Grateful For...Self Belief, Surprises and a Slower Pace.

Pin It I sit here writing my gratitude post when I could so easily be curled up in bed. Sleep has evaded me for most of this week. I tend not to sleep well when my husband is away for work (hyper-alert, you know, just in case there's someone in the house or hiding under my bed) and my mind has been on overdrive thinking of all that needs doing over the next few months. Today I have a foggy head that no amount of coffee can overcome and I am reminded of the sleep-deprivation that was normality with a newborn. Still, I am grateful that the weekend looms and while we will be busy, I am looking forward to some family time that doesn't involve homework or driving to and from sport training (and hopefully some time to have a rest).

This week, I have taken the step to pursue Helping Mums Manage (so this is my first Gratitude post from here and one I hope to continue as a regular feature). You can read about where I've been and where I'm going. With this decision, I am excited, scared, full of doubts but also grateful for not giving up when I was so tempted to do so.

I am also grateful that my husband was able to come home early from a 4 week work stint in Melbourne. His original flight today had him arriving at 6pm, which meant that he would have been coming home to tired, hungry and also over-excited children. Fortunately, he was able to choose an earlier flight which meant that Miss 3 and I could meet him at the airport and surprise the older children at school pick up. It also means that we can go out for a 'celebration' dinner tonight (and I can get the night off cooking. Hooray!)

One sick day for Miss 7 during the week meant that our normally manic Thursday took on a slower pace. While I didn't like that my daughter was sick, I was grateful for the day at home, the nanna nap that we had and the calm that ensued for the rest of the day because we weren't rushing around. I was also able to spend some quality time with Miss 7 (something I have really missed over the last few months) without the other children vying for my attention.

What are you grateful for this week?

Linking up with 52 Weeks of Grateful at Village Voices.

Where I've Been and Where I'm Going.

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It's been a very long time since I've written for Helping Mums Manage. An embarrassingly long time if I'm to be honest - 

Oh look, there's some tumbleweed.

So, where have I been?

In September of last year, my husband took a work contract in Melbourne for 14 weeks. In that time, he was home for a dismal 3 weekends. (The weekends weren't dismal, it's just that he wasn't home much!) Also coinciding with his time away was the last term of school, an unexpected trip to the hospital for a blood transfusion and Christmas plans. It was an extremely busy 3 1/2 months, and I was absolutely shattered by the time my husband finally finished his contract and came home, just in time for Christmas. 

It was hard work solo parenting for so long (hats off to all the single parents), and also working through my children's emotions (it was hard for them to be apart from their Dad for such a long time). Any plans for writing were shelved because, well, to be completely honest, I lacked the motivation.

Discouragement began to creep in, and I wondered if I would ever get this place up and going again. Do I bother? I then realised that I didn't have to do everything RIGHT NOW. Those 14 weeks were not the best time to start investing in a project that I was still trying to get on its feet. I just didn't have the capacity to fit another thing in my day, and so, HMM was put on hold.  I'm not writing this to be all 'woe is me', but rather to give an honest insight into what's been going on. 

Now:

Fourteen weeks gave me a decent amount of time to reflect on HMM (and Aspiring Mum). With the knowledge that this is going to be an extremely busy year for our family (as I complete my studies), I still needed to answer some questions and be honest with myself and my readers. Did I want to write freelance? Did I want to keep plodding along? Did I want to tout brands?  Did I want to blend in with the crowd or stand out? What exactly did I want, and what was the next step for me?

So, here's the plan:
I would like to see HMM become a place of inspiration for Mums. The tag-line is Empower, Encourage, Equip. With that in mind, my vision for HMM is to be a resource, rather than another mummy blog sharing the details of everyday life. There's nothing wrong with being personable, in fact I think it's a good thing, but this is the direction I'm taking (and I don't think my life is so exciting that I need to share the daily ho-hum with the world!)

The content on this site will focus on: life/parenting, home management, mum-time, family and intentional living - and I'll throw in some other topics for good measure. 

Are there any topics you'd like to see here?

Will you join me on this ride?  

Leave a comment, or email me if you have any suggestions on what you'd like to see.

Thanks so much for being here.