"No, Mummy do it"

I jumped when I first heard this phrase come from Monkey a couple of months ago. With a sly grin I felt ridiculously happy that I was being specifically requested over Daddy to complete such tasks as changing his nappy and putting him to bed. I’m a good Mummy after all! 

Now, it’s not so fun for me or, more specifically, for my husband. For me - I never get a break. I can’t just sit because Mummy has to be the one to play, to read, to snuggle. With working all week I always try to appreciate every single moment I have with Monkey but in a day which can go from 5.30am – 8pm even a Saint would need a break at times – and I’m no Saint! 

For my husband he is constantly being side-lined and I’ve found myself trying to get Monkey to apologise to his Daddy for always pushing him away. It can start first thing in the morning when my husband goes into Monkey’s room only to be greeted by ‘No Daddy, I want Mummy.’ 

At bedtime we have started to force the issue – in our house whoever doesn’t do bedtime has to make dinner so it’s not really fair if I’m always upstairs for cuddles and stories while hubby puts dinner together.  

Luckily things don’t seem to be so bad when I’m out of the house. Hubby has Wednesdays off work and they have a great day together with very little mention of Mummy. While this is great to hear it does make me feel guilty – if I wasn’t home then we wouldn’t all be having these problems.  

I’m not really sure how to fix this one – I try to make sure that even if Monkey has demanded I’m the one to play with him that his Daddy joins in and then I slip away when I can. Hopefully in time the phrase will be non-existent.  

But I’d be lying if I didn’t confess that I love being his favourite.

Now and Then

 

It’s 5 years ago today since the hubby and I got hitched. (That's our wedding cake in the picture.) We married young, aged just 23, and it was a wonderful day. Budget meant that we went for a small wedding but not being natural extroverts this suited us both well.

 

We only had about 20 people for the ceremony and wedding breakfast and then another 30 or so for the disco in the evening.

 

It had its intimate moments and its raucous moments just as a wedding should. It was also a pretty booze-fuelled affair with a very quiet breakfast with all our guests the next day.

 

Now, 5 years have passed and so much has changed. Back then our life consisted of working - both as journalists, evenings in the pub and fabulous holidays to Mexico, Paris and road-tripping around California. Now life consists of working - one journalist and one in PR, necking a bottle of wine while watching TV and dreaming of one day going on holiday.

 

Of course, I have spent today thinking about the last 5 years and although it might sound cheesy I do think it is Monkey who symbolises all that has happened in the past 5 years. He wasn’t there at the wedding and we certainly weren’t planning on him being there anytime soon. But then I was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries and told that I might want to think about having children in case the condition got worse and prevented me from doing so. We held off for a while and then had to spend over a year trying to get him here. I was pregnant for 9 months and 3 days (a long 3 days) and now he is 2 years old. Every step of our relationship with him from when he didn’t even exist is a step that we have taken in our marriage.

 

He’s tested our marriage – I don’t understand how children can’t do that. Babies shift your life so completely. But I also think in time we will come to realise that he has made our marriage. He has given us both roles, aside from husband and wife, which now bind us for life.