Jo Saxton

There are good days. On a good day – the girls nap at the same time for a couple of hours and wake up cute and smiling. Zoe is giggling in her crib, and Tia is singing “Hello”. We descend to the family room, smiling at each other and laughing.

The family room is a playground of stimulating, age appropriate activities. Play doh, stickers, finger painting. Tia counts from 1 – 9 all by herself. Zoe sits and plays with toys. We are listening to Wiggles tunes in the background. Every so often Tia and I stop what we are doing and perform for Zoe who giggles some more. They have healthy nutritious snacks. Dinner is in the oven, perfectly timed. Chris and I chat a little on the phone and the world is wonderful. Its an uber woman day.Chris returns home from work to find the women in his life smiling and glowing.

I am total momma – hear me roar.

Dinner is family fun, and vegetables are eaten. Tia joins in family prayers, Zoe giggles and everyone stays at the table until the last delicious morsel is eaten.The girls go to sleep on time and do not stir. We talk and tidy up the family room thankful for our lives. We rest, we laugh. We read, we enjoy.

Then the bad days
These are the days when my expectations are high and my patience is low. These are TAG days, of whining, sickness, poo, screaming.These are the ugly dark days of mopping up projectile offerings.These are the days when I think it rational to reason like an adult with a 23 month old.These are the days when Tia is eating spaghetti and meatballs – again.

One these kinds of days toddler works of art are on the walls (that I have just cleaned) instead of the paper.Days when Tia seems to be in the naughty corner so much, she might as well camp there!Dinner is not in the oven, its in the future, if we all make it there.The snacks are not the healthiest on earth, but they do produce that beautiful thing called silence. For awhile. And then there is the television. God Bless the television.

( I love you TV.Though I do sometimes guiltily wonder if Tia will develop not an English or US accent, but an Australian one what with the level of Wiggle input she has in her life.)

On these days Zoe refuses to nap, eat or drink.Tia is not satisfied with anything, even if its something she has asked for. The word MINE punctuates every sentence.
Chris comes home to find the women in his life glowering.

I am stressed out momma – hear me scream.

Then there are the moments.When the girls aren’t watching. Zoe is sitting playing and I am in awe of this child who is changing everyday. Tia is in her playgroup doing crafts being all grown up and reminding me that this stage isn’t always about “the terrible twos”. Its a snapshot of awe and wonder.Chris comes home to a holy moment.
We sit down after the girls are in bed, relaxed, grateful. The dishes can wait. The list of jobs can wait. Right now,there’s a moment to be had. A moment where its not all about how we are doing as parents, how the kids are doing.Just a moment to take in the complex, yet simple, frustrating, yet wonderful, extraordinary, yet ordinary life we have.

I’m an everyday working mum. Hear me say – its going to be OK.

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