Surviving the witching hour
Parenting is tough! There's no manual and no off switch. I had no idea what I was in for and no one can warn you enough. Don't get me wrong I love my children but it is hard work and unpredictable at the most planned times.
I am a mum to 9 year old, girl /boy twins. I have sat and though many times when I am out of puff just sitting, trying to regain the mental energy to deal with the wrong coloured bowl or the shoes that have been put aside as they are too small but insisting on wearing them anyway....just sat and thought wow I have so much I just want to say and warn these parents to be that its a jungle with children, yes a jungle. Well in my house that's what it feels like sometimes. It would be fun to write a blog so here's my story so far.
I survived newborn stage with twins, well it flew, what a blur. Feeding, sleeping, pooping, peeing, changing nappies, pooping some more, vomits here and there: and then try to fit some sleep in there somewhere for my husband and myself. Wow the first night I got 5 hours sleep straight, I thought I could conquer the world!! It didn't happen very often. I always waited for the night that my two would sleep through. They still don't. They are up calling out to me for something, water, pull the covers up or it's a bad dream.or they just want to be cuddled.
You just do what you have to. People would say, how do you cope, sometimes I would be so tired I would say, I only look after one baby on each day, today it is her turn lol. Yeah people didn't get the deliriously tired non humor I was aiming at. But seriously, you just did what you had to do. We all do as parents. We make sacrifices, some we don't realise we need to make until we are making them.
I have gotten through terrible 2's, theatrical 3's, fabulous 4's, and then you stop calling it anything other than parenthood to the kids... they start really having their own ideas about what life is about and what they think their boundaries should be.
One thing though that I think has not changed is the Witching hour. Yep it's that time of day that no matter what you think you have the day organised and things are on track, there is always something that happens to let you know that you don't mess with the witching hour. You need to almost have this free time available to be able to conquer everything that is hurled at you at this time.
So the Witching hour to me is when the afternoon is getting ready to become the evening. It really is more than an hour though. That time when dinner has to be made, and baths need to be had. Sounds pretty simple doesn't it? Yes well for me, it has always been the time when I could snap like a rubber band, being pulled in many directions!
I have had some times where I have sat and cried and cried thinking how do I get through this.
Even now, at 9 years of age, it is still so hard to have a smooth afternoon. The Witching hour comes a calling.
I will organise the bath and get it running. So there would be the fight of whose turn it is to have first bath! I have had to have a roster on the wall where it is now written on there who is having the bath first. We do it weekly so it is meant to be fair and then I don't need to change the name daily. We had to do this as I honestly couldn't remember who was in the bath first and according to dd9 and ds9, both of them would always be first the night before. So that is one dilemma out of the way, then there is the fight to get out of the bath, yep the struggle is real. Then while the said children are in the bath, I will get called about 20 times for any reason to just be there to chat to so they aren't bored or alone.
Meanwhile dinner is not being made, and time is not on my side and of course I get the "I'm hungry" "What's for dinner" "Oh not that" "Oh yuck" "wheres my undies" "mum can you get my towel" all thrown at me whilst I have been running between kitchen and bathroom. It's hard to cook a good meal when you have to turn of the heat and run off then back again and off again. I do try to make meals that I can put in a slow cooker or just be basic that doesn't require constant attention. I take my hat off to all the parents out there who get through the Witching hour without a beer or glass of wine. This helps me to relax and let things slide. It seems also that in this time all the frustration and moodiness that my children has experienced through the day gets unleashed at each other and its war, slamming doors, "I hate having a brother"," I want a brother." "My sister is mean" and she defends her reasons for being mean. Gosh the role we have as parents is many in one. I hope to share many stories along the way of this journey of parenting my Gemini twins, 4 personalities to wrangle with. Right now I need to have sleep to recharge, another day of work and last day of school for mid year holidays.
I hope tomorrow is kind to us all and the tantrums and bickering are minimal... Full moon tonight so fingers crossed the children aren't affected too much. Night xo
I am a mum to 9 year old, girl /boy twins. I have sat and though many times when I am out of puff just sitting, trying to regain the mental energy to deal with the wrong coloured bowl or the shoes that have been put aside as they are too small but insisting on wearing them anyway....just sat and thought wow I have so much I just want to say and warn these parents to be that its a jungle with children, yes a jungle. Well in my house that's what it feels like sometimes. It would be fun to write a blog so here's my story so far.
I survived newborn stage with twins, well it flew, what a blur. Feeding, sleeping, pooping, peeing, changing nappies, pooping some more, vomits here and there: and then try to fit some sleep in there somewhere for my husband and myself. Wow the first night I got 5 hours sleep straight, I thought I could conquer the world!! It didn't happen very often. I always waited for the night that my two would sleep through. They still don't. They are up calling out to me for something, water, pull the covers up or it's a bad dream.or they just want to be cuddled.
You just do what you have to. People would say, how do you cope, sometimes I would be so tired I would say, I only look after one baby on each day, today it is her turn lol. Yeah people didn't get the deliriously tired non humor I was aiming at. But seriously, you just did what you had to do. We all do as parents. We make sacrifices, some we don't realise we need to make until we are making them.
I have gotten through terrible 2's, theatrical 3's, fabulous 4's, and then you stop calling it anything other than parenthood to the kids... they start really having their own ideas about what life is about and what they think their boundaries should be.
One thing though that I think has not changed is the Witching hour. Yep it's that time of day that no matter what you think you have the day organised and things are on track, there is always something that happens to let you know that you don't mess with the witching hour. You need to almost have this free time available to be able to conquer everything that is hurled at you at this time.
So the Witching hour to me is when the afternoon is getting ready to become the evening. It really is more than an hour though. That time when dinner has to be made, and baths need to be had. Sounds pretty simple doesn't it? Yes well for me, it has always been the time when I could snap like a rubber band, being pulled in many directions!
I have had some times where I have sat and cried and cried thinking how do I get through this.
Even now, at 9 years of age, it is still so hard to have a smooth afternoon. The Witching hour comes a calling.
I will organise the bath and get it running. So there would be the fight of whose turn it is to have first bath! I have had to have a roster on the wall where it is now written on there who is having the bath first. We do it weekly so it is meant to be fair and then I don't need to change the name daily. We had to do this as I honestly couldn't remember who was in the bath first and according to dd9 and ds9, both of them would always be first the night before. So that is one dilemma out of the way, then there is the fight to get out of the bath, yep the struggle is real. Then while the said children are in the bath, I will get called about 20 times for any reason to just be there to chat to so they aren't bored or alone.
Meanwhile dinner is not being made, and time is not on my side and of course I get the "I'm hungry" "What's for dinner" "Oh not that" "Oh yuck" "wheres my undies" "mum can you get my towel" all thrown at me whilst I have been running between kitchen and bathroom. It's hard to cook a good meal when you have to turn of the heat and run off then back again and off again. I do try to make meals that I can put in a slow cooker or just be basic that doesn't require constant attention. I take my hat off to all the parents out there who get through the Witching hour without a beer or glass of wine. This helps me to relax and let things slide. It seems also that in this time all the frustration and moodiness that my children has experienced through the day gets unleashed at each other and its war, slamming doors, "I hate having a brother"," I want a brother." "My sister is mean" and she defends her reasons for being mean. Gosh the role we have as parents is many in one. I hope to share many stories along the way of this journey of parenting my Gemini twins, 4 personalities to wrangle with. Right now I need to have sleep to recharge, another day of work and last day of school for mid year holidays.
I hope tomorrow is kind to us all and the tantrums and bickering are minimal... Full moon tonight so fingers crossed the children aren't affected too much. Night xo
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