Quarantine

Kids are festy. They are crusty, quite literally crusty. They pick up weird diseases, bugs, germs. They sneeze green snot and are more than happy to leave that slug on their face. They are Petrie dishes cultivating exotic dieseases.

The crustiest of all childhood ailments has to be conjunctivitis. Held in fear by me only slightly less than nits. Goosey woke this morning eyes swollen, glued shut and crusty. Sigh.

Thankfully, it wasn't a preschool day but we did have to take Lil to school. With Goosey looking like she had the plague. The kid is social and wants to talk to (and hug) everyone, I gave her a pep talk about not touching ANYONE. We approached the gate and saw a mum we knew. Her face contorted with horror.

"what's wrong with her??"

I told her I thought it was conjunctivitis. She offered to take Lil to her class freeing the school from Goosey's pussy visage.

Sighing with relief I took the girl off to the doctor. "so what's wrong? Well, besides the obvious of course," the GP asked.

We were off quickly and happy to discover the antibiotic drops no longer need a prescription as I'm sure we'll be needing more when the other kids are struck down. (note, I say 'when' and not 'if'. It's inevitable isn't it?!)

So for now, we have a big red 'X' painted on our door. Enter at your own risk.

What's your most feared childhood ailment?

Happy birthday to the Skip

Happy birthday to my wonderful Skip.

The first of his birthdays we had together was his 21st and boy have we both changed since then. We've been together almost 15 years so we've grown up and old. The hardest part about marriage is changing and growing with each other. You hear people say that their spouse is not the same person they married. There's no doubt that Skip is not the same as the 21-year-old I fell in love with, lucky for me, he's better.

The past 12 months have been full-on and life changing, I think Skip is definitely a different person from this time last year. Someone I love even more.

Happy birthday, Skip. I hope its a good one.

Mourning morning

I used to love the mornings with the toddlers and babies. Even though they get up early, it's usually their nicest part of the day. They're happy, not whinging. Munching on some toast, sipping some tea, I even used to find it was the best time to knock out a blog post. The kids happily played or ate while I typed. Not having to rush out the door. Hang in our PJs if it was cold or rainy. It made up for the horrendous sleepless nights.

Mornings are now a VERY different scenario. Two kids going to different places. Two lunches to make. Two bags to pack. Hurrying them to get dressed, brush their teeth, tidy up. While trying to scoff down some breakfast myself and get dressed. Oh and feed and dress the baby too, who's usually whinging for some attention, poor third child. All to the soundtrack of: "Get dressed, get dressed, get dressed, get dressed, GET DRESSED! Pack your bag, pack your bag, pack your bag, pack your bag, pack your bag, pack your bag, pack your bag, PACK YOUR BAG! Brush your teeth, brush your teeth, brush your teeth,  brush your teeth, brush your teeth, brush your teeth, BRUSH YOUR TEETH. No you don't need to make a bed for Pooh-Bear right now. No, I can't paint your face. No, the bathtub isn't where your PJs go. Please, JUST GET DRESSED!"

Yes, these days, the hours between 6 and 10am are stressed to the max. I come home after the drop-offs put the baby to bed and breath a sigh of relief. And then I look at the destruction that has been left in the wake of us trying to get ready. I wonder, what happened to my life? Was there a time when I was more than just a nagger and a cleaner and a cook and a bum wiper? Was there a time when my life wasn't consumed with bread crumbs, Weet-Bix smooshed on the floor and washing, so much washing?

What are your mornings like? Calm and peaceful or manic?

Baby fights back

Baby D often gets a hard time. He has two older sisters who poke him, prod him, sit on him, whack him, shake him. All in the name of love and affection of course. Rough love.

I keep trying to tell the girls that one day he'll be big and will be able to fight back. They look at me like: "Yeah, whatever."

I think his day of retribution is not far off. I think it's already begun.

Friday Fun - Herbal Essences

A little while ago, Lil-lil told me that she was going to buy me some special shampoo so I could become a rock star. I had no idea what she was talking about but I liked the idea, if only it were that easy! A few days later she pointed at the TV and said that was the rock star shampoo. It was an ad for the Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly range.

Fast forward to now and Herbal Essences are offering The Daze of My Life readers the chance to win two winter hair care packs. They may not turn you into a rock star, but their floral scents will mean you can have a little steamy tropical holiday in your shower.

