Eighteen months. A YEAR and a HALF. That’s how long I have been a mum.
It’s difficult to remember now what life was like before I had my daughter. I recall hazy images of being able to lie in bed until late morning at weekends, of only having to think about what I had to wear for the day and only needing to pack my own bag. Then, there was having the luxury of spontaneously going out with friends on an evening. Yes, things do change but more often than not, change is good. And I can’t say I miss my alarm clock – the morning babblings of my daughter, punctuated with a rundown of all the words she knows, is a far better way to be woken up!
Mrs T is as fabulous as ever, spirited, or as one of her nursey workers remarked ‘has a lot of character’. Well! Thank goodness for that, I say.
It is this character which provides us with much amusement on a daily basis and is one of the joys of being a parent. When out and about it is particularly difficult to disguise though. We were recently enjoying a pub lunch on a sunny Sunday in the Buckinghamshire countryside with friends and their five-month-old child*. The roast was delicious and they were great with children but it wasn’t until the waiter informed me that his fourth child (also a girl) was ‘very loud at that age too’ that I realised she had been raising her voice.
Over the last 18 months I must have become immune to the noise. To me, that was her just talking, in the unique way that she does. I was too busy helping her with her sticker book and supervising her dipping potato into ketchup to realise her voice was louder than some of the other patrons. Well, it’s not as if anyone complained. Besides, I’m pretty sure (and no doubt all parents think the same) Mrs T is just too damn cute to get angry at. I mean, how annoyed can people really get about a child saying things like ‘gollygah’ and ‘dada’ over and over? Or laughing hysterically at the dogs in the pub and trying to stroke them. Anyone who does, needs to lighten up!
Now she is properly walking, Mrs T really is all over the place. I was incredibly impressed that she managed to stay in her high chair for over an hour. But, once she has had enough, you know about it and as soon as you put her down to walk, she is off! I was reading how 18 month olds have an average concentration span of seven minutes. SEVEN – I wish! This mum malarky has suddenly taken on a new twist.
* We went to the Russell Arms near Wendover – a pub/restaurant bought up by the local residents when threatened with closure and restored to its former glory.