Week 23/52 of maternity leave

Making my millions (or not) and getting into the Spring cleaning spirit

We had another pretty low-key week with energy levels still feeling depleted - but we’re hanging in there until brighter days of Spring come along.

90’s nostalgia

A dinner at my parent’s house turned into an excavation of their absolutely rammed loft (my Dad is a die-hard collector of basically anything; both priceless items and cack - often hard to tell the difference) to hunt for my old TY Beanie Babies and my brother’s Pokemon cards. I’d convinced myself I’ll make my millions selling off these 90s gems, but a quick eBay search suggests otherwise. Cack indeed. But at least I can gift a couple to Winnie and pop the rest online and shove whatever I make into her savings.

Striving for minimalism

Without being cliche, I’ve got a hankering for decluttering as the weather is slowly (and stop start-ingly) hinting towards Spring. What I’m finding frustrating is that it’s not easy getting to it with Winnie around so I’m trying to accept my approach needs to be slow and that’s OK - it doesn’t need to deter me from doing it completely. I managed to go through my clothes and fill two bags for charity, and organise Winnie’s 0-3 month bits for the loft. I’ve always struggled with having too much stuff, but having a baby has certainly left me with no choice but to cut down on belongings that I have no use for anymore so that we can function more easily in our two-bed.

Winnie meets more family

My other half has a large family so we’re still getting through a number of cousins, aunties and uncles that haven’t met Winnie yet. There were lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ and compliments on how lovely and inquisitive she is which is always nice to hear, but I found it hard to be fully present at our 13-people-strong meal out at the pub on Saturday. Joining in on conversation while watching out for Winnie’s cues, and whilst hearing “oh she looks tired” or “she must be teething” was a challenge and I was definitely left feeling overwhelmed and anxious by the end of it sadly.

Now watching: The Letdown & Adolescence

I’d read that The Letdown on Netflix was better than Motherland and I would say it’s unfair to compare as they are about different chapters of motherhood - but it is brilliant and it’s such a shame it only ran for 2 series. It’s an Aussie comedy about early parenthood, juggling work with childcare and the impact on romantic relationships. I found it so refreshing to watch something so relatable and authentic.

We got through Adolescence in one sitting and it was a harrowing but absolutely SUPERB watch. Stephen Graham can do no wrong in my eyes and he had some fantastic actors accompanying him on this show. On the surface this is a crime drama but this really is a masterpiece zooming closely into incel culture’s impact on the younger generation and parental grief over not understanding it; nor the role they must play in protecting their children from this dangerous corner of social media that is seeping into the mainstream.

Each episode was filmed in one take and contained fantastic snippets of mundane day-to-day moments and interactions that were still gripping but allow you to take a beat in-between heart-wrenching scenes.

Swimming class #6

Our usual instructor was unwell and a young lad stepped in who openly admitted that he didn’t know the opening nursery rhyme, nor had he ever taught a baby class before. To start with, I thought, “no probs, kid. I don’t know this one about flying saucers either”. But when he couldn’t remember Incy Wincy Spider I did start to question whether he was cut out for teaching the class.

Then, he asks us to have the babies (some as young as 12 weeks and still mostly potato-like) shuffle along the side of the pool with their hands on the edge… all the way to the deep end. I was less than confident with this given that Winnie is a slippery little seal and I didn’t have enough limbs to keep her hands going along the edge whilst keeping us both afloat. Maybe I’m being a Karen but going to the deep end with such tiny humans didn’t feel right. But I’m British, so I didn’t say anything. Hopefully normality will resume next week - or at least he’s Googled the words to Five Little Speckled Frogs.

Have a good one!