Maternal Instinct

She may be only twenty months old but the maternal instinct has already kicked in. Enough said :)

 

Mother's Day (UK)

When your mother, whom you have as your personal parenting model, texts you on Mother's Day to wish you a good day and tell you that you are an excellent mother, it means that after all, you are doing something right! Thanks mum, I needed that! Becoming and being a mother is probably the most challenging thing I have ever had to do in my life. Forget climbing the Etna volcano in crutches, learning ancient and modern languages, moving to a foreign Country alone, taking a PhD...all these things had their difficult moments but they are nothing compared to the array of challenges brought by motherhood, probably the most natural process in the world and yet one of the most complicated subjects to master. 

It's Mother's Day in the UK today and, of course, we celebrated it. I am the mother of a little Brit, in the end! I got my first gift a couple of days ago when Emilia and Rob got back home after their evening stroll with a lovely pot of mini gerberas. They knocked on the door and when I opened Emilia was there handing the vase to me. She had such a cute smile on her face. 

The best gift of all, however, came from Rob when he offered to do morning duty for me so that I could sleep in on my special day. How thoughtful! Emilia is waking up quite early these days, usually around 6.00am, so this gift was particularly appreciated. She used to wake up around 7.30 and sometimes even 8.00 o'clock but recently things have changed. We think it might be because of a new wave of teeth cutting through and hope that it is just a phase! So, I did sleep in and it was wonderful. Then, the day started with a yummy breakfast prepared by Rob, pancakes and cappuccino, and some cuddles in bed with Emilia who handed to me a cute pink envelope with a lovely note inside. Great way to begin the day. 

 

A little while I go I read on a magazine that the Museum of Childhood had organised something for Mother's Day so we quickly got ready and left. The Museum of Childhood is in Bethnal Green, an area in the East of London, not too close but not too far either from us. Since the weather was quite nice today, we ended up walking all the way there. It took us about an hour but it was worth it, and good exercise! The activity for Mother's Day consisted of making and decorating crowns, however, we didn't attend the class as it was running from 2.00 to 4.00pm, the time when Emilia usually naps. Nevertheless we had a great time wandering around the museum. We got there around 12.30pm, had a look around, played a bit and then enjoyed a quick lunch at the museum's cafe'. The museum was full of kids of all ages and Emilia loved looking around and interacting with her little friends. We left around 2.00pm to allow Emilia to rest and walked again all the way back home while Emilia was peacefully napping in her stroller. We had such a nice and relaxing day and can't wait to go back for the Easter egg-tivities! 

Happy Mother's Day to all of you, wonderful mothers out there! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers who follow my blog. First of all, I wish a very happy day to my own mother, without a doubt, the best mum I could have ever wished for. I hope to be at least half as good as my mother, and that would already be an amazing achievement. Mum, you are my real model, thank you for all your love and everything you have taught me; my life wouldn't be the same without you. I value the new role I am in and love being a mummy to sweet baby Emilia. And then, of course, happy Mother's Day to all my beautiful girlfriends who make the role of being a mother easy, cool and refreshing every day. You are just the best. And special wishes to all the mothers to be, you are in for a great ride; yes, it's hard at times, but there is nothing better in the whole world! 

My day started with Emilia waking me up with a sweet card in her hands; she was holding that card with such a cheeky smile on her face, it really seemed that she knew what she was doing. In the card Emilia listed all the reasons why she is thankful to have me as a mum. Every day I tell her that now I look after her but one day she will have to take care of me, perhaps even change my diaper (I hope not, but you never know what comes with seniority!) and then I will be grateful to have her with me. It's the circle of life. I also got beautiful flowers, Peppa Pig cookies and four of my favourite magazines to read on this relaxing Sunday. What a lovely day I had. I can't wait to celebrate more Mother's days and I'll work hard to be the best mum Emilia could wish for! Being a mother is the most challenging, yet most rewarding job in the world and I am in for the challenge and the joy.

Grand and Great

So this morning my mum and grandmum left. Thankfully their flight was very early in the morning and when their taxi came to pick them up at 5.50am we were still pretty sleepy to have the time and energy to cry. However, we were all quite sad. Ten days with them were simply amazing for all of us: Emilia received all the love and attention she needs and Rob and I tasted a bit of life pre-parenthood, which was very nice. Once they left, I went back to bed and tried to sleep some more. Then Emilia woke me up at 8.45 for her feed. The day started well: I fed and changed Emilia and then I put her in her bouncer while I enjoyed a nice cup of tea and a good slice of homemade vanilla and walnut cake. We then played for a good half hour on the couch and when she got tired I put her in the pram for her morning nap as my mum used to do. However, after 20 minutes things changed. Emilia started crying (=screaming!) and stayed upset for three hours. What a change! I was so frustrated I didn't know what else to do. I wish I could have just called mum for help one more time. Thankfully, the afternoon was a bit better and she did have her afternoon nap. Not for two good hours but she was down and peaceful for an hour and a half. Rob came back from NYC early today and I was hoping to have a nice evening with him, however we didn't manage to put Emilia down to bed until 10.00pm, so a bit later than what my mum used to do, which means we had to take turns to eat dinner. Hopefully, though, she will sleep for a while now. Time will tell. 

Today, I don't mind saying it, I was so down and lost that I started questioning what I do wrong. According to Rob, Emilia was simply missing her grandmum and great-grandmum. I am not sure it is possible at this stage, she is too little, I think, but perhaps she could sense all the love that she received in the last few days and something was missing in her daily activities today. She had gotten into a very nice routine with my mum and hardly cried for a week straight. I am sure there will be good days and bad days and today was just a bad one but I need some reassurance that I am a good mum and am doing things right. Mum, grandmum, I miss you so much! 

Here is a picture of grandmum strolling with Emilia. I hope I will be as energic as her when I'll be 83 years old.

Mum is the Word

 

I am excited to tell you that valeasc products will be displayed and on sale at The Create Mother's Day pop-up shop this weekend. Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th make sure you head to Bethnal Green for some mother's day shopping. Your mum deserves the best!  See you there!