Well, it's been a while since I last did this and to be honest it's been more than a little crazy.  I lost my mojo and didn't feel like posting/blogging/general upbeat positivity inspiring content.  Three children is no joke and it's not always blissful scenes; the noise level is off the scale and to top it all off COVID!!!

Surviving lockdown with three children, trying to keep your sanity AND a happy marriage is no mean feat.  To top it all off I'm now a full time teacher to Oscar and Alice, while Effie destroys the house in record time - sound familiar?!

When we decided to have three children a global pandemic was NOT on the agenda.  I had planned on spending lots of quality time with Effie... Swimming, playdates, music and well basically anything fun and stimulating to keep her occupied/worn out (why does number 3 have so much energy?!) while Oscar and Alice were at school.  But this is not what the world had in mind and here we are slowly losing our minds - doing everything we can to stop the spread of the virus so that hopefully, sooner rather than later, we can start to slowly return to 'normal' and our "little darlings" (NOT what I call them after a week of homeschooling) can go back to school as every parent skips/runs/wheel spins away like Thelma and Louise) away after drop off.  I may or may not be counting down the seconds until I don't have to home school them anymore - 5 days left people we can do this!!! 

First lockdown was the most challenging for me personally, although the weather was perfect and it was so easy to shove them all into the garden to save the house from complete and utter destruction.  I struggled with the adjustment of all being together constantly without a break and time to miss each other (I may be talking about my husband here). Having Mummy/Mama called 11 billion times before 10am, the snack requests and a gazillion random questions, was enough to make me feel like I was losing my mind!  I was eating and drinking like I was on holiday and actually feeling worse about myself as the lockdown continued.  

By the end of May I decided to join Fit Inside Out as Nicki had previously PT'd me and I knew that she specialised in postnatal workouts which was perfect for me after three children.  Long story short, but Nicki's live Zoom workouts made me make time for myself in the mornings before homeschooling started. My mental health improved, I was a much nicer mum/wife to be around as the endorphins post-workout are amazing.  There is so much more I could say about working out not just for fitness but for mental health benefits too, so I'll save that for another day but if you are looking for an amazing community then get in contact with Nicki as she caters for everyone!

But here we are again in another lockdown, the weather hasn't been on our side (apart from when we had an amazing snow day and all went sledging - I think I needed it more than the children!) and the quest for different daily walks is wearing thin.  Entertaining the children is limited but sometimes they play beautifully without sounding like they are killing each other.  This time I feel aspects of this lockdown seem more testing, I have learnt from the first one and am trying to do things differently. Instead of trying to do everything myself I am asking for help from my husband when he isn't working.  I'm being more vocal about how I feel, rather than letting it boil up inside me (I'm good at that), which seems to be helping ease the pressure just a little.  I still feel guilty about not being able to spend more one on one time with Effie, but she is happy having her big brother and sister around and occasionally helps colour in their school work when she is not trying to redecorate the walls!  And one of my biggest achievements is I have taught them all sarcasm, which usually appears at mealtimes when they say that my cooking is 'disgusting' and 'horrible' - well, I'm taking it as sarcasm even if it's not!

I have to he honest Pickle and Squidge (the website, not my children) has taken a back seat during all of this and while I am still posting the boxes out to lovely new parents and mummys-to-be, especially for those where friends and family haven't been able to visit, our boxes have been a very welcome special delivery.  I have neglected the social media side of things, but moving forward I have lots of lovely plans for my business so watch this space...

Stay safe and most importantly sane! 

K x