on bad days with a newborn

It's all coming back to me now. Something I would say when Elodie was a little baby and I was learning to be a mum of 4. When it's good it's really good and when it's bad it's really bad. And now that means when emerson is really upset, elodie is also screaming in a big heap on the floor, the twins might be fighting or whining and then keira pipes up and asks me for something. No one pays attention to the fact that everyone has decided to do this AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME!!!!! so that is my really bad. I've also got washing everywhere to put away, finn wee'd on the couch this morning and got it on 3 of the couch cushions, retro daddy pulled an all nighter at work and walked in the door after 7am, I've forgotton to brush my teeth for 2 days in a row and I can't remember when I last washed my hair and my eyebrows - oh my eyebrows needed an intervention. And that's just the past 24 hours!!!

he sleeps best on me!

But there are good times like when retro daddy is home and we get to talk, when I can sit down with a hot drink and finish it, when emerson is sleeping in the day and I can run around the house (well not literally, I ran recently from the car to the post box and felt like I weighed 100kgs and my whole body was wobbling behind me!!!!) but you get the picture, when I can be quick and do things. Oh and craft, just grabbing 15 minutes of craft and peace and quiet is heaven right now.

But you know what keeps me going...........first of all baby smiles. They are just the best reward for no sleep and your total devotion to a little baby. And most of all knowing that this won't be my forever. I often see older school children in my street walking to school or getting in the car in their nice high school uniforms and I realise that one day my lot will all be at school. That I'll actually have time to myself, I might even get to go to the gym and not have to rush, I can do groceries on my own. And I'm pretty sure that then I'll look at mummies of little children and part of me will wish that I had a little one. And I mean who is going to model all my little baby knitting projects?

So my top tips for having a newborn in the house - eat chocolate ( I bought 4 blocks yesterday taking the total tally to 7 in my pantry), when baby sleeps you don't have to sleep - do what you want to do and that doesn't have to be folding laundry either. I love when people tell me to nap during the day - and leave 3 other kids under 5 to their own devices. I don't think so! Also you need to learn to say yes when people offer to help you (I've finally given in to this by baby 5) and conversely learn to say no when something is just too hard to do (some people forget what it's like to have a newborn so it's ok to say no to visitors, outings and phone calls).

And eventhough my life has been totally turned on it's head by this little bundle of joy I am loving having this little precious little boy in our lives.