My (first) Creative Space: Bribery Reward and Corruption

This is my first time playing along with My Creative Space.  It seems too much fun not to join in, so today is the day!  I hope my 'creation' qualifies.... it's a bit different to my usual sewing efforts.

I recently created this Good Girl Chart to tackle some challenges with our Toddler.  It is very free form as you can see.  My first instinct was to divide the page into sections for each day, but this seemed more age appropriate to just have a big space for sticking and more sticking.  It is working wonders for us!  Every morning Toddler Cuggles gets a sticker for not having called out to Mummy and Daddy in the night; another one if she hasn't called out after we leave her room when she goes to bed; and a sticker every time she doesn't squirm or kick my very pregnant belly when changing nappies.

Before starting the chart the Toddler Cuggles and I talked about how it works and I asked her what prize she would like to have after she gets lots of stickers.  She decided on a cupcake.

After a week of collecting stickers we set off to Di..licious and the very proud Good Girl showed her sticker chart to the lovely Renee in exchange for a cupcake with a dinosaur on it.  We then went off to playgroup where she ran around showing all the kids her stickers and saying 'I not to call out Mummy and Daddy in the night!'.

Wow, what an impact.  I like to read into this that perhaps we've taught our daughter about setting goals and how good it feels to achieve something you want.  Perhaps, but then, she's 2 and a bit, maybe it is just FUN!  Either way, we're all happy.  

Thanks for the game Kirsty.  Time for a cuppsy!  : ) Kim

Nesting: The Man's way.

Pic from Flickr - no copyright
Help!  Only 5 weeks to go until bub number 2 arrives and my husband and I are both in nesting mode.  I was sick in bed on Saturday with a cold, leaving Hubby and Toddler Cuggles to their own devices.  I'd normally be at work on a Saturday anyway, but when I got up in the afternoon... the house was sparkling!  How did  he do it with a toddler underfoot?  He won't tell me the secret and assures me there was no TV involved.  I'm sure I heard a tanty at some stage, but nothing disastrous. 

Hubby had vacuumed and mopped all the floors, polished the furniture (something I never do), tidied away all Little Miss Cuggles' toys, clothes and general kid-stuff and oh yeah, rewritten my menu plan for the week!  (I let it slide because of how the house looked, because Toddler Cuggles hadn't come and jumped on the bed or disturbed me all day and because he chose only Donna Hay recipes.  He is wonderful at times.  (So far I've resisted the temptation to blog about when he's not!).    

Will do another post about how I've been nesting soon.  For now, it must be time for a cuppsy.

How to stop yelling at your kids

Pic courtesy of Muhawi001

I've realised lately that all Mums yell at their kids, or have wanted to at some stage.  It's being talked about amongst my friends, at playgroup, in the shop and being blogged about.  I'm as guilty as the next person when it comes to yelling.  We often feel infuriated, stressed, rushed, exasperated, frustrated and many other things when our children don't behave the way we want them to, when they flat out ignore us, defy our requests, make unreasonable demands, take far too long to put a pair of shoes on.....  I've noticed something funny though.  My Toddler Cuggle is so often a well behaved little angel on a Friday.  

Fridays are the only day of the week I don't have hard and fast plans.  No strict schedule, no 'hurry up', 'quickly', 'we're going to be late', 'where have your shoes gone?'.  Fridays are protected with my life as a No Rules Day.  Sometimes we have baking days so we have something warm from the oven for our morning and afternoon tea, sometimes we stay in our jarmies and allow the TV to go on for extended Wiggles watching; sometimes we go to the park or we make play dates or Toddler just runs around in the back yard while I potter around hanging washing and just doing normal things.    Sometimes we have to run errands, but whatever we do I keep it casual and I try to make my little girl the focus.  I ask her what she wants to do/wear/eat and take the attitude that it doesn't matter how long anything takes.  These are the days where I really appreciate my child's budding personality, her jokes, her quirks, her ability to be so sweet and considerate.  I get lots of spontaneous cuggles and kisses that are usually only reserved for Daddy.  (He's the stereotypical fun one). 

I know I'm among the lucky ones to have the luxury of an entire day like this most weeks and I'm sure things won't be so easy once the 2nd one arrives in August.  It wouldn't be reasonable to allow 'no rules' days too often either, our kids might end up with rotten teeth or square eyes.  We'd be late for work, they'd be late for kindy or school and everyone would be cranky from not being fed on time and not being able to find anything in a very messy house.  

