On Motherhood. Monkey Magic.

And wasn’t it just one of those spectacular summer weekends we all love Sydney for?

The kind where you don’t even mind that you had to have a pool outage for 15 minutes halfway through your laps so that the staff could move the boom gate in the pool because you could then sit pool side with the sun streaming through the window and have a chat to your mum on the phone.

The kind of summer weekend where even battling the crowd at the supermarket on Sunday wasn’t an ordeal. There was a bit of a picnic vibe going on at my local Coles. A bread company was promoting their wholegrain breads and shouted all of us various salad based sandwiches to munch on as we roamed the aisles.

Toddler SSG sends you this photo of his first craft project. I think he’s inherited my aversion to colouring in and taken it one step further by introducing texture to his year of the horse lantern. That hand crumpling and slightly damp edge definitely gives the horse character. I’m starting to understand that time honoured ritual of parents proudly displaying art projects on the fridge and the walls. Things that don’t look like much to anyone else but to the parent who runs their fingers over the creases each morning before they get the milk out, they are truly pictures that paint a thousand words and emotions.

The weekend was also blessed with unexpected moments of solitude. It’s been a week where I’ve been given an abundance of insightful food for thought for this crazy motherhood gig thanks to some inspiring mothers I know through their blogs. Their words went through my mind as I sat with my coffee, smiling to myself at the parts of their posts where I saw myself through their words.

Blithely Unaware wrote this beautiful post about life as a mum to a gorgeous, boisterous toddler. She writes of the virtue of silence and the healing powers of staring up at the ceiling for 15 minutes. Never were truer words spoken. She Wore It Well writes of the work and motherhood ‘balance’ and how it means something different for each of us.

And then Domestic Divinity managed to make me laugh out loud about a subject that is often always pussy footed around amongst new mothers – body image, weight gain and the hard road back to ‘the old you’. Her post was so brave, warm, honest, funny and reassuring it felt like a virtual bear hug.

In more feel good news, guess which make up brand I found at Target? NYX!!! It’s a range with many an item that gives MAC a run for its money, at around half the price. In the spirit of good investigative journalism, I’m going to be investigating the pencil eye liners in the next few weeks and will report back when I do.

Giggle and Hoot boys PJs – $20 /set at Target.

Flannel pyjama season isn’t too far away. I’ve yet to find my old favourites at Sussan but Toddler SSG has his flannel needs for the coming winter sorted.

Monkey harness set – $35 from Target.

Toddler SSG now also has the dubious honour of being a boy who literally does have a monkey on his back. He’s at that age where the two things he hates most about going out are the word ‘no’ and holding my hand when he walks. Followed closely by being strapped to a pram or trolley for longer than half an hour. Hence the safety harness – freedom for him and some piece of mind for me.

I took both monkeys for a test trip to the supermarket at the weekend and it was a great success. Harness Monkey and Toddler SSG trotted around the shopping centre like a pair of intrepid explorers.

While back in the car, Mirror Monkey kept Toddler SSG company as he napped on the drive home.

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