There is a well known saying that many of us have heard: "Many hands make light work!". Those words certainly rang true for us today. Prince Charming and I have slowly been working through our "To Do" list for what seems like forever! Each time he attempted to mow the lawns, Murphy's Law somehow crept in and it would rain, or one of the kids would get sick - or perhaps one of us would fall ill. Then the sun came out and made a real difference. It's amazing what a bit of Vitamin D can do - one of the major benefits of Summer! Aha, those famously long New Zealand summers, breathing life into the dusty embers of a cold, frosty Winter!
Today was a public holiday. The sun came out - just a little overcast, but perfect nonetheless! For three solid hours, from 9.30am-12.30pm, Prince Charming worked on laying bricks and weeding the front path, down our driveway. We have been aspiring to make our garden a "low maintenance" affair, but over time, it became a jungle. All valiant efforts to slay the giant thistles ended up in a shrouded mane of weeds and overgrown stems, smothering what used to be a cheerful patch of bright red fuchsia flowers! However today was the Great Unveiling - the weeds gave way to clear spaces and the plants became visible, having their chance to shine again. Beauty restored, giving way to nature's graceful flowers!
The Princesses ventured out on this glorious day to help garden and peel away the weeds, faring very well. They in turn, learnt valuable life lessons on caring for the family garden. They enjoyed picking a few home grown strawberries too!
Oh how we love the height of Summer! There is something fresh and freeing about being able to swing wide those windows and let the sunlight in, to air the blankets and heavy duvets on the outdoor washing line. To inhale the Summer breeze and let your lungs fill with clean air, letting your hair down and going barefoot in the dewy grass first thing in the morning, before anyone else is awake!
We all pitched in today. The weeds have long gone, parked in the Wheelibin, never to be seen again! If all it takes is 10 minutes each day to maintain the garden, then that is what we will do!
Often in life, "clutter" happens when "things" just creep into your home; most often times, we don't even notice! We get far too busy in life to really "see" the things that crowd us out. The vacuum cleaner that didn't get put away, lurks in the dark in the hallway at night; singing out to us, "Don't trip up!". The magasine collection and the newspapers collide in a colourful, chaotic pile, under beds and strewn in drawers. No one will notice! (Or do they?!). Over the years since having my babies, I have come to realise that tidying up the house on a daily basis doesn't have to become a chore, as long as I stick to one simple rule" when the children have finished playing with a toy or a book, those items get put away as soon as possible". The basic rule of thumb in our house is, you must put away the toy you have finished playing with, before you get out another toy. Before I applied this rule, I was forever tripping up on strewn-about toys, and dreading surprise visitors, for fear that they might see the carnage of toys, kitchen utensils and books piled about! As nutty and tedious as it sounds, tidying up after yourself, and training your children to tidy up, can do wonders for a peaceful home! Recently my mother complimented me on my tidiness, saying that compared to a year ago, she senses that I am far more relaxed these days. I seem to be able to slow down and have more time than I did in one short year. Yes, I am still very busy; sometimes far too busy for my liking, (especially with the amount of medical appointments for Prince 4), but you get used the busy pace. If you can honestly say to yourself at the end of a long, busy day, "My home is a place of peace and I feel warm and happy when I walk in the front door!", then you are truly on the path of peace, with clutter and all its ickiness scooting like Jack Frost, away, away, away..... until the ice melts and from underneath springs a beautiful red flower which you pick, to grace even more that Peaceful Home you have. A penny for your thoughts!
I'm in love with my four children! In fact, I ADORE them! I couldn't even dream of putting any one of them back - each birth was divinely precious, especially witnessing the first cries of our twins; within two minutes of each other; deemed an "emergency c.section" as my placenta was failing and one of the babies kept losing a lot of weight, and there wasn't much fluid around one of them. Just when I got used to seeing one baby (a boy!), the little girl was born within a very short time frame, then both were whisked away to the Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit, as they were born at 34 weeks and required some extra TLC for a few weeks. About that time, I learnt the true meaning of multi-tasking! Both babies required my expressed colostrum/first milk, and it became Liquid Gold! Each twin seemed to vie for attention even back then. The neonatal staff, as kind as they were, said I had enough Liquid Gold for one baby, but not for TWINS!! The daily queries were bounced off the neo natal nurses: "Which twin shall we give Liquid Gold to? The "small for dates twin" or the twin who has breathing difficulties and jaundice?".