The moral of the story though - if we can find a little bit of time here and there to focus on the child/children and not on the clock, we might all feel a bit calmer and happier, and less like a psycho-mother like I do sometimes.

Not that I'm any expert but this Dr Cuggle also recommends a damn good cuppa tea when all else fails.  : )

Potty fun, or not

No sooner was I off the crutches than Toddler Cuggles was definitely wanting out of nappies.  It started by 'accident' on Monday.  She ripped the nappy off, as she has been doing a lot, so I put the potty out and when I saw the tell-tale 'about to wee' position I raced her to the potty.  Bingo, a wee!  Half an hour later she brought the potty to me to show me she'd done it again all by herself.  I thought we were both pretty clever at this point.  Then she went of to daycare for 2 days, where they are wonderful and gave her lots of opportunity to practice, though with not much success.  On Tuesday night she did a poo in the toilet, mid bath time and was really excited to flush and wave bye bye poo and to wash her hands.  Since then we've had less success, with only one gold star on the potty chart.

My poor baby caught a cold Thursday and has been miserable.  I don't mind saying I've coped pretty well with the irritability and the aversion to taking medicine.  I even kept calm when she did what she did today.  I put her down for her midday sleep, then she took her nappy off and had diarrhea through the cot and, somehow, on the floor.  Yep, it happens with toddlers, yep, she is sick.  But this is not the first time we've had midday baths and sheet washing sessions because the damn nappy doesn't stay on.  Even Granny has had a turn in dealing with this at her place.  So that's why I think I've done well to get the hot soapy water and mop bucket out with patience.

I was less controlled when 10 minutes after being returned to a freshly scrubbed bed with clean sheets my little angel took her nappy off again.  Luckily I got a new one on in time but she was told to put that head down and to stay quiet because I wouldn't be coming back till she had a rest!  Of course she then needed a drink which I gave in to and then called for other things but eventually fell asleep.  Sigh, been so busy I've only had one cuppy tea today!

*PS. I had been out on Friday to stock up on some all in ones with snaps at the crutch, if these don't work I'll have to try a modified straight jacked for her bum. : )
* PSS. Very soon I'll stop procrastinating and will have some sewing to write about.

Best Job in the World

Today was one of those days where I told myself "I was a really good Mum today".  Toddler Cuggles and I spent the afternoon in the back yard with a big tub of water and a bag of mangoes fresh from 'Mike's Cruck'.  Mike visits every Monday and we choose our fruit and veg from his truck...

So, wearing nothing but her gum boots, toddler cuggles splashed in the water, dunking her pieces of mango, spinning around and jumping.  I, wearing togs if you don't mind, was able to sprawl out on a towel in the sun while supervising.  Puppy Cuggles as always was nearly on top of me as she just can't stand being left out of a bit of fun.  A little bit later after Toddler cuggles wee'd on the back steps and I was cleaning her legs and bottom, she put my face in her little hands and kissed me on the nose.  Best job in the world!  Time for a cuppsy. : )

The Cuggles Experience

Baby Cuggles started mimicking Mummy and Daddy Cuggles a few months ago.... must use big person's cutlery, must wear our shoes, must carry Mummy's handbag.  We then discovered that baking cakes with Mummy requires an Apron. After looking around the local stores I couldn't find anything for our mini baker, which was also affordable. So, I created the first Cuggles! Apron.  Girly and pretty with frills and an adjustable neck strap.  Not too long so as not to trip over or get caught up in it.  She looks so adorable in it with wooden spoon going and measuring cups clattering in every mixing bowl I own.

Chatting at playgroup about toddler wear, some of the other Mums explained that they were having an equally difficult time  finding fun and functional toddler wear for boys.  So, I decided to develop Cuggles! - toddler wear for girls and boys.

At this stage the aprons are available at Handmade Heaven, Ipswich and I will be at the New Earth Markets (Marburg, QLD) on Sundays! 

All new Cuggles! creations will be updated here.  Any how, it's now time for a cuppsy.  Oh yes, Baby Cuggles must also have a 'tea' (plain milk) from a proper tea cup!!