Dee: (The) Mama Blog

"Can you help me put these away, please?" "Ok" "What's this?" "Fork!" "Well done!" "And this one?" "Spoon!" "Good!" "What about this one?" He stares at it and smiles "Knife" "N...ife" "High five!" "Yay!"

 I watched a video on facebook quite a while ago where this person did an experiment with two flowers; they spoke kind words to one and negative words to another. I can't remember the time frame but as they were doing this they noticed the flower they were speaking negatively to started withering.. and the flower they were speaking positively to bloomed.. Can this not be compared to what we instill in our children? If we always encourage them.. let them know they are loved; don't you think they will grow up with a good outlook on life? But if we're always pointing out their faults, being condescending and not having time to hear things out.. what will happen? Don't get me wrong, as our kids get older their environment will not only be us.. but friends, school, work.. But it is our job to keep infusing good things in our children so as they grow it stays with them.. I've had to unlearn and relearn things because the children in this present age are not like how we we...

I sometimes forget that just like us, our kids can have not so good days. Maybe they're just not in the mood... they're a little bit more sensitive today, or something has just really upset them and they have just decided they will cry until they decide they want to stop. There was a day I picked up Jeremiah from nursery and I realized that he was a bit tearful. One of his teachers told me he pinched one of his classmates and they told him off.. but they told me he was ok at storytime.. When he got dismissed... all he was doing was crying. Well... shouting. lol. Wailing. So I gave him a hug and a kiss and we went. Still crying. I tried to butter him up with some juice. Gave it to him.  Cried after inhaling the juice. At this point I know he wanted a little bit of attention... Still shouting/crying. So at this point until we got home I just came to the conclusion he has decided this is what he wants to do. lol. But I don't take into consideration that even young children can...

            "Put your shoes and socks on" "Ok. Shoes. Socks" "Yes." "Can you get your coat?" "Ok." "Do you need help with the zip?" "'elp" "Zip it all the way up" "'hank you mummy"

So, on one of my commutes to taking Jeremiah to nursery; because of how COVID has now made bus journeys, it's not advisable to sit next to someone. So when I park the buggy in the buggy space, myself and Jeremiah need to go to a seat far away from him.  I don't like taking him out of the buggy unless we're gonna be on the bus for a little while... so what do I do? Give him my phone for entertainment. Jeremiah also wanted to watch the phone... so what happened? He had a tantrum. We were sitting behind a lady who immediately put her attention on Jeremiah, turned and said 'How are you?" He shouted 'No!" and hit her on the head.  I quickly apologized and she said: "Don't worry, I'm a mother too. I have a son who is 29!" She asked me where I'm from and the fact that phones causes so many problems and whenever I can I should put it away and talk to my kids. She advised me praise my children more than I chastise them.. such and such. I appre...

I am so upset. I am angered. With myself. Is it bad when you can FEEL that you have gained weight? Before lockdown.. I just woke up one day, and I was like 'Oh my God... I've gained weight." And I don't even know how or when it happened. My eating habits haven't changed.. I'm not eating more or less... just the same.. so how the heck did the weight pile back on again? Truly.. I'm not that active, I don't go to the gym. My workout is nursery runs and walks, really. So when lockdown was in full effect... that just exacerbated everything. So I literally had to pay attention to what I was eating and drinking and cut down. Implemented more fruit.. vegetables... No late night snacking (still working on this one because when I'm doing dinner for the kids, I immediately start the bedtime routine so I don't eat until after they sleep.)  So.. I've got some things to continue to work on-- because I had initially lost weight and was maintaining it well....

           "How are you feeling today? Are you... happy? hungry? Excited?" He points to the happy picture. "Are you... happy today?" " 'Appy mummy!" "Happy! Yay" "Yay!"

Thank you Jesus that you have allowed my son to see 4 years old. May he see many many more and may he become who you have destined him to be. Amen. Dear Jeremiah, It's mommy again-- I wrote a letter to you when you turned 1... and here we are again at 4 years old. I am so proud of you my son. You have surprised me... and I thank God how much progress you have made in your speech and language journey.  I know and believe there are greater things to come and I know deep within my heart that you are going to be a great person and you are going to great things for your generation. As your mom, I am making it my primary duty to be there for you always... the hard times and the fun times and for you to know mom will always be here to talk and to listen! I love you so much my son.. I know you're going to be a great big brother and you are going to do great in life-- you will prosper, you will excel and you will be successful. Love, mommy xxxx

It's not too early to assign responsibilities to your children is it... ..because I do it. lol. Nothing too 'hard'. When my boys finish eating, their responsibility is to clean up after themselves... so that involves putting the plates and cups in the sink and stacking their chairs away. If they make a mess-- like a water spillage (which happens often lol) they wipe it up! I used to do it, but I noticed that the boys can actually clean up.. there was a time I spilled something accidentally and one of them came with the roll of paper towel and wiped it up! I was so surprised. So I decided then and there. I'm starting to teach them how to put their clothes away-- it's a process but we will get there. Washing dishes is going to be the next one, because my 3 year old knows how to put away the cutlery. I feel as a mama of boys, they must learn all of these things-- it's important to start early so they have it embedded in them for life!

"Mama phone!" "No phone today, baby" "Phone!" "Ok, take it and see, it's not working." "Not working?" He holds the phone in his two little hands and taps the 'youtube' app. "Oh, not working"

As my oldest Jeremiah has started back at nursery-- I had to give him a big hug.  These kids do so well. They go to school/nursery everyday, then come home listen to us tell them what to do, (with resistance sometimes), then we rush them to bed, bath, brush their teeth etc and then they do it all again the next day. Bless the children. They actually do a lot in their little bodies.. which is why sometimes they end up having tantrums or meltdowns because they're tired! They've exhausted their little bodies throughout the day and all they need is a hug, kiss or cuddle from mummy or daddy just to let them know that they still have love. Sometimes I feel for Jeremiah after he's finished nursery and he falls asleep on the bus ride home. When it's time for us to get off I need to wake him up for two reasons: He can't sleep at that time or else he will struggle to sleep at his actual bed time causing him to be tired the next day, and I can't carry him while he's as...

There are times that come where I don't have any idea what is going on with my children. I cannot be the only one... There will be days where Jeremiah will out of the blue start crying-- or more like begin to whinge. And it's literally out of the blue. Then he'll stop. Was he in pain? Did he want my attention? I don't have a blues clue! You've done everything to make sure there is nothing wrong.. but they're still crying! What's the problem? I don't know! Is that bad to not know what's happening?!

"Do you need to wee?" "No wee!" "Are you sure?" He shakes his head "Wee wee?" She points to the grey potty "No!" "Wee."

I never thought I'd get to the point where Jeremiah would be happy to leave me and go to a place where I'm not there. I am so happy and I thank God for it so so much. We've only been back at nursery for 2 weeks (one week he was off because of a cold/cough) and every time I go to collect him and wait for him to be dismissed he has this look of anticipation on his face; then he'll put his arms in between the gaps of the school gate, wave and go 'Mummy!!' My heart melts every time. You know in the films where the children are at their basketball game, or dance recital, or some kind of event that they want to see their parents there and the screen pans to look for the parents in the crowd, and then will cut to the look on the child's face... I'm being so dramatic but I'm sure you know where I'm going with this.. I can't let my boys down.  Today when I saw that look on his face; I said within my spirit "I will always be here for you my boy...