Come on Mama! 

Ugh. If something stresses me out, it’s getting the brood out of the house.
No. Really. As soon as we all need to leave as a family, I can feel the stress levels rising. Leaving the house just with the toddler is relatively stress free, but, add husband and teen to the mix, and it becomes a massive battle.
This probably sounds unfair. Or maybe it’s wrong of me to expect help from them. But invariably, as soon as we need to leave the house as a family, the toddler gets “put in the car” whilst I’m still putting my face on. His nappy bag will be empty or awol, he won’t have his dummy or a fresh bottle of milk or the correct hat, but of course I must be grateful that toddler is now in the car and we’re all ready to go.
The clock is ticking. I now have about 3 minutes before toddler starts kicking off to put all of his things together, to run around the house finding nappies, wipes, topping up bottles, making sure I have everything I need and remembering to put mascara on both eyes before dashing to the car only to realise that toddler doesn’t have a coat.
“Oh, we’ve been ready for 10 minutes” comes the reply from hubby. “We’re all waiting for you”
But I can’t leave. Not yet. There are cups on the bathroom side, wet towels on the bed, the kitchen floor needs sweeping, the dishwasher needs putting on, there’s a load of washing waiting to go in the tumble drier, and I really need to eat something before I collapse.
Or maybe, just maybe, I will leave the screaming toddler in the car with hubby and teen, and i will sit here and eat my toast in peace.

God help us when there’s an extra baby in the mix, who invariably will be Velcro baby for at least 6 weeks, and I have to battle all of the above with a newborn firmly planted on my boob…

As I type this, hubby is driving,  We will be in IKEA in 20 minutes. (On a Saturday!!!) I will sit here and practice deep breathing before my stress levels reach explosive. (Because, you know, I’m trying to work on controlling my Dark side…)
Ps. I love you hubby. Thank you for driving! X