This post was originally going to be ten questions mums ask themselves daily, but then it snowballed as I realised there were a lot more than ten!!
Life’s questions…
Why do I bother having cushions on the sofa? (Please tell me your cushions spend more time on the floor than on the sofa too?)
Why do I spend time cooking because my dinner always ends up cold and the kids never eat it if it’s not pizza or sausage?
Why do I make a packed lunch with morning and afternoon tea (snack time in Australia) when they play so much at school they forget to eat it all anyway and end up sitting on the floor in the hallway at 3.30pm when they get home to eat it?
Why do we spend money taking our kids on holiday when they don’t sleep properly in strange beds, and we end up running around after them so much we need another holiday to recover?
Why do I tie E’s hair in a ponytail as she always pulls it out so she can suck the hairband?
Why do I shout at the kids to get ready for school when we’re always ready to leave by 8am no matter how much I scream?
Why do we go out to fun places like the zoo knowing the kids will get overtired before the end of the day making the last two hours hell?
Why do I attempt to Skype family when the kids are up because they just spend the entire time trying to show each and every one of their toys to the camera?
Why do I put the Lego away knowing the kids will only come home from school and tip it out on the floor again?
Why do I risk walking into the boys’ room with the light off sometimes as I know I’m going to stand on a stray piece of Lego? (Ouchy)
Why do I let E take an afternoon nap, knowing full well that if she sleeps in the day she won’t want to go to bed at night?
Why do I give them a bath each night when they only grab the felt pens and get covered in ink straight after?
Why do I let the kids eat ice creams in the house, knowing they’ll end up trailing a melted mess all over the floor?
Why do I let the boys play a game on the computer against each other, as it’s always going to end in tears?
Why do I buy jigsaws, as within five minutes at least two pieces will always have gone missing?
Why do sofas have big gaps underneath that eat small toys?
Why do companies make toys so small they fit under a sofa?
Why don’t toy companies and sofa companies get together to design something that is fun to play with AND doesn’t get lost in a small gap?
Why do I always throw away the bit of plastic I find on the floor, only to discover it was a crucial part of a toy the following day when it’s too late to get it back?
Why do kids want to throw most of the water out of a bath rather than enjoying sitting in the warm water?
Why does E love Iggle Piggle so much?
Why are there always so many Cheerios on the floor after breakfast? Every. Single. Day.
Why does T2 always ask for toast with honey, then wait for the toaster to pop up before deciding he actually wants bread and honey thus causing the greatest tantrum of all time because he told me too late?
Why do my kids have the ability to eat about eight pancakes for breakfast yet they get full after one fork full of peas at dinnertime?
Why do my kids lose the ability to use a knife and fork when a messy dinner (like a roast with gravy) is put in front of them?
Why is it when the kids are “HUNGRY, HUNGRY, HUNGRY” they don’t want cherry tomatoes, raw carrot sticks or apples – apparently this sort of hunger can only be fixed by chocolate or biscuits?
Why do I bother to brush T1’s hair as he has the craziest (coolest) wavy hair ever and it never goes flat no matter how much water I put on it?
Why do I take E swimming when she deliberately pretends she’s going to get out of the pool to jump into my arms, but after a sneaky look to make sure I’m in the water she legs it in the opposite direction to dive head first into the swimming lane of the grown ups pool right on top of some poor, unsuspecting swimmer?
Why do I always think it’s a good idea to eat out as a family, even though the last time (and the time before that, and before that…) we tried it was a disaster? (Ever the eternal optimist, that’s me!)
Why does sleep deprivation make you want to kill people?
At what point did I get to a stage I’d trade anything whatsoever for a lie in?
At what point did I start considering 7am a lie in?
Why do I stay up to watch TV or read later than 10pm knowing that automatically means at least two of the kids will wake up in the night?
Why is it one of the kids always comes into the living room wide awake just as we’re starting to watch the latest episode of The Walking Dead? You try getting a child back to bed after they’ve accidentally seen somebody get bitten by a walker on the telly!
There’s only one answer to all of these questions: Because I’m a mum, that’s why. I think it’s probably time I put my cushions in the cupboard for the next four years or so, accepted that we’ll eat sausages for tea each night (and survive) and get myself a caffeine drip (or a bottle of wine with a straw) to keep me going. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
What questions do you ask yourself every day?
x
