Well I made it through my first week of being the “perfect wife“, you know the one who cooks, cleans and looks fab, that was totally me!

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Well if I am honest . . . . at least I tried! I mean it is the thought that counts, and the effort put in, even if my meals weren’t exactly deserving of massive praise I can say that everyone was fed hearty, healthy meals made with love (a pinch of confusion, and a dash of frustration). 

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If you missed my post last week “Welcome Home Darling“, my hubby got a new job. He previously worked from our home office and now has to travel to the other side of the city each day for his new job. I actually did better than I thought I would, my meals were eatable, full of nutrients and even served at a decent hour. Yay me! I think I surprised the kids and myself, yes the kids actually ate my cooking without complaint (Ok a slight complaining about too many veggies, but still pretty good).

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The week wasn’t all smooth sailing though, Aspen was full of a cold, I had to bribe Adam with the promise of a gift if he cooperated in the mornings and Aspen had an emotional outburst saying she missed her dad. At least I didn’t have to threaten them like a 1950’s housewife!

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April was pretty relaxed all week and was up, dressed and had her bed made before I even woke up everyday. 

We all really did miss Steve this week though. We are so used to him being around the house, so to have him coming home just in time for the kids to get ready for bed was very different for us. As I said Aspen found it particularly hard. She had a few tears and told me how worried she is that she won’t see her daddy as much any more, (and being 12 she can be quite dramatic when she wants to be). Steve and I decided we have to make a conscious effort to really prioritise family time, but not just time spent in the same house, actual quality family interaction. 

I wrote a post a while ago about how to have a happier, healthier family and one of my key points in that piece was having family conversation, and getting back to the table for shared meals. I also offered some great conversation starters for parents to ask their kids. I  know it isn’t possible for all families to share meals every night, with work and extra circular activities life is busy! But spending time together is key to being happy and reducing stress. (Yes I know some people think time with kids is extra stressful, but it is so important to give them our focussed attention). We are now a family who can not eat together every night. A couple of nights this week the kids were fed and in PJ’s by the time Steve was home. But a couple of nights I gave the kids and early snack and then we all waited for Steve to come home so we could sit down as a family. It made bedtime only a little later, and it was worth it. The other nights I had them ready for bed and so when their daddy came home we played a couple of family board games, it was so much fun for all of us! 

We have also realised that we need to make a real effort on weekends to have “family time”. If the kids are not seeing their daddy much during the week, then we need to make sure they get time on the weekend. Life is busy and we can’t always spend all weekend toasting marshmallows together and singing songs, but some focussed one on one time can usually be squeezed in if we search for it. We had a busy weekend this weekend, but instead of me taking Adam to a party on Sunday, Steve took him, something he has never actually done. 

Being a parent day in, day out is exhausting, but it is also the biggest blessing, and it flies by, (even if some days drag on), so we need to make time to spend with our kids that doesn’t involve being distracted by the TV or our phones. We are experiencing a big change in our household, and it will take some adjusting for all of us, but that’s life, it changes, it takes us places we didn’t expect, and we will continue to muddle through and do the best we can, after all there is nothing more important than the people we love. 

Click to Tweet: You may not have time to toast marshmallows & sing songs, but find some time to at least chat with your kids & give them a hug!

Thanks for joining me, love Mac xx

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