Cook, Clean, Craft with Narelle!

Hey there, it's Narelle from Cook Clean Craft. I'm a lazy Mum from Brisbane, Australia. It was quite a shock for me to realise this when I first stumbled on this blog. I used to be such a perfectionist! Go with the flow - that's the best way with parenting...

If you're looking for Stacey, you'll have to stop by my blog today - we're blog-swapping!

I have a 17 month old son, and have number 2 scheduled to arrive in October. Two kids under two - what was I thinking? A lazy Mum wouldn't put herself through this, would she? Especially one with no family living in the same state (2.5 hours on a plane for the closest grandparent, 5 hours to the furthest, and yes, they all live in Australia!). I've heard the reasoning: similar age = similar stage of development = similar games/activities/abilities for both of them = great friends (hmmm, we'll see about that...).

I need a lazy Mum strategy to get through those first crazy weeks/months/years... So what is the plan? Here's my 5 step strategy:

1.  My son expects a certain level of lazy Mum-ness from me, but I'm upping the ante here. Time for my baby to stand on his own two feet - that's right, I'm minimising the time I spend carrying him around, and he can walk/crawl up and down the stairs by himself now (ok, with a bit of help from Mum). If he has a tantrum and won't go up the stairs, I sit on the stairs and wait...

2.  Along similar lines, I'm also trying to encourage playing by himself more often, with special times of full Mummy interaction. It doesn't always work, but he is building up his independent play skills (so I'm obviously doing this for his benefit, rather than my own).

3.  The thing that drives me the most nuts about my son is the toys everywhere (and by toys, I mean anything from any cupboard and drawer that he can access...). So what is the lazy Mum approach - limit what he can access. We have a gated playroom, so most of the toys are contained there. He knows what kitchen drawers and cupboards he's allowed to play in, but let's just say the number of things in those drawers is about to reduce significantly. As are the number of toys in the toybox in the main living area (with a rotation scheme to be implemented!). I'm also contemplating making access more difficult to our entertainment unit cabinets and/or using tightly sealed boxes to store the stuff in there, so it's harder for him to pull stuff out.

4. I'm also going to prepare a quiet time activity bag - it's going to be a bit of work now, but hopefully will allow some laziness (ok, peace and quiet while I feed the bub). I'm going to set aside a few new books, maybe make a felt activity book, some sorting type games etc.

5.  Lastly, I know there will be some out there who won't approve, but I'm going to fill the PVR with high quality kids TV shows. I'm not going to turn the TV on and let him watch any old rubbish when I want some peace. I'm going to have a stockpile of suitable shows, recorded on the PVR so I won't even have to get off the couch to put them on (assuming the remote is nearby).

Anyone else been through this and have any tips for me? I'd love to hear them in the comments. I hope you pop by Cook Clean Craft sometime, for family recipes, cleaning tips and crafty ideas (and say hi to Stacey today!).

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