We rarely left the girls for more than a couple of days when they were young but when we did I would type out long instructions to give to whoever was looking after them, whether it was my mum, relative or good friend. I just came across some of the notes the other day and they brought back so many memories of things I had forgotten. You think you will remember everything, but you don’t. Sometimes I look at photos and don’t even know how old the girls were at the time (sad isn’t it).

When I showed them to Ruby and Eloise they both laughed and said how they had forgotten all those things too. Without embarrassing my girls (actually I’m always embarrassing them – that’s part of being a mum), here are some things we had forgotten:

Eloise has two scoops of Toddler milk in her bottle , she will ask for about 20 bottles during the day. If she really whinges for a “milky in a bottle” I give in – makes life easier. (actually that’s the tamed down version). Geoff still sings “milky in a bottle” whenever he hears “message in a bottle” by Sting.

Paints – are in the laundry, paper in the far corner – good luck. This will keep them occupied for at least 3 minutes – only takes you about 10 minutes to set it up – is it worth it???

Then I proceeded to list out the food requirements. Oh my goodness what was I thinking:

Ruby’s lunch:

White bread (hy-fibre) sandwich, no butter, avocado, cut in half
Half an orange, cut into quarters, with white pit cut off and skin left on
Vita-wheat with butter and vegemite
Piece of capsicum cut into strips
Kraft cheese spread snack biscuits (not sure about those today)

I’ve stopped typing because the list goes on to further extremes.

Anyway the notes do bring back lots of memories, perhaps more for me than for the girls. But really at the end of the day it’s always been about me!!

So no matter what things you think you should throw out because you will remember these beautiful, hectic days…..don’t! My notes were actually so precise it revealed to me exactly what I was doing all those years ago.

And even if your kids are teenagers, please write down, type up, record all the little things you think you’ll remember.

Feel free to send me your thoughts. xx

Chris

More Posts