And then again, the meaning of multi tasking grew even more, when our precious babies were finally home. I also had a 21 month old Princess to care for. Three little Cherubs in nappies, two babies to feed, burp, change and put to sleep. And so "routine, routine, routine" became our slogan in those days, not to mention learning just how much the very word, "sleep!" was a treat in itself! (Sleep = aka not enough of it!). When owls were calling it quits for the night, we were up far before the first bird twittering, feeding a baby, two babies!!
Fast forward four years. Today we have x2 four-and-a-half year olds, a six year old, and a 7 month old baby! Obviously twins didn't put us off having more children, but you may have noticed a respectable 4 year age gap! I still have x2 children in nappies (the baby Cherub, and Prince 4, who has special needs and has no control over his bowel and bladder - hopefully that will change one day!). During the day, life has become quite manageable now! Princess 6 goes to school, and our twins go to morning kindergarten (8.30am-12.30pm.... but I am never there at 8.30am; more like 9.05am after dropping Princess 6 off at school first - for me right now, that's the most practical way for the how the morning runs!). But when they are all home in the school holidays, when my Prince Charming is at work, the days are interesting, colourful and busy! I go to do one thing, and someone needs their shoe tied, or someone needs help going to the toilet, or I have to help clean up a spilt cup of milk. There are many days like that when the dishes and the laundry smile at me, as if to say, "Well? When?!", and it all gets done, along with the evening's dinner, and a quick tidy up of the living room at the end of the day... as if it wasn't too much effort, when Prince Charming gets home to an "okay" looking house!! Hee hee, he didn't see the carnage just half an hour ago!! :0)
My latest organisation tip (it is a new one for me!) is to put x4 snack containers (named) in the fridge, containing snacks that the kids can serve for themselves for morning tea and afternoon tea. There are drinks made up in their own cups (named), so the girls (who are the most capable) can get their own food if I happen to be busy feeding or changing the baby etc. Where did I get this idea from? The children's storybook, called, "The Little Red Hen".
The Little Red Hen was a busy mother just like myself, who seemed to struggle to get things done, with her busy brood. One day it all got a bit too much, so she stood her ground (as hens do!) and asked her friends to help her bake some bread. She says, "Who will help me plant this wheat?" and they all replied, "Not I!". I am guessing you all know how the story goes; she asks for help several times and each time the reply is the same: "Not I!". Eventually, with a heavy heart, she says, "Then I will do it myself!". So she does everything as she has always done, bakes the bread, and cunningly says, "Well, who will help me eat this warm, fresh bread?" "I will!" "I will!" "I will!" chime the friends. "No, you won't", said the Little Red Hen. "You wouldn't help me plant the seeds, cut the wheat, go to the miller, make the dough, or bake the bread. Now my three chicks and I will eat this bread ourselves!". And that's just what they did.
In many ways, I relate well to busy Red Hen! Sometimes when the going gets tough, you are allowed to have your "just desserts" - you can have your cake and eat it too!
And that, dear Readers, is just what I do! The bread is delicious!!
This post is in appreciation of my American friends! While not quite the "Hollywood Hills", this is New Zealand's version of "Hollywood"! The above inscription, "All Blacks" refers to our very famous rugby team; a very patriotic win late last year, of the much desired and sought after Rugby World Cup, won within inches of the French team who almost triumphed us!
