Being a Mummy you may find yourself wondering about various things. For example you might question how many chocolate biscuits is it really okay to eat in one day, or how long do you wait for your toddler to respond to your request before you accept they really aren’t listening and intervention is needed. I found myself wondering about bath poo the other day. Bath time is going well when all of a sudden your toddler announces, “I did a poo!”. She stands up in the bath, your terrified preschooler screaming in horror as she madly tries to escape the floating boogie emerging on the waters surface. So I begin to wonder, if the poo is in the bath, and the bath has soap in the water, is the poo now clean? Do I need to run another bath? Obviously I need to remove the poo, or rather husband dearest does, but do the kids require a second bath becasue they were exposed to bath poo?
I find every day I have more Mummy Wonders where I question things I’m sure I never thought about before becoming a mum. For example, vomit sheets. Now I love co-sleeping with our Mr 3 month old, he’s just so snuggly (and if I admit it, I’m a bit lazy, he settles easier in my arms so we all get more sleep). As a breastfeeding mum he feeds during the night in our bed and sometimes (most nights) he vomits up some milk onto our sheets. With our first two darlings I was quicker to change the sheets, I mean its vomit, eww. But now I find myself wondering, if I just place a towel over it and let it dry I can change the sheets on my usual bed making day and no one will know? Don’t get me wrong, if my children did a chunky spew or any other kind of vomit in their beds I’d change the sheets instantly, even whilst in zombie sleep mode with one eye open as I load up the washing machine. But I’m talking about little baby spews, its just milk so vomit sheets can stay.
The other day I was at the park with my brood. We have all had colds for weeks, we keep passing it on like a game of hot potato or pass the parcel but there are no prizes, just lots of coughing, heaps of snot and loads of tissues. It had been one of those days where getting out of the house was a struggle so when we finally made it to the park I hadn’t packed well. I watched as my Miss 2 attempted to lick away the secretions dripping from her little nose. I padded myself down; crap, no tissues and there’s another mum here with her kid. What do I do? I try to lure my child away from the other kid playing in the playground whilst I think of a snot strategy. And I begin to wonder, is it okay to wipe away the snot with my sleeve? I look around, quick noone is looking, I pull my sleeve over my hand and wipe her nose. Phew, that was close, I may have been discovered to be in fact human and not the perfect mummy we pressure ourselves to be. I was relieved when I saw the other mum in the park wipe her kids nose with her sleeve. We gave each other a comrade nod, we understood, we both had snot struggles at that point in time.
Other things I have wondered about include ways to quicken the getting ready process in the mornings. After getting 3 kiddies ready I barley have any time left for myself. If we are staying home I usually wonder if its okay to just stay in my pyjamas, and the answer is astoundingly yes! My clothes are barraged with snot, vomit, wee, food and sweat every day, so formal attire is rarley needed in my job. Looking in the mirror I wonder, is it okay to use some moisturiser as hair gel? I can moisturise and do my hair in one go? Oh no! The moisturiser is visible, better rub it in fast. Now I have less time, can I use a baby wipe to freshen up? Why not, I utilise baby wipes for almost everything now I’m a mum. Then I wonder why aren’t baby wipes marketed to all people of all ages, they really are very useful. Now I’m not advocating the use of disposable wipes when we can use face washers and so forth as we have the environment to consider. But I know we will now likely always have baby wipes on hand well beyond the baby years.
Speaking of baby wipes, they make me wonder even more; can I really use a baby wipe to do a quick wet dust around the home? Tick. Can I use a baby wipe as a tissue. Yes! (Why didn’t I think of that at the park…wait I mustn’t have had any on hand). Can I use a baby wipe to “cleanse” my face. Of course! Now whilst in the bathroom getting ready I hear my toddler call out “Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, MUMMY! MUM! MUMMY! …RACHEL” and I wonder two things. First, if I am really really quiet, will she stop yelling and go and play so I can have another minute to myself? “MUMMY! RACHEL!” Door opens, “What doing? Come ‘ere”. Answer, no, wherever you go, they will find you, then demand your attention. Next I wonder, how does my then Miss 18 month old know my first name? Never mind, I’ll wonder more about this later as I’m now being led away by tiny hands.
When it comes to nutrition I am very careful about ensuring I provide well rounded healthy meals for our children. But as our family has expanded I don’t have as much time to make fruit faces (although I find time to make them to avoid tantrums let me tell you!), or salad sandwiches at lunch time. So I wonder, is it okay to have cereal for lunch? It has dairy which is calcium and cereal tastes great any time of day, so the answer is yes! I am however relieved when I visit a mummy friend later and she offers our kids toast for afternoon tea, so breakfast food is really all day food. And when running a laundromat, playtime, cleaning company and cafe all day every day, sometimes a quick fix is needed.
After a long day of wondering, and a night with broken sleep as I tend to my little bosses’ feeding and sleeping demands, I wonder if I lay here quietly with my eyes closed, will my preschooler think I’m actually still asleep when she races into our room in the morning? And better yet, will she let me sleep? Answer, no. I wonder then if I pretend to be asleep during the day will my bosses give me mini break. Answer, no! Our toddler takes great pride in yelling “Wake utt!” (translation “Wake up!). So the next morning I wonder, if I hide under the blankets, will my preschooler let me have a mini sleep in? Hmmmm, I hear her walk into our room, how can I resist a morning cuddle from my Miss 3, especially as wondering has already told me that my Miss 3 loves to cuddle and even lets me stay in bed a bit longer as we snuggle in the mornings. Which only leaves me to wonder how I never knew I could love this much before I had children. And then I wonder how I got so lucky to be their mummy. And then I smile.
