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Daphne

something special

To the best dad in the world

June 20, 2017

Every time I want to talk about the husband on the blog, he’s always like “no need lah, it’s ok, I don’t do that much anyway“, which is completely untrue but I know he’s shy like that and would be happy staying out of the spotlight.

But sometimes there are things that need to be said, and two days after Father’s Day seems as good a time as any to say it.

***

Happy Father’s Day, babe! I got the kids to help out with this post and in lieu of a crumpled card that we both know will be secretly thrown away when the kids are not looking, we put together a list of all the reasons why you’re the best dad in the world.

You do more than a lot. I don’t even know where to begin with this. You send the kids to school every morning at an hour where humans are not supposed to be awake. You bathe them and feed them and hold them and teach them math and tell them stories and pray for them and make them milo and show up for their events and carry them when they’re too tired to walk.

You show us how to have a good time. Impromptu trips to the water park, crossfit style piggy back rides, special post-bedtime board game nights, Playstation sessions…you make this journey a whole lot of fun. When I look at how much fun the kids are having with you, I feel relieved that I don’t have to try to be fun mom. I can be relax-and-take-a-break mom, which I much prefer to be.

You work really hard, but not so hard that you don’t have time leftover to hang out with us. You’ll take the time to put the kids to bed even when one (or more) of them is being ridiculous and doing nonsense for 2 hours in the room. Even when you’ve got work to catch up on, you’d rather wake up in the middle of the night to finish it up than to miss out on the time spent with them. This means the world to them.

You volunteer for poop duties, especially the really explosive ones where I try to keep a straight face because good moms aren’t supposed to get grossed out by their children’s poop but I’ll fail and involuntarily make a cringey vomit face. You’ll offer to do it and I’ll feel obliged to be all like “it’s ok, I’ve got it” but you’ll insist and I can go “okay sure if you really want to…”

Remember that one time where one of the kids had diarrhoea on the floor and I was about to clean it up but I just stood over it for several seconds trying to prepare myself mentally for the impending grossness and you swooped in to save the day. Thanks for that and the other hundreds of meals I got to keep down over the past 9 years.

You can handle 5 babies all at once, no problem. Okay, it does look like one of those durex ads where the dad gets mauled by babies and his expression is one of deep regret, wishing he had the good sense not to accidentally have these babies, one of whom is presently using his spleen as a trampoline. It can’t be fun having babies stuff foreign objects into your nostrils or somersault straight into your face, but you take it and still come back for seconds and I love you for it.

*Bonus from Theo: You share your food, like sandwiches and snacks and cookies and 100 plus and super delicious ice cream.

You tell me not to call you a superdad because these things are what dads do and there’s nothing super about them, but just so you know, everything that you do for us is super.

Also, we really, really like you. :)

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from around here

School holidays? Yes please!

June 7, 2017

Okay whaaattt it’s june and we’re in the middle of another school term break again??

You know I love spending time with my delightful offspring and does anything sound more delightful than having all my babies all to myself all day every day for a whole month? Ummm, yeah, no, not a single thing!!

This is, as they say, not my first rodeo so I’ve been buckling down and getting ready for the human hurricane, but it still hits you hard no matter how you’ve been bracing yourself for it.

Here are some things you need to know about kids on school holidays:

//School holidaying kids have no chill. There’s something about not having to spend half a day following rules and walking in line and having meals at designated times that makes them all jacked up on adrenaline. I can see it in their eyes the moment they wake up in the morning – instead of the usual undead zombie eyes, school holidaying eyes are ALIVE like them hills with the sound of music.

//Somebody is getting all up in my business at any given time. I make a coffee and someone is next to me going “Is that coffee, mommy?? Are you making coffee? Can I have some coffee like you? It’s super delicious!!” I go to the toilet and there’s yelling for “MOMMY I MISS YOU, YOU NEED TO COME OUTSIDE NOW!” I open up my emails and someone else is literally breathing down my neck like “What are you doing, mommy? I need to help you do some work, can I? Can? Can?? Can????” and I’m like “OKAY THAT’S IT, I’m declaring this a no baby zone, nobody breathe near me I just need to have 5 minutes understand.”