A few days ago I went for a drive with my x4 cherubs, and what a glorious day it was! For once, they were all very well behaved and I savoured the peace - Miss 6 has recently discovered radio stations and is mesmerised by the dial and how you can just find music out of "thin air" - hey presto, just like that! We stopped at a dairy in the seaside suburb of Miramar, which is heralded by our own home-grown bearded Hobbit, Sir Peter Jackson! We did a little tour in the car, passing the Weta Cave, and Post Production studios. Wellington, New Zealand (where I live!) has put its name on the global map in recent years, with world famous movies such as the "LOTR (Lord of the Rings) Trilogy", "King Kong", and "The Lovely Bones". On our return home, we took the "scenic route" through Oriental Parade. I pulled the car over and snapped this photo of Wellington city in all its Summer glory, wrapped up beautifully in pristine sea blues! As you can see, Wellington city has a lot of character, and as a seasoned traveller, my own city reminds me of San Fransisco; a place which I visited some years back.
All this driving got me thinking about modern technology, and where the world is going with the latest ipods, itunes, android mobile phones, and the GPS. I love to drive, discovering new places and re-discovering familiar spots. But my downfall is how easily I get lost; particularly trying to find a new address of a friend who has moved house! I call myself, "Mrs Organised" who always has two maps of Wellington City.... but always gets lost and is famous for making several panicky "SOS" calls to Prince Charming's workplace. The staff at his workplace love to have a good chuckle at my tardiness in getting to new places. "Can women actually read maps?", they say to themselves, with sly grins planted on their faces! One day it all transpired that I in fact, DESPERATELY needed a GPS for Christmas! Prince Charming returned home from work and announced that I had made him the "laughing stock" of his workplace, as they all overheard the wacky conversation where he tried to rescue his Damsel in Distress, with x4 children in the car on a hot, Summer's day.
My Christmas present came earlier than expected! Prince 4 (who has special needs) got hungry one day and ate my old phone. He immersed the entire phone in his mouth, giving it the proverbial baptism it so deserved. The SIM was rescued, the rest - history!
To my joy, off I went to the Mall, to purchase my "free" Android mobile phone at the Telecom outlet. With the exact same mobile number as before, thanks to the SIM card being indestructible! None of my friends would know about the eaten phone, or my failure to read maps - as this fancy phone had a GPS built in to it!
Fast forward a couple more days to Christmas Eve. We took the children to see some Christmas lights ie a big, fancy home, literally covered in Christmas paraphernalia, right down to the funky letterbox! Just for fun, I gave the GPS its first test run. While Princess 4 was in the middle of a wild tantrum, because she was tired. The GPS barped loudly, "Please state your location". Me: "Mumble, mumble..." Princess 4: "Waaaaahhh wahhhh bluuuuu aggghhhh!". GPS: "Do you mean..... in NEW YORK CITY, USA?!". Well, that would be nice - Beam me up Scotty!!
There you have it. My very own world famous GPS that is actually a Beam-Me-Up-Scotty, with the ability to transport a child in mid tantrum, to the heart of NY! Howzat, y'all?! :0)
I wonder what next year's Christmas present will be. Hopefully not a replacement mobile ;0)
January is the most significant time of the year to reflect on the year that was, and to look forward to new ventures in the next 12 months. I have recently been doing a whole lot of thinking, about how I have learnt to see situations as life being the "glass half full" rather than choosing the other view, which is the opposite: to see the glass half empty!
Above, you see the first photo of Prince Charming holding my hand, whilst the epidural was being administered into my spine, at the emergency c.section birth of Cherub #4. As you can see, we all went through our fair share of unexpected dramas. We were not expecting an 11 day stay in the neonatal unit, as Cherub #4 was a very healthy weight at 36 weeks and 6 days! (Our twins, on the other hand, were born at 34 weeks, and that was to be expected - a long one month stay...). Cherub #4 appeared to have a dark shadow on one of his lungs, causing respiratory distress. It turned out to be a "Pneumothorax" which, in layman's terms, means fluid on the lungs, or mild pneumonia. To this day we have no idea why this occurred, yet, as these photos can testify, our precious wee boy is in fine health today, with a big grin on his face! He even earned the nick-name, "Cheeky Poo!" until we came up with a few more fetching nicknames that won't embarrass him on his 21st birthday celebrations!
I have learnt the art of humouring even the seemingly testing of all situations. Instead of an incubator, I renamed that little glass bubble, a "space station" and I was up at the crack of dawn, reading up on the night nurses medical notes about all our babies who spent time in the neo natal unit. Being one who loves to be informed on every little detail, especially when faced with medical dramas, every stone gets overturned, and by the time friends and family read my email updates hot off the press from neo-nates, they are wondering what I am trying to say with all my new found medical jargon!
