Don’t be afraid to be you! 🌅

This post has taken a ridiculously long time for me to publish and that’s not because I wanted to make sure it was really well written, but because I’ve ummed and ahhed about whether to publish it at all. Ultimately though, I need to get it off my chest and then I can start blogging properly again. So here we go! Some of my close friends and family will understand the feelings and events between the lines but for those that only know me through my blog then I hope you will get the gist of what I’m trying to say!

Children’s clothing…slogans 👍🏼 or 👎🏼?

Generally I would say I’m not really a fan of slogans on children’s clothes. While I was pregnant with Krish I inevitably began looking at baby clothes and was disappointed by the amount of clothes covered in stereotypical gender behaviour phrases. Phrases such as “Mummy’s little angel” and “Watch out, little monster about!” I think there has been a big improvement in the way boys and girls clothes are presented in terms of choice and I have seen several examples of positive slogans that would inspire both boys and girls. But there is still much to be done…..

A month of firsts!

It’s been a busy few weeks in the Ravalia household. First nights out, first steps, first hair cuts, first full nights sleep and first school visits. Carry on reading for the full stories.

REWIND…26 days in NICU Part 2

This is the final chapter in my series of blog posts to celebrate the twins turning 1. So far I’ve talked about pregnancy, the birth and my time on the maternity ward. In this post I hope to touch on our new NICU routine, the reality of being a parent to a child in NICU, highs, lows and of course the all important milk production.

REWIND……The twins are here!

I promised you the next instalment of a trilogy blog to celebrate the twins turning 1, would be all about the birth and our time in NICU; but I’ll be honest…I’m so much of an over sharer that this trilogy is going to turn into a series! This post will be about the day the twins arrived: c-section, recovery, meeting the twins and entering the NICU unit for the first time.

Coincidentally I spent today with a fellow NICU and twin mum that I met during our time there, who I am now fortunate enough to call my friend. We were chatting about how surreal it feels to now have one year olds and reminiscing about our time as NICU mums.

Anyway here’s our story….

Poorly babies and sleepless nights!

Everyone knows being a parent can be as tough as it gets but being a parent when you’re ill, brings a whole new meaning to the word tough! Oh and I don’t need to remind you that child illness in this house comes in twos at least! The fact that I’m even still capable of writing this blog post is a small miracle.

Is screen time the enemy? 📱💻🖥

If you check out my Instagram posts you might notice the hash tag #operationreducescreentime

I am mindful of the amount of time Krish spends watching screens; be it my phone, our TV or our tablet. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some days where he watches way too much! In fact there are some days I swear from waking up to going to bed, he moves from one screen to the next, all day long; only stopping to eat and use the toilet.

2018-year of books! 🤞🏼

I absolutely love reading, always have since I first mastered the skill at primary school. The only book that’s ever defeated me was White Fang by Jack London. But I put that down to my young age when I attempted to read it and I am determined to read it in full one day. Anyway when I was pregnant with Krish, I remember my mum reminiscing about how many books she managed to get through while nursing me, I expect. I say me as that nursing time is never quite as peaceful second time round or third or fourth in my mum’s case! Well I did manage to read quite a few books while breastfeeding Krish but I also spent an inordinate amount of wasted time on my phone! Internet shopping, FB stalking, playing CandyCrush and exploring Pinterest! I wish I’d been a bit more productive but I don’t think my brain could have coped with much more. If I did pick up a book I usually nodded off pretty quickly. How I miss those cosy milky cuddly naps with Krish. It’s hard to imagine what life was like before smart phones! All those idle thumbs! This time round I started my blog and discovered Instagram so that was never a recipe for successful reading time.

Threenager hell! 🤬😳😩

OMG, where has my cute little three year old gone?! Everyone’s heard of the terrible two’s, but I warn you if you’re feeling smug because you missed that out, well they may be storing it up for their third year of life! I won’t lie, I was that smug parent who saw toddlers throwing the mother of all tantrums whilst quietly thinking…”Thank goodness Krish wasn’t like that!” Stupid woman I shouldn’t have been so self-righteous. Read on for the horror that is living with a threenager!

Under pressure!

As a Primary School teacher and Mum I have, at times, been used to wearing many hats and juggling many balls but currently I am really feeling the pressure, from so many angles!  Mostly it’s pressure I put on myself but more recently it’s just a general feeling of expectation and societal pressure.  Some of these pressures are old friends- pressure to keep fit, pressure to eat healthily, pressure to be a good wife and mum.
But some of these pressures feel more new: