“Cheers!”

Mama Atzi / / No Comments

I can’t believe it’s almost 2 weeks since my dry month ended and I never even posted about it!!

I think because in the end – just like many things (hmmmph Brexit) it was rather anti-climatic and didn’t actually give me what I was looking for. Or so I thought!

I certainly felt the benefits in certain physical ways. Coincidence or not there is no denying my nails are better and my back that used to constantly give me a pain in my spine has barely given me a twinge since I stopped drinking. The fact I have low vitamin D anyway and alcohol can inhibit this shows there is most definitely a link there. I will be watching this closely as I begin to indulge more in alcoholic beverages again.

However, I can not honestly say I feel any more energetic for drinking less and I am most certainly no more ready for action first thing in the mornings as before.

Where the positive improvement has laid though is in my mindset. I have realised throughout this period that actually what my Dad always says is true when it comes to a healthy lifestyle: everything in moderation and that the positivity I have been craving comes not from the giving up of something but more the mindset that it creates.

I am generally feeling more positive and as a result more content and happy but it’s not because of not drinking or doing more work outs; it is because I was motivated to make those changes in the first place and determined to stick to something and see it through – regardless of the outcome.

I was disappointed not to have rock hard abs or sudden unending energy by the end of the month but that outcome in itself has led to me discovering other things about myself – ie I really am never going to be a morning person and that perhaps my tummy muscles did not repair as they should have done after Little M was born and therefore I need to be more careful in how I work to improve them now.

As often is the case it has been a reminder that these things are as much about the journey as the destination. But I also learnt that this was not a single mission but one that I need to keep learning from.

And I think that’s why I haven’t gotten around to actually posting about the end of my #ExhaustedMamaMission because for me it hasn’t actually ended. I have learnt a great deal of things about myself, my attitude and my body during this past month and I plan to keep learning and hopefully improving myself and my life as a result.

When it came to the day I was able to drink again it was strange because I realised I didn’t actually really want a drink.

I had a gin and tonic (because that was the last drink I had before starting this) but the truth is I was lucky enough to be spending the evening having a (very) belated Christmas meal with my lovely colleagues in London and that’s actually all I needed.

It’s been both good and bad to realise my nightly wine drinking had simply become a habit of normalcy – the so called Mummy Wine Culture I didn’t even realise I was part of!

The horrific couple of hangovers I have had since drinking a bit again (and it’s only been a few drinks on weekend ladies nights aswell!) show my poor liver certainly needed the break.

From my side, I feel the occasional drink to relieve a bit of stress or just let yourself unwind a bit is not something to write home about but when it becomes a habit rather than something to actually enjoy then it is a worry. Maybe even a cry for help. Certainly a sign that something else in your life probably needs addressing.

I am going to continue to enjoy my double bubbles (that is my baths with Prosecco) but because I want to not just because and certainly not because I need to.

The best bit about starting to drink again was that it coincided with being in London and having the chance for a well overdue night out with one of my favourite people in this whole world. However, just as with the meal with my girls the night before I realised that it was not the Prosecco that make our time together!

Don’t get me wrong I loved our glass of fizz as we were getting ready but I enjoyed the feeling of being back in our cruise ship days and getting ready for a night onshore all the more!

We totally indulged that night but not in drinks (though drinks were had), in life! In doing what we love – being with our friends, eating great food, seeing a West End show and just talking!!

Life is all about moments. And that night we had some amazing moments! Having a nice drink to go with them was a lovely compliment to a magical evening – not something that was required to ensure we had a good time.

It’s about the quality not the quantity.

Having completed my #ExhaustedMamaMission and feeling that I really had achieved something – even if it wasn’t what I expected – I decided to re-read Marie Kondo’s ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying’. I loved this book the first time round and am still following it within my household but this time I loved it even more. I finished it in less than 2 short plane journeys and found myself crying because once again the points she makes in this book and the feeling I achieved in putting KonMari method into action is exactly how I was feeling after my mission. I had been looking for the positive in life and realised that I have it with me all along. I just have to have the right mindset.

Marie says “I can think of no greater happiness in life than to be surrounded by the things I love. How about you? All you need to do is to get rid of anything that doesn’t touch your heart like this. There is no simpler way to contentment. What else could this be called but the magic of tidying’?”

It is exactly this feeling that can be applied to anything in life – not just physical things in your home but anything that does not, as Marie Kondo says, “spark joy”.

By discarding the habitual drinking I can appreciate my double bubbles even more but more importantly I know, as I always have really, that it is the family get togethers, the ladies nights and the non-stop catch ups with my besties that are the things that really bring the happiness.