The packs are worth of $60 and include:

• Herbal Essences Drama Clean shampoo and conditioner
• Herbal Essences None of Your Frizziness shampoo and conditioner
• The entire Tousle Me Softly styling range
• A treatment product
• A Supersized Set Me Up hairspray
• (See images below for what's included in the pack)

To win, comment below and tell me what your favourite song to sing in the shower is. It would also be great (but not necessary) if you could follow The Daze of My Life and like my Facebook page.

The best two comments, judged by me (or someone nominated by me), will win a pack. Entries close, 11.59pm Thursday May 31, 2012. Open to Aussie residents only (sorry). Please include your email address if it's not on your log-in.

Vtech Storio winner

Happy Friday all.

I'm here to announce the winner of the VTech Storio winner. I got my mum to judge the entries as I knew so many of the lovely people and I didn't want to be biased.

So the winner, as chosen by Mrs Daze Sr, is

Sarah of Somerville Lane.

Congratulations, Sarah. Email me your address and your choice of Storio (Cars 2 or Dora) and I'll get it send out to you.

Mothering mums

I know I have harped on about my non-sleeping children, but please, let me write this one last post. Non-sleeping kids is the most boring topic on the planet but, it may just help you, or someone you know.

When Lil-lil was a wee babe she rarely slept, except for short bursts. I remember being in Adelaide hotel room when she was about 6 weeks old, standing an a weird angle in the middle of the room in the middle of the night. They only position Lil would sleep in. I would slowly go to sit down and her eyes would pop open and she'd start crying. How on earth can I stand here?? This is insane. But stand there I did.

That girl, god love her, almost broke me. In fact, sometimes I think she did break me. The severe sleep deprivation was beyond my belief. When she was 12 weeks old, I did a residential stay at Tresillian, a centre in NSW that provides mothers with support and settling techniques. I went there feeling like a total failure, but was the best thing I could ever have done. The nurses there gave me the most amazing support. Lil started sleeping better, not great but better. Even better was the rest that I caught up on, the support and the kindness I received. Those Tresillian nurses are angels.

Over the years and three kids later I have been back to Tresillian a few times, have called their hotline countless times and even tried out their online chat service. I can honestly say, I think that motherhood may have broken me if it wasn't for the support that Tresillian has given me over the years.

A few weeks ago, I was invited by Johnson's Baby to a talk by a leading sleep expert, Dr Alex Bartle, at a Tresillian centre.

As well as Dr Bartle, staff from Tresillian got up and spoke about their history and the services they offer. I burned bright red as little did they know they were preaching to their choir.

There was so much information at the event but the two big things I took away were:

• In a recent international study, Chinese mums were found to have the most amount of sleep issues with their babies. Dr Bartle said he believed this was because Chinese families lived in close quarters and were more disturbed by their babies murmerings than in places where families lived in big(ger) homes. I now call our house the China Syndrome, as I think this has a lot to do with our situation. Five of us in a small 2-bedroom home....
• While talking to one of the Tresillian staff, she said it's not just about helping babie but about supporting mums. Everyone needs a little mothering and a little taking care of,  even mums (ESPECIALLY mums), this is a big part of what Tresillian do. I certainly felt that when I've been at Tresillian. And by mothering I don't mean being told what to do, but being asked if you're ok and being encouraged to have a lie down or a cup of tea while they watch bub. Hell, I've even been literally tucked into bed by a Tresillian nurse.

Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a Tresillian centre, but the Tresillian Live Advice instant messaging service can be accessed on your smart phone or laptop around the world. So, you can have access to a registered Tresillian nurse even if you're pushing your child on a swing at the park. No more having to listen to the Greensleeves hold music. Johnson's Baby have sponsored the Tresillian Live Advice service 100%, which I think is amazing, kudos to them for doing that. [The rest of the Tresillian services are funded by the NSW state government as well as other sponsorship and donations]

If you're a mum who has sleep or feeding issues or any baby issues (and who doesn't?!) visit www.tresillian.net for information about how you can access the mobile Tresillian Live Advice service.

This post was not sponsored. I wrote it purely because I believe in the Tresillian services and wanted to give back after they have given so much to me.