Whinge not, moan not

I bought the Princess the cutest Monsoon summer dress today from Oxfam in Henley. A bargain at £1.99! OK, it has a missing button on the back but apart from that, it is in perfect condition and I love it probably even more than she does.

It's "sugar almond" pastel pink and long

Loving the embroidered fairy

Such attention to detail, utterly gorgeous!

Talking of gorgeous, I love these flowers from a friend

Messy play with the Prince was fun this morning. When I say messy, I mean it's REALLY messy. The sort of mess which could cause heart failure in my own home. There are bowls of lentils, flour, dried pasta, a table spread liberally with shaving foam to run little chubby hands through. We had a great time.

But it suddenly occured to me when we left, that I hadn't spoken to another soul the whole time I was there. There were loads of mums there and it was a bit cliquey, but the Prince and I were so busy in our own little Playdoh world, that it didn't dawn on me at the time that not one of them was very welcoming to a newcomer.

I was busy listening to the conversations though and realised most women were whingeing about something trivial. I mean, there they were, in a gorgeous part of the world with adorable toddlers and babies. The majority of them were beautifully dressed, their make-up perfectly applied with a skilled hand, donning impeccable mani and pedicures - couldn't tell you the last time I had the latter...actually I can, it was the week before I gave birth to the Prince, so nearly two years ago!

Yet one was whingeing about how she didn't have a life anymore since having her kids. Yet it seemed to me she had an expensive hair cut with a fabulous colour which only an expert could have put on, the perfect nails that screamed "beauty salon" rather than something she'd shoved on at home, two gorgeous children - one of each - and was  planning to off for lunch afterwards with several friends.

Not one of the mums seemed grateful for their lot. They didn't sound like they had to go out to work and miss out on a proportion of their children's days and achievements and experience the feeling of guilt and exhaustion that many working mums have. I count my blessings often for being a stay-at-home mum (apart from the day I work in a dental surgery just to give myself a bit of pocket money and am a freelance writer, burning the midnight oil more often than not). Being at home with children is still very hard work BUT in a different way to working under a boss. Some of the mums were mentioning their nanny/babysitter at some point so it seemed to me that they actually had a pretty marvellous lifestyle

I came away feeling that yes life IS different once you have children, but it's certainly not over. I very rarely get time without my children and yes it IS hard and utterly overwhelming at times. And I do have a whinge about the fact my husband works nearly every afternoon/evening and every other weekend (Fri, Sat and Sun) and that I am not near my beloved parents, BUT life is not over! Before I know it, the children will have flown the nest and the husband and I will have all the time in the world together, yet will miss these times.

These should be halcyon days and hearing the chats this morning made me feel like I was better off spending the time with my son than joining in with them and their moaning. I would much rather be enjoying his pure joy at experiencing new sensations, than believe my life is over because I can't go out several nights of the week and have every beauty treatment under the sun.

Us mums should remember how lucky we are. There are many women out there who are desperate for children. Material possessions and socialising is all very nice but it isn't what is important.

I just felt they needed a bit of a reality check, that's all. Will get off me soap box...

And go and have yet another cup of tea!

I have had these tins for ten years now! Bit of sauce.

Which inevitably leads to some of this! Gulp!

My big fat Greek dessert (and a teething son)

Being ill sucks. I am still very tired now but back with far more energy than I had three days ago.

I do, however, have a little boy by my side at this very moment saying over and over again "Booby, booby, booby". And he is two next month. Do not ask. It's becoming like the "Bitty" scene in Little Britain and is crazy.

Wish I knew how to stop his obsession with me and boobies. I've never had any one so obsessed and it's sweet one minute and a little peculiar the next. My brother calls him Oedipus...

He is teething (my son, not my brother!) and is troublesome at the moment. Nights are bad, I am sleep deprived, he is crying far more than I would like in the evenings. It ain't all a walk in the park.

And here he is at bath time tonight which was very stressful. See the new teeth coming through?

It is always made worse when his big sister laughs at it all

But they do love each other really

The Princess went to her school disco on Friday. I was so proud of her. She looked utterly beautiful and is turning into a very gorgeous little girl. She danced non stop and came home on a high, bless her!

I puffed up with pride as I took this photo

In her lovely new skirt from my dear friend Kerry

Kerry also sent her this Boden t-shirt which she found in a charity shop. Love it!

Talking of charity shops, I have bought the Princess the below Uttam t-shirt which was £1.50 from Helen & Douglas House Hospice in Henley-on-Thames. I love Uttam clothes, I am always drawn to the stunning colours and patterns.

Perfect for an Indian summer perhaps.

And I was delighted to find myself the below skirt from Dorothy House for £6.99. It's also a Uttam design and I am thrilled with it.

You'd never lose anyone in a crowd if they are wearing Uttam!

And tomorrow I am walking the children to school (a mile) to get the exercise, dropping off the Princess, then rushing to catch the train to Henley-on-Thames so the Prince and I can enjoy some messy play outside of the home (phew! No clearing up necessary) and I can use the opportunity to quickly browse the cherry tree shops while I am there.

I don't like to do it for long if I have the children with me (which is constantly!) so I limit myself to 20 mins in total for all the shops. It's not fair on them and it's boring. My obsession with charity shops is my enjoyment, not theirs.

Just about to settle down for the evening now with the husband after a busy but wonderful weekend. My lovely friend came to stay for two nights and we went out to a Greek restaurant last night while the husband stayed at home. We had a lovely time and scoffed our own weight in food. We drank gin and tonics in a pub which was full of people in fancy dress which was a little odd. Then we went to the restaurant and ate a selection of Meze, then over-ordered on the desserts and practically rolled home.

She is the easiest guest ever and always a delight to have over. She lives by the sea in Whitstable and we go to visit her next month and can't wait. It's FULL of charity shops, cup cake shops, tea rooms and vintage stalls and my idea of heaven. We eat crab sticks and ice creams the whole time and she had a non-stop supply of chocolate at the house (which is right on the sea front so we always sleep well). I cannot count down the days fast enough. The children look it there and although my friend doesn't want children of her own, she mucks in so much with mine so it is like a little holiday.

I shall be a whale this summer as can't stop eating, but in a way, this is why I am still fairly happy to breast feed. I eat Gu desserts, knowing my son will drain me of the calories.

Hee Hee!