So what does this all have to do with "decluttering"? Well, nothing really, but I wanted to give you a glimpse into how delighted I am to have my "Brady Bunch" and that I just try to see the best in everything! It has not been an easy road, with a child who has special needs, so what I glean from my natural gift of "attention to detail" is learning how to keep a good, simple filing system and keeping a notebook and diary at hand. A wall calendar helps to remind me of the dozens of medical appointments I have, not to mention the screeds of babysitters close at hand - even if it takes a lot of scrabbling around to find someone to help with the kids at times!
The first photo of my Prince holding my hand (with crocodile tears rolling down my face - you don't see those!) reminds me of how we entrust those closest to us, to hold our hands in trying times, as we walk together in unison to get to the other side where life seems so much brighter than it was before.
So, dear readers, let us not lose heart, for today we shall light the paths and choose a friend to walk the walk of life with us. Hold hands, lift your head high, and remember that glass is full! Other people who have walked the same journey where you are now treading, are often the best and most trustworthy people.
I have come to the conclusion that when all my four cherub royals have left the "nest" so to speak, I would be the perfect candidate for a zoo keeper. Just imagine it - all those years of hard-core decluttering, zoning in on hard-to-clean places, and scooting around with the hoover at top speed while watching surprise visitors pull up their car in our driveway! My resume would be chock full of tips, advice and quick ideas for get-aways and rainy day ideas! Storage boxes, labelling machines, and to-do lists are my saviours! Some day I would very much like to meet the zoo keeper who looks after the chimps. The chimps seem to be on to something good. It sounds like the boys are happy to roam outside, while the girls lurk in the rumpus room, obviously enjoying their time apart. I have x2 boy Princes and x2 girl Princesses - hmmmm.... boys outside and girls in the rumpus room. Might have to download that application and put it to good use! Tempting it is, to put the sign on the front door of our Royal Palace: "It takes a zoo keeper three hours to clean this area every day". The perfect excuse for those "bad hair days" that we all seem to have from time to time. Oh wait. I've got it. Eureka, I do! Just place the hoover directly in front of the entrance door, and all visitors will realise instantly the efforts you make, to herd those chimps and all their belongings, into chaotic order. There will come a day when Cinders just has to click her fingers and say, "Bibbity bobitty boo!" one more time and it shall be done. No more mess. There's no harm in dreaming a little...
To my dear neglected blog - of only a few days that I have "forgotten" you, but I was having so much fun with my Royal Cherubs, as they are all on Summer break - no school, no kindy - loving doing things in our own time, without the usual deadline of exiting the house by 8.45am at the very latest! After an intense few days of decluttering and re-sorting, giving away pre-loved toys to charity and enjoying the extra storage space, I decided we all needed a treat!
I took my young darlings to the local art museum, to look at an interesting display of "Wheels" - bicycles, tricycles and two wheel scooters, all designed for its captive audience of children up to the age of eight. I didn't manage to take photos of the yummy stint in the museum cafe (I was too busy feeding Prince 4 and baby Cherub at the same time, while attempting to balance my "flat-white" coffee and chocolate brownie on a plate). But I eventually got 5 minutes to myself where I could be snap-happy and take a few photos, and these pictures are for you to enjoy! Put your helmets on, buckle up, and imagine you are a child again - your wheels can take you anywhere!
Dear readers
I kept my word, and as promised, here's a peep at some serious decluttering a few days post Christmas! The big kids are in the middle of their big six week school holidays, and our house has become more of an effort to clean, as they are all home! They raided the toy room and had a fabulous time on a rainy day, overturning every box of toys! So to avoid the constant clutter of toys everywhere, I applied the "Stuff Monster" app in my brain, and carried it to completion!
Stuff Monster app = STUFF you no longer need, love or want!
STUFF to be sorted in piles for: Charities, 2nd Hand bookstores, and
"double ups" ie receiving a gift the children already had (to be placed in
