It’s two days before International Women’s Day. I am sitting in a coffee shop, music blaring through my headphones, a half-eaten sandwich and a cup of cold brew with a dash of oat milk next to me. I dropped off my youngest at his grandparents because I wanted to spend some time writing before picking up my other two kids from school. Do you think this is something a man would have to do in order to get one hour of free time?
James will start preschool in September. This is something that makes me anxious. As the middle child he has a free spirit, to put the description of his character mildly, so confirming to rules and following instructions, I fear, are not his strong suit. So when Little Kickers contacted me about taking James, who will be three next month, to a few weekly classes, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to ease him into the world of education, independence and group play. The fact that he got a kit with a t-shirt and his name on it was just icing on the cake.
We had argued for the millionth time that week. We were heading into deep waters, something had to change. After hours of contemplating and analysing this change, I decided to send him a message containing everything I was feeling. Everything, the good, the bad and the very ugly. I am a stay-at-home mum raising three kids, two of which are under three, with a 20-month old age gap and a lot of energy. I am exhausted, as you can imagine. But on that morning when I poured my heart into a single viber message, the relief was instant. Because I had finally spoken up and somehow I knew I would be getting what I wanted: support.
Georgie was assigned to keep a diary as part of a school project. Even though he already has one, he needed some motivation to journal every day. So I told him that I have always kept a diary, from a very young age and that I still have many of those diaries. So a little plastic container was pulled down from the highest shelf and opened. The first thing we saw was my baby book. Which is now considered a proper vintage item.
A good friend of mine sent me a message on February 14 to wish my littlest happy birthday. She also wished me a happy birthday because alternatively it meant that I had completed my first year as mum of three. So I wrote down some thoughts on what it’s like.