Ninja Mum vs Spider

Feeling like a superhero after dealing with a spider situation. I had to be the brave one as me and the mini-mes don't do spiders.

Bed

"He'll be so tired once he starts school" they said.

Nearly 3 years later and we still have sleep issues.

At least he can read or draw in bed now, but some nights he's still up 2 hours later unable to go to sleep.

And then some nights he's up in the night and scared so I often just crawl into bed with him. Problem is, his bed is FULL. Not only am I sharing a bed with a wrigglesome child, there are reading books, an A4 sketchbook, sheets of paper and a clipboard, pencils and rubbers, torches, a lamp, a tissue box and a whole selection of cuddly toys - like some kind of nest.

Fortunately, I am too tired to care and sleep takes over, thankfully for him too.

(Similar sleep post here from over 4 years ago...)

Ninja mum in action

Mum Bag

I've seen all kinds of things being whipped out of a Mum Bag, to buy mum a bit of time so that she can have a conversation with a friend, sit through an assembly or sip that coffee in relative peace. Chances are slim but you gotta keep trying!

A Mum Bag is usually filled with:

- An array of snacks varying from good to bad, the bad snacks holding more bribery power. Don't show these too soon though, as you will end up with relentless pestering.
- A treasury of books.
- Enough stationery to hold a kids' crafty workshop.
- A “small” selection of their most essential and favourite toys.

When packing a bag, mum will try and prepare for every eventuality but sometimes even the enormous selection is simply not good enough for the little tyrant toddler. 

Awkward Questions in Public Places

In the small shower cubicle at the swimming pool with my 2 curious boys.

Ninja Mum revisited

I turned Ninja Mum into linocuts. I was too lazy to reverse the image so it's a mirror image to the original. but Ninja Mum is super stealthy whichever way she goes.

Look Mummy Look!

Our boys like to show me what they've drawn or made throughout the day, no matter what I may be doing at the time. 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you super mums!

The-Singular-Strong-Arm-Workout

With baby in one arm, engage in single pan cooking, shaking the pan vigorously to try and unstick burnt vegetables. 5 x 10 seconds of vigorous shaking, resulting in singular strong arm and delicious "caramelised" vegetables.

With baby in one arm, search for that elusive piece of lego in the big box. The more elusive the better - for your arm, but maybe not for the impatient lego enthusiast or the ears of a small baby.

With screaming wrigglesome baby in one arm, push buggy homeward for as long as you can bear the noise, discomfort or the looks, to achieve that singular strong arm look.

Special leaf

"Here you go mummy, I found a special leaf for you".

Funny how little people will notice straight away if you are sneakily trying to scoff a sweet treat or something but seem completely oblivious when you are heavily laden with bags stuffed full of shopping and big, heavy awkward things, each pocket and hand full of stuff.

Conversation

Tips for having a conversation with a toddler in tow:

1) Keep it brief

2) Wear stretchy clothes

3) Get used to unfinished conversations

Anything else?

Just a small selection of the things he has asked to be moved at bedtime. 

Have I ever mentioned that we have sleep issues in our house?

Bedhogger

I never know where or who I'm going to wake up with these days. Some nights I just end up getting into one of their beds, some mornings I wake to find one of them tucked up next to me. Most mornings I wake with no memory of what happened in the night. They like to keep us guessing, these boys of ours.

This is where I found myself yesterday morning - clinging on to the little boy who somehow managed to use his little body to push me all the way to the edge of the big bed. The little bed hogger.

You can find previous sleep episodes here and here

NINJA MUM

My alter ego.

I may be clumsy and clang about and bump into things during the day, but once we tuck the boys into bed for the night, I turn into "NINJA MUM".

NINJA MUM slowly and stealthily creeps out of the room, along the hallway and down the stairs, even if it takes all night. She knows exactly where all the creaky floorboards are and deftly steps over them. She has super sensitive hearing and will respond immediately to moans and groans with a quick shush.

She has been known to crawl out of the room backwards, never taking her eyes off the cot, convinced that if she turned her back on the baby it would break the spell of sleep.

Ridiculous innit.

Carwash

SLEEP seems to be a recurring theme when it comes to illustrating motherhood, especially when you have 2 terrible sleepers :'(

These days we often end up with both of them in our bed, rotating and wriggling non-stop (with Daddy getting booted out) and so I name this new position "The Carwash".

You can find previous sleep positions here and here.

I turn my back for 1 second...

...and find him drinking a puddle through a straw.

Child play in the time of Trump

Even playtime with the kids take on a political edge these days...

The Literal Kid

We get this quite a lot from our 5 year old, with a completely straight face.

Toddler demands

Every time our toddler and I step into the local supermarket, the relentless demands begin. He's fairly predictable but every once in a while he'll surprise me :D

Hoshi's words

I did so many of these for our older boy but sadly I've just not had the time to do very much for our younger one. I find the beginnings of language with a little one fascinating, and I love the little mispronunciations and interpretations. I scribble down new words and phrases they come up with - that's about all I can manage these days so I'm really pleased I actually managed to turn these into illustrations, yay!

Can you guess what they are?

Sitting Elephant, Dangling Monkey

Here's a typical scene when I am out and about with the buggy :D 

In addition to the sitting elephant and the dangling fidgety monkey, the buggy is usually weighed down by the heaviest fruit and veg I can find at the market, e.g. half a watermelon, 10 oranges, 10 apples, a cabbage, etc. 

To enhance the whole pleasurable experience, the elephant and monkey take it in turns to make sure I am never bored or idle by constantly letting me know how they are doing.