New Home, New Lease... Of Life?

At last I have made it back to the land of blog-dom, and how I have missed thee!  But I am most pleased to say that I am sitting writing my blog post in the warmth of our new family home, at our much longed for dining table, in front of our very beautiful Christmas Tree. 


So life is good, the move is complete (and went pretty smoothly), the unpacking is taking place slowly but surely (with J2 round my ankles I have been realistic and rather than expecting to be unpacked in two days have set myself a target of unpacking two boxes a day, so far so good).  The kitchen is functioning, the living room a Christmas haven and two bedrooms are, very nearly, box free.  Santa's elves worked hard this week to wrap all Christmas presents which just leaves one Christmas food shop to negotiate.  A packed out month but wow, it has certainly ensured that Christmas has come around quick.


I realised this morning however, whilst chatting with a friend of mine that since moving into the new house last weekend, the new house has given me a new kind of attitude towards things.  Certain things that I lacked enthusiasm to do have started to return, like cooking proper dinners and ensuring that we are all eating much more healthily, making sure I stay up to chat to Hubby about his day when he gets in from work (albeit a reasonable time of course, it's not always possible when J2 doesn't sleep through the night ... ever... if that had changed would have been great but alas...)  even that I make the effort to filter my nice coffee in the morning rather than making instant. 


All these things had started to fall by the wayside, and I know I have a lot on my plate of important things to do in general with J1 and J2, and some of the afore mentioned things are not over important to most people, but they were things that were important to me.  I have been able to realise now that I was getting so stressed out with the lack of living space at the old house and having everything bursting at the seams so that there was not one single uncluttered surface that it was closing in on me and having an adverse affect.


However, new home, new attitude, I feel less stressed, thus I want to start making an effort with my appearance again, and have proved in the last couple of days that I can do it, and with J2 snapping at my heels.  I located clothes that had been holed up in boxes because we had no space to have them out that I forgot I had, to be honest I forgot I had anything other to wear than jeans!  It's funny, because of feeling more 'glam' (even found my heels) I have felt more like 'me' and more empowered and in control which in turn has made me more determined to get things in order without being dictated to by a 21 month old all day. 


I have been positive on being able to unpack without someone looking after the boys, yes with some whining in ears, but I have in general been able to do it so maybe I was always underestimating what I could get done or maybe the new house has had a positive impact on J2 too.  He certainly has more areas to investigate and keep him occupied, albeit more call for me to have eyes in the back of my head.  But am I...dare I say it... seeing more light at the end of the tunnel on the trauma of toddler hood?  Will I...dare I think it... survive?


Our house move has co-incided with a friends recent predicament that I have been discussing with her at length, should she take voluntary redundancy from her full time job because it was having a negative effect on her home life.  This lead to numerous discussions about the pro's and con's of being a SAHM and we came to the same conclusion, until we sacrificed it we didn't, or perhaps couldn't, appreciate it.  But without sacrificing it we wouldn't know that when we have it we should make the most of it. 


What we also established was that being a SAHM didn't mean we had to lose ourselves and all of our own identity as is easy to do when you are lucky enough to be in a position to be a SAHM and your job is 100% home and children.  It is o.k to think about giving yourself 20 minutes to get dressed and make yourself presentable, especially if that makes you feel good and has a positive impact on your day, if encourages you to think 'Yes I will make plans to do x y z' or just puts you in a better mood to think 'I'll plan a good day'.


My friends situation made me look at my own and re-evaluate.  My days were becoming more 'slummy-mummy' than 'yummy-mummy', my scheduled style was being lost and as a resulted I was becoming tetchy, stressed, frustrated and in turn hard to live with and not much fun for the kids.  So I am using this new home, as a new start and at a fabulous time to start being more 'mummy social', no better a social time than Christmas.  Take today for instance, we have had a fantastic day catching up with a friend and her adorable little girl that I haven't seen since the Wedding in March.


So today was a good start to 'yummy - mummy' days.