Mum-Rage

Wrath is the 5th sin in my ‘run-up-to-Hallowe’en’ Seven Deadly Sins of Parenting series, but ‘Wrath’ is a strange and somewhat old-fashioned word, so I’m updating this and calling it ‘Mum-Rage’.

I define ‘Mum-Rage’ as ‘an over-whelming desire to scream in the most hysterical manner imaginable whilst preferably throwing something, slamming something or swearing like a fish-wife’.

So, what exactly is it that makes my blood boil so?

1. Shoes.
Namely, a complete refusal to co-operate in putting them on. After calmly attempting, five times, to put them on backwards (as the child refuses to sit on his bottom), and starting from scratch when they are finally on, only to be dutifully removed by said child, mum-rage will hit when you finally manage to force the unwilling feet into the shoes again, only to realise that they are on the wrong feet.

2. Car seats.
It’s hard enough getting a sleeping or compliant child into a car seat, let alone a rigid, screaming, arm-flailing one. Mum-rage will occur at the precise point when you have the flailing child’s arms through the straps, but you cannot find the buckle piece as they are sat on it.

3. Food.
After tempting, coercing, playing, and using all manner of encouragement known to man, mum-rage will take it’s full effect when, half-an-hour after the dinner was put on the table, there has still been only one pea and half a carrot consumed. Bored beyond belief, the other child will have wandered off to wreak havoc in the downstairs loo and emerges like an Andrex Puppy with loo roll wound all around him. The uneaten dinner will then be thrown angrily into the sink, bin or occasionally onto the floor, accompanied by a dessert of expletives.

4. Bedtime.
After a long and utterly exhausting day, an arduous battle to brush toddler teeth, several repetitions of the four-year-old’s current favourite story, a chat about snakes, a chat about toes and three additional cups of water, mum-rage will commence when you are sitting down to attempt to eat your dinner for the fifth time, and you hear the dreaded ‘Muuuumeeeeeee’ from the top of the stairs.

OK, perhaps I have anger-management issues. I’m not called Hot Cross Mum for nothing you know.

Mum-Rage

‘Spook-Fest’ Hallowe’en Carnival

"I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too"

Hot Cross Mum is delighted to be hosting the next BMB Carnival on 27th October. In celebration of All Hallows Eve, this will be a Spook-Fest Hallowe’en Special.

Yes, my pretties, I am daring you to submit your most grisly and shocking tales of parenting. We’re talking devilish deeds by the toddler, terrifying moments of rebellion, frightful toilet incidents, tricks (or treats), gruesome tales of uneaten dinners, shocking amounts of sleep deprivation, haunting moments of embarrassment, horrid comments from the in-laws and tales of the most ghastly of goings on in general.

To jump aboard the ghost train, submit your entries – in blood - by Sunday 25th October, either by putting a (comment) hex on this post, or by cursing my email account hdgaynor (at) gmail (dot) com

See you there (unless I see you first). Mwah ha ha ha haaaaaaaaa!

In the meantime, make sure you visit the current Carnival which is being hosted over at Family Friendly Working

For more information on 'The Best of the British Mummy Bloggers Carnival', or to host one yourself, please click here.

‘Spook-Fest’ Hallowe’en Carnival

A Balloon To Remember

In an ideal world, this support service would not exist.
In an ideal world, children would outlive their parents.

Anam Cara is a national voluntary support group set up by parents who have themselves lost a child. Their aim is to provide support and understanding to families who have experienced the death of a son or daughter, regardless of their age or the circumstances of their death.

Last week, the organisation launched ‘A Balloon to Remember’ a campaign which aims to create awareness of the unique support that Anam Cara offers bereaved parents, and to raise funds to extend these services to as many bereaved families as possible nationwide.

The idea of ‘A Balloon to Remember’ is to remember the many children that have lost their lives throughout Ireland and to offer extended family, friends, colleagues and the wider community a chance to show, in their own private way, that they too remember and are thinking of the bereaved parents on the 2nd November.

Since its launch in 2008, over 600 parents have been connected to the Anam Cara service in many different ways including its website with message forum, parent-to-parent meetings, family events and professional talks all provided to bereaved parents and families free of charge.

If you have not experienced the death of a child, it can be hard to imagine the pain, loneliness and despair that comes with such a loss. By bringing together bereaved families to support and comfort each other, Anam Cara plays a valuable role in helping these families carry on after the death of their child, and in time, for the family to live life around the loss.

You can sponsor ‘A Balloon to Remember’ in Centra supermarkets, McCabes Pharmacies and Eddie Rockets Diners or online at

www.anamcara.ie

The campaign will run until 2nd November 2009, when Anam Cara will launch the balloons sponsored for a loved one at Lloyd Park in Tullamore, Co Offaly.

For more information visit www.anamcara.ie or email info@anamcara.ie

“To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die” Tomas Campbell

A Balloon To Remember