“Play Mummy Play,” I
hear this a lot from my three year old.
It reminds me of a repeated phrase in a drama series called ‘Jake’s Progress ‘in which the toddler
protagonist constantly attempted to kill his sibling. I’d forgotten about this show when I named my first son Jake
but it came flooding back when I gave him a brother three years later! Naturally there is a little bit of
jealousy and I do worry when I leave them in a room together for any period of time. I don’t doubt for one second that Jake loves his little brother
Alfie but he does have a weird over enthusiastic way of showing it sometimes. Peek-a-boo with a pillow is a bit
suspect as is cuddling via near strangulation.
It is hard enough to
teach children to share their toys never mind their parents so the transition
can never be seamless. In our house, everything is declared by Jake to be
‘Mine’ including my iphone and Alfie himself.
As you are probably
gathering from this post- Jake is quite a handful and I expect Alfie will be
too one day. I am the mother of two boys, God help me you cry but one day I
know they will go off to the footy with their Father leaving me to long boozy
lunches and shopping expeditions. In the meantime I need to keep them busy, nurture their souls
and run them ragged so that come seven thirty I can crack open the cab merlot.
I have been tempted recently to reach for the wine much earlier but I am breast-feeding which might be a blessing, as I don’t have time for AA.
That’s where the
‘parks’ part come in to this blog- sometimes you just need to get out of the house.
Originally this blog was just going to be
dedicated to information about where to take your kids in my local area. But I
have to admit I got bored so now you will find some little companion pieces-
generally rants about parenting. I’m not an expert and I’m learning every day
but this part of the blog is for my sanity so indulge me or not as the case may
be.
You never notice
parks/playgrounds before you have kids so if you’ve just joined the parenting
club you may find this blog helpful. Having just moved to this area, I am
hearing about new places from other mums all the time. Yes I am that mum in the
park who will talk to you, probably starting with an apology for my child whacking
your child over the head with a stick but sometimes you need a conversation
starter.