My plan now is to listen to all my instincts that have come out in my various New Years resolutions since starting this blog and try harder to follow the lessons I have learnt as a result of putting them into action.

Slow down….failing isn’t failure …..the lows are as important as the highs …..never stop learning…..acceptance is not giving up control …..face your fears….spark joy ….savour the moments ….. surround yourself with what you love …. you do you!

I know I will slip, just as I know there will be nights when I pour a glass of wine I probably do not need or want but that’s all part of the journey in the end anyway!

Thank you all for supporting me through this mini mission. Onwards and upwards as always I hope! 😘

Cheers!

Mama Atzi x

“Rollercoaster”

Mama Atzi / / No Comments

 

Once again it has been a while. I know by now there is probably no point apologising but I’m British – it’s what we do – so sorry (again) for my tardiness/laziness/forgetfulness!

Despite my ravings of Marie Kondo and Sarah Knight it seems I have not fully “got my s@&t together” in order to focus on the things that ‘spark joy’ (e.g writing to you lovely people and in particular my 4 faithful subscribers! ;0)

I have actually written something since last posting but as is with life in general, things got in the way, and well Winter turned to Spring and suddenly we are in the middle of the Summer holidays (and actually since then we have fought our way through Autumn and back to Winter! 🙈 ) and I still haven’t actually got around to finishing it. Story of a Mother’s life hey?! Cold coffee anyone….?

So this post was going to be something of a mid-year diary excerpt – catching you up on all (or atleast most) of what has been going on in the world of this exhausted Mama – but now it’s kind of half a catch up and a bit extra lumped on the end to get you up to date!! 

As Ronan Keating once crooned, “Life is a rollercoaster, just got to ride it” and when it comes to my kids (all kids…?!) that is definitely true so hold on tight……

–

I think one of the most talked about (aka moaned) “periods” of parenthood is the lack of sleep. People seem to think once they have conquered the holy grail of sleeping through the night that somehow everything else will be like rainbows and unicorns. Well, I’m here to tell you that that theory is a bit like believing having a baby will be the key to improving a failing marriage. 

Adding a baby into the already crumbling mix will of course add a whole lot more love and a common cause but it’s also adding a whole load more of stress and pressure and LACK OF SLEEP which is the quickest way to piss off even the most stable couples. 

Basically no matter what you conquer there is always something waiting in the wings to test you and nowhere is this truer than with children….

So, I think we are sleeping but …..

Little M has been decidedly better with sleeping. The stopping of Kiga naps and longer days have him snoring soundly fairly quickly (lucky Papa who always seems to be the chosen parent on sleep duty!)** To be honest though, despite looking forward to this moment for so long, I was too exhausted to even offer a high 5 and barely noticed it happen because, as is life, there is always a new challenge just waiting to take it’s place……

**Since writing this has drastically changed – Mama is now the “chosen one” and although he is still sleeping mostly through the night he is a nightmare going to bed! We lie there awake over an hour sometimes, we require 2 stories, it has to be in his bed, it can’t be too light or too dark and often he needs foot rubs. 

Yep – this one’s high maintenance what can I say?! 

Illness:

As of first writing; it’s that horrible season where there seems to be colds, chicken pox, flu and tummy bugs galore. 

We are a pretty strong family when it comes to illness and even if we do get sick we usually manage to deal with it quickly and effectively with no need of a doctor visit but even LJ, who is never ill, was knocked out in February with a weird bug (during half term holiday I might add though – ever the courteous child!) so I knew it didn’t bode well. 

And Little M has had an on and off cough for the last 3 months now. It literally feels never-ending. He finally slept through the night dulling us into a 2 night sense of security only to be destroyed by a hacking cough that now seems to only appear at night – usually 10 minutes into us trying to relax. 

We are at the point now the cough is annoying the life out of all involved ….. bring on the Summer please!!**

**UPDATE: Well, it is (was!) now the Summer. The cough has (for the most part subsided) but was still so ongoing and coupled with becoming quickly tired and possible allergic reactions that we are now on inhalers and keeping an eye to see whether in fact we are dealing with asthma. Like I said, knock down one obstacle only to find 2 more waiting behind. 