//Time passes slower in June and Nov/Dec. There’s some magical time freezing voodoo that goes on during the school holiday months that make it go extra slowly. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if scientists discover some precession of the equinoxes rotational axis wobble that’s causing an actual slow down of time during these months. That or 5 kids are wearing me down more rapidly, such that I’m completely exhausted by 11.45 in the am. By 4.30, I’ve basically lost the will to live, much less survive the daily dinner apocalypse.

//On the bright side, they’re in a fabulous mood all the time. By fabulous, I mean that there’s extra bouncing on furniture, running around the house at full speed, inventing of crazy games, and a general increase of happy squeals. On that note, they get so excited with every small activity, it makes me feel like a legit celebrity.

“Guys, let’s go to the library!” and they’re like “YAYYY thank you thank you thank you, you’re the best mom ever!”

“And tomorrow, who wants to go to ah ma’s house?”

“ME ME ME!! I like to go to ah ma’s house!!”

“There’s also bible boot camp on Wednesday, followed by grandma’s house on Thursday!”

“WHAT??? SO AWESOME THIS IS THE BEST WEEK OF MY LIFE!”

And I’m like “hold the applause, guys, because next week, we’re going to Sentosa.”

**The crowd goes wild**

Yeah ok, school holidays ain’t so bad.

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Truett

You’re 9, Truett!!!

June 2, 2017

Truett turned 9 yesterday, so here’s one for my grown up little man.

♥♥♥

Hey Tru, happy birthday!! Can I just say that I’ve really enjoyed being your mom for the past 9 years? People ask me why I have so many kids and you know you’re part of the reason right? You made the experience of being a mom so great, I just had to have more of these tiny humans, so thanks, I guess.

You’ll always be my first and firsts are something special. Remember the first time you tasted your favourite strawberry shortcake and your squishy face lit up with delight? Or the first time you rode on a rollercoaster and you couldn’t stop talking about it for days? Or the first snow angel you had so much fun making at Mt Buller? You’re like that for me, except waaayyyy better.

There are some downsides to being the first kid, for sure. We try to be ready for what’s ahead, but we’re always going to be noobs when it comes to you. We had to learn the hard way that babies scream uncontrollably at 2 in the morning on their first night home; that newborns are hella slippery in the bath and may slip out of your hands when you think you’ve got this bathing thing down; and that gummies at 9.45 isn’t a great idea. In my defence, we were out late with you and we thought, “3 gummies can’t be that bad…look at how happy he is!” 30 minutes later, so much regret. There are probably a couple more hard lessons ahead of us (hopefully not too many!), but stick with us ok? We’ll figure it out together.

But you know what? Being the first is great because life with you is like watching an awesome movie for the first time without any spoilers. You get to have the full unspoiled experience.

And as far as first kids go, you’re the best any mom could have.

//

This jump from 8 to 9 has been a big one. 8 still had one foot in little kid territory, but 9, 9 feels all grown up somehow.

Remember Finn’s pokemon sports day event a few months ago? The preschool teachers got us to join in the warm up dance, which was less of a serious warm up exercise and more of an adorable singalong session with cute dancey moves. Your siblings were all in, enthusiastically getting their groove on, but as you gradually came to the realisation that this was a kiddie dance, your moves got decidedly noncommittal, the way cool kids phone it in when they’re doing something that’s beneath their coolness level.

It was adorable and I teased you about it, but it’s when I suddenly realised that you’re done being my baby and I’ve got one of them cool kids now.

You’re just the right kind of cool too. Like when Kirsten came back with news that she was made chairperson of her class, you were so proud of her even though you didn’t care much for this sort of thing. You hugged her and said, “woahhh that’s so awesome!! You did really well, Kirsten!” I could tell that meant a lot to her.

9 is so amazing to talk to. Talking to you is one of my favorite things to do. I hope it stays that way because there are so many conversations we need to have. We need to talk about the best patronuses (patroni??) to have, whether we’d rather eat a live worm or a cooked cockroach, and discuss the best strategies for the most epic day at Disney World.

I love how responsible 9 is – helping to clean stuff, watching out for the little ones, giving me killer shoulder massages. It almost makes me look forward to the day Hayley turns 9. Okay, wait, no. That day can take its time to arrive. Although it will be so relaxing urgh I can’t decide.

Most of all, I want to say that having you changed my life. You’re an amazing kid and I can’t wait to see what life holds for you.

xoxo,

Your biggest fan.

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