priority. All the other stuff will still be there later, it’s not going anywhere.
And neither am I, after all I would rather be here to hear her demand request to ‘sing’ than have her requesting it of someone else, or worse (to me) to imagine her crying for someone to sing to her with no one there.
I am a mother, I am this small girl’s mother, I want to be the best damn mother I can be.
And so I sing.
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Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.
the things we do for our children.