Injuries:

We had our first scary accident at the beginning of this year (last year now!) too. In his excitement at winning Uno LJ jumped up and knocked a boiling hot cup of coffee over his arm. Thank God for best friends who I had used as my excuse to get him to wear a smart long sleeve polo shirt or the resulting burn would have been a lot worse. I will also use this incident to highly recommend attending a first aid course and feel very grateful to Maria at the Ottakring Samiriterbund because with that knowledge and us all staying calm and treating it straight away we really managed to limit the damage and thankfully the trip to the hospital was very short and sweet. A cooling dressing had him sleeping soundly as always and he had no pain medication. My tough boy! A re-dressed bandage the following day and check up 3 days later showed it was healing well and everyone was happy. 

But uuurrgghhhh – that moment when your child is hurt  – horrendous! A sudden reminder that no matter how much they annoy you or keep you awake at night, it only takes a split second for them to be hurt, or worse, to remind you they are your world, and in that moment all that matters is that they are ok. Plus as Mum you are expected to keep cool and show your child that “everything is going to be alright” – even if you don’t know if that’s true. No wonder we carry around that constant worry! 

Homework:

Oh, the woes of school and homework….. I remember in my final week of Uni, as I slowly and steadily completed my final exams, essays and of course had that 10,000 word dissertation bound, that there was a happy air of relief lifted from my shoulders knowing I would never have to write a paper or sit an exam again (unless I consciously decided to). It was a real life-affirming moment. I didn’t counter into this moment that one day I might have a child who speaks a different language from me and the daily battles we would have to just sit down and look at the work! 

As someone that loves reading, and always did, I didn’t bargain on how hard my child would find this and how this would test my patience beyond anything I knew. Thankfully this frustration phase was much shorter than the non-sleeping phase was but in it’s own way it was just as exhausting. 

During the Summer homework was not compulsory but it is recommended and both the teacher’s pet and good mother in me had LJ doing (a little) bit of work every day. It was a fun battle as you can imagine – Deutsch and Maths workbooks don’t quite compare to sunshine, swimming, trampolines, ice-cream and tv – but the exhausted Mama in me is now mature enough to know that the daily battles now are better than the ultimate war we would have going into the second year of school having done nothing. It’s the slow turtle that wins the race in the end and all that……

**UPDATE: We are now into said 2nd year of school and after week 2 I am already dead so what this would have been like having done no work or prep I literally dread to think….Lesson learnt! Whatever preparation you think is enough next Summer – double it! 

YouTube et al:

We live in a world of streaming now. People and especially children don’t watch “live tv” anymore. You don’t have to set a reminder or recorder each Monday at 8pm to ensure you don’t miss your favourite tv programme. You watch it on catch-up. With Netflix and Amazon Prime you can binge watch your favourite box set in a night. Fancy seeing a film? You can buy or rent it direct from your tv and be sat munching your microwave popcorn within minutes. 

You can pretty much have what you want, when you want it, with a touch of a button and it’s great…until your kids realise that they too can watch or play what they want at the click of a button.

Parent blogs and, well, parents in general talk about “screen time” and it all sounds wonderfully grown up and regulated but in reality – with my kids anyway- it just doesn’t happen! 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying I let my kids play on my phone or watch YouTube all day long (well, most days anyway…) all I’m saying is it’s harder to ‘regulate’ sometimes than I would like. And I fully admit that’s probably my fault because giving in for the quiet life is of course easier, albeit lazier, than sucking it up and being the “responsible parent” who simply says no. 

The hardest thing for us is the age gap between our children. LJ is at that video game age. For his 8th birthday he got a Nintendo Switch (like most of his friends already have) and he’s exploring his new found fine motor skills in the imaginative world that MARIO and friends have to offer and he’s full on engrossed in catching Pokémon. Of course, as a result of this, so is Little M who is in awe of his big brother and follows wherever he (unwittingly most of the time) leads. For the most part, it’s ok, but on the other side whilst I have encouraged LJ to play games that help his concentration and problem solving skills (my justification atleast!) I am not overly keen on my 4 year old watching bleary eyed over his shoulder. 

Hearing your youngest child – who let’s face it will always be your baby – cry for YouTube and MaWio (because he can’t pronounce his R’s properly) and by MARIO I mean watching supposed grown ups play whilst talking about playing said Mario game (apparently there’s some kind of living to be made from this – one that no doubt pays waaaay more than mine!) is not easy. 

As the Summer ends we have put stronger rules on this and “gameplay” watching is fully over (and will be furthermore so) but it’s like that red button you know you shouldn’t press when those pretty apps are just there on the home screen asking to be clicked on….. We will be tough this school year!!! 

The only silver lining – no Fortnite yet! Or atleast we managed to bypass the cousins enjoyment of this fairly quickly after visiting them on our Summer hols anyway! The Floss dance move is enough FN for me to deal with right now thank you very much!! 

