As a parent, are there ever times when you look back on those carefree days of childlessness with just a little bit of longing? If you don't then you are amazing!
Those lie-ins that really are lie-ins. Having a late night and not worrying that you will hear the pitter patter of tiny feet in the few hours sleep you have left, needing mummy or daddy for something. Holding a conversation without being interrupted so many times that you just abandon it altogether. Eating a meal without having to stop every mouthful to sort someone out with something or wipe up a mess! To be fair, the list really is endless!
Maybe it's just one of those 'seasons' that you go through ... especially when your munchkins are little like mine. I don't doubt that every stage has it's trials. Like trying to get teenagers to wake up and get going or those years when talking to mum and dad just isn't cool at all and getting a word or two out of them is a nightmare!
Getting quality time with the hubby just gets put on the back burner, while you're both bumbling through, muddling together, getting everything else done as parents. In fact, getting quality time out here with your spouse is something that both us and our friends with kids living in Dodoma know is difficult, one reason being that there isn't really anything to do or anywhere to go.
At the moment we get to the end of the day when both girls are asleep and all the bits and pieces that need doing are done and then we're too tired to do anything ... let alone hold a meaningful conversation! Which is why these last two lunchtimes have been a real bonus for us. Abigail now does a full day at school and Naomi has been fast asleep, leaving me and Mark a chance to actually grab some time together. Time to listen to what the other has been up to, talk through stuff that has been going on ... or just sit in silence enjoying each others company!
It's almost been like a date ... two days in a row! Unbelievable! I love my children more than I can ever describe but having Mark all to myself these last two lunchtimes has been such an unexpected surprise! Little did we know, when we had all that time to ourselves on honeymoon (see photo below) that life would be so crazy all these years later!
I wouldn't change our lives for anything but I will take the little snatches of time and windows of opportunity to spend with my hubby ... and now life has finally begun to settle down in some kind of routine for us, I for one, will be looking for more and more ways to make it happen!
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