Love, Kay

Last week I did something that I have always dreamed of doing; I bathed with elephants. I unfortunately live in a country where these beautiful creatures are tortured for the logging and tourist industry and have their spirits and bodies crushed by small people with big hooks. Fortunately, there are some people trying to solve this and there are places where these elephants are being rescued and treated with care and the love they deserve. (I appreciate they are still in the tourist industry but this is somewhere that people can be educated about elephants and hopefully reduce the amount of elephant shows/rides tourists take). It wasn’t until I returned home that it dawned on me that I could now “tick” this off my bucket list. “Bucket list”, is a term I really dislike so instead wish to call it “Kay’s List”.  I want to see the world with my husband and do all the magical things that so many others dream of; go on safari, skydive, take a hot air balloon ride etc. But I’ve de...

Every morning I wake up and grab for my phone; I check my messages, emails and then check in with the world of Facebook. This morning I read an amazing blog entry from two wonderful ladies I met in Texas. These ladies and their blog are the reason I went to the hospital to have a colonoscopy at the age of 33 & these ladies are the reason I found out that I had the colon of a 69 year old and if I didn’t sort myself out, I would eventually develop colon cancer.  Blogs are a fantastic avenue in which we can vent and share and sometimes, a blog can change your mood, perspective or perhaps even your life. (Thank you again, ladies!) In their blog today, they wrote about friendships and the kind of friends that “fan our flames”, friends that uplift us and inspire  us to be better people. This really made me think.. Again, I’m going to refer back to the latest shooting in the US. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a teacher, because I have kids in school, have a newborn...

Sometimes you can plan and prepare everything and be in the best mood and life takes a big old dump on you!! Something unexpected happens, someone says something, it can be anything; something happens to you and suddenly your day is a shit tip!  This happened to me this morning. I woke up later than usual as the baby was unsettled in the night and the house was chaos! Just as my husband was getting our son into the car, my daughter walked into my room with her pyjamas on in tears, “I can’t find my other sock!!”... and so it begins... So my poor husband was juggling the morning routine today of getting the kids up, fed and dressed as well as getting himself ready for the office and I knew in that moment that Sienna’s sock was going to bring the house down!  He’s screaming as they are going to be late, Sienna is literally running around in circles (one sockless foot was obviously knocking her off balance!?!) and the baby is throwing up all over me. This is where...

I love Christmas and my kids birthdays, they are  by far my favourite times of the year. But every year, the same question gets me, “what are the kids into just now? What toy do they want?”   Now, please please please please don’t think I’m being ungrateful or just a real grumpy bitch, they have been given some very thoughtful things in the past and I appreciate that people see things and love to buy them for our kids... but the time has come to say it loud and say it proud.. our kids need no more toys! When we had our first child, we bought him all the baby sensory toys we could find and everywhere we went we would buy something to commemorate our trip; a small memento to remind us  of that moment in time when he experienced something for the first time & we did as parents. Then we had our daughter and ofcourse she needed all the pink toys we could get our hands on as well as every Disney princess knickknack from the tea sets to the transvestite looking Bel...

The last 8 weeks have gone by so quickly and I can barely believe that we are surviving as a family of 5 and we’re all still smiling, semi sane and alive!! It is 9.15am, I’ve just managed to get Bailey to sleep in her bouncy chair and I’m enjoying a hot... yes a hot cup of coffee & i’m reflecting on how different this experience has been to our first born. I think if I compare first and third, I need to start at the beginning... the pregnancy! If you’ve read any of my previous blogs you’ll know I was miserable whilst pregnant! Haemorrhoids, morning sickness, acne, sleepless nights and crippling mummy guilt; so I truly was a delight!  Pregnancy I think one of the main differences was the amount of googling I did during my first pregnancy.  1: With Jacob, I googled everything!! And I mean everything.. what should I eat, what shouldn’t I eat, what can I do, what can’t I do, I knew every week what the baby was doing in there and how he was developing. ...

“No baby yet??” “Where is that baby?” “No sign of the new arrival yet??” “Oh someone must be comfortable, you still haven’t had the baby??” Yes! Yes! I have had the baby and the huge bump is actually a basketball that I stole from the shop, I’m trying to be sneaky!!! NO!!! I haven’t had the baby yet!!  6,720 hours/ 280 days/ 40 weeks Whichever way you look at it, pregnancy is LONG!! But I’m pretty sure the final month actually lasts 6,720 hours/280 days/ 40 weeks alone!  Both of my previous pregnancies lasted 40 weeks + 4 days and this one (our last, May I add!) was looking like it was going to be a very different story... preterm labour was suspected in week 32, medicines were prescribed, bed rest was enforced and here I am.. approaching our due date + and still no baby! Now don’t get me wrong, I know cooking time is 40weeks so we still have time but I’m done!! Nightly Braxton Hicks, walking like I have shit my pants, no longer being able to sit up or sit d...

Dear Monkey on my back, The urban dictionary defines “mom guilt” as “guilt a mother feels anytime she takes time to do something for herself, outside of work, that does not involve her children” Hahahahahahahahaha!! This was either A: written by a man (sorry guys) or B: a bloody comedian, because this is just the tip of guilt iceberg! Mummy guilt has become the “monkey on my back”, a constant in my life since the day my son was born 7 years ago. Then it was guilt about breast feeding (have I done it for too long? Should I have done it for longer?) Did I introduce the “right” foods at the right time? At every baby  class I worried why my child wasn’t rolling over yet? Sitting unaided? Crawling? Walking? I feel bad for not talking him to baby massage class! Would sign language classes developed his brain into that of a future genius? I never opened that baby Einstein DVD, will he be the thick kid in class now?! Was I wrong to let him eat that worm in the garden just to p...