**UPDATE: We have stayed very strong on the “screen time” especially before bed and YouTube barely gets a look in these days at all and life is definitely better for it. Super Nanny and the “simple life” rules really do work! 

SO WHERE ARE WE NOW…. 

Well, we seem to have blasted through the Summer of 2019. A weird time for me as it was laced with grief from having lost my Nanny in June.  

But we also had a great time in the UK this year visiting the Lake District and going back to my childhood by staying in a holiday park caravan! We ended the hols with a trip up North to see my family – something I am determined to do more of since Grandad died at the beginning of the year and as sad as it was the chance to reconnect with all my cousins at his funeral was really special and reminded me just how important family connections are. 

We had what was truly one of the most beautiful English Summer days in the world on the Cat and Dog beach where we played and swam and read and drank tea and ate chips and ice cream literally from sun up to sun down. Watching my kids play so happily the entire day with a couple of spades, a bucket and stones was just magical and I shed a few tears watching them and remembering those Summer days shared with my brothers and cousins as we holidayed with my Grandparents when we were young. It was one of those moments you wish you could bottle up. It was a perfect family day and proof that children do not need technology to have fun! They had nothing more than children hundreds of years ago would have had and I have never seen them so content and happy! 

Back to the real world and as you can imagine the school and work stresses piled up as ever! To be honest Autumn is an exhaustive blur. Apart from the Glühwein I barely remember what happened between school start and school finish but I know by Christmas I was so ready for a break and so were the boys!! 

It was Austrian Christmas this year which usually means far too many presents since our boys are lucky enough to be visited by Christ Kind and Santa and in all honesty the practically life-sized Godzilla under the tree felt a little much but the boys were happy and for the most part very well behaved. 

I can’t believe I am saying this but my favourite present this year was the cordless hoover we bought with our Christmas money. It’s literally a life saver! Letting us zap round the flat so easily that the place no longer feels like a bull was set free in a jumble sale (I almost forgot the English for that since I am now so used to Austrian Flea Markets!) It is amazing what a difference it makes to one’s mood to have a tidy flat! See Marie Kondo I am feeling the joy!! 

So, on to 2020…. New Year was great this year with my parents and brother coming to visit. The fireworks we normally enjoy watching from our balcony were a bit scarcer than usual – not sure if the “environmental” warnings or the wind put people off but either way it was not quite up to its usual par. Still, our Winter fridge was very much empty by the end of the holidays so we managed to still keep our festive cheer up and toast in the New Year in style. 

Having decided I rely far too much on a glass of wine to relax in the evening and having eaten waaaay too much over the festive period I have decided to take on the dry January challenge this year and am also intent on getting something of a 6 pack back (to be honest a 2 pack would do!) and to be completely frank just to feel a bit more energetic and fit would be nice! 

Age really does catch up with you! I feel like when I hit 38 some switch off that just turned me slower and slower! Everything is more of an effort these days. Our children are finally sleeping but the problem is now I feel so old and tired myself half the time I just go to sleep straight after they do! #Can’tWin 

I have also been really down on things the past year – longer actually. I think that’s been clear from the lags in these posts too and from reading back I can see where things changed. When my Grandad died. Grief really is a horrendous thing. I talked about acceptance in my Sleepless in Schwechat post and a couple since then and for me that’s truly the hardest stage. But as I have learnt from the sleeping scenario it is also the only one that allows you to properly move on. Or better yet to coin the phrase of author Nora McInerny^ to move forward. 

With that strongly in mind, this year’s New Year Resolution is to try and think forwards more than backwards. To be more positive and as a result I hope also happier. To try to stop worrying about the things I can’t control (or atleast not let them get me down so much) and instead enjoy the ones I can and better yet the ones I can create for me and my family. 

Because it feels like the blink of an eye between me and my brothers playing on that beach and watching my own little boys playing there. It’s a cliche but time really does go so fast and it would be real waste not to enjoy it! 

Sweet dreams –

Mama Atzi x 

ps We are on to day 3 of Mama’s no alcohol, get fit and energised mission and I can honestly say I have not felt this tired since Little M’s worst not sleeping nights…. the only way is up right?!!! 

 

 

^Nora McInerny –  Blogger of “My Husband’s Tumor” and author of “It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too)”, “No Happy Endings” and “Hot Young Widows Club”. She is also the host of a podcast called “Terrible, Thanks for Asking”.

If, like me, you have struggled with grief this woman knows all about it. www.noramcinerny.com