What a week! I’m sure, like lots of you, I say this every week. But seriously, this one has been on a different level. From having the youngest in and out of hospital, constant battles getting what we need for him and still having to fully function as a human, reply to friends and family, keep the house clean and tidy, look after a toddler and keep my sanity….lets just say wine is needed and at this point I’m beyond the use of a glass!
So needless to say, this week I’ve not really been feeling the world of social media and nor have I had time to do pretty play set ups for the eldest to play with. Trigger mum guilt! But then I had a sudden thought. ColourMe and DrawMe! Why I hadn’t thought of it earlier I don’t know. Probably something to do with the constant “mummy can I have this” “mummy why is G poorly” “mummy why do I have hands” (seriously the mind of a toddler is just bizarre) and the fact the coffee was no longer giving me the energy I needed. With the next “mummy” I got up, went to the cupboard and got the box of crayons. Yes they are kept in the cupboard. Not because I don't want crayon all over my walls, in the grand scheme of things I probably wouldn’t even care, but there is absolutely no way I’m letting toddlers loose with my beautiful ColourMe Lincoln crayons!. Display purposes only comes to mind, especially for my giant blue flower crayon. But on this day I put the box down and just said off you go. After the initial confusion that I had let her loose with my box of forbidden crayons, she was so excited, she was practically bouncing off the walls. All was going well until it was temperature check time for my little poorly boy. 40 degrees C and he’d already had all his medication. So after a quick call to our nurses at the hospital we were off up there once more.
Now anyone who has had to unfortunately take their little one to hospital before, will know on top of the worry, the stress and the unbelievably long wait times, there is just absolutely nothing for little ones to do. Which becomes even more frustrating when they suddenly have a new burst of energy, the moment you get to the hospital making you wonder were they ever even ill in the first place. Luckily for us we go straight up to the ward, but the same points still apply, even up there. In your instant worry, you never think of taking anything more than maybe a toy car and their favourite cuddly toy, possibly if you're on the ball that day, you might remember to take the nappies or even a water bottle if you are going for mum of the year or superwoman award. But beyond that, the brain just doesn’t function. By this point we were on our third run of the week to hospital so I felt like I was getting to be a bit of a pro at it. Including organising myself a “grab bag” This included all the things I need to make me look like a fully functioning on the ball mother, as well as a few extras to make our time in hospital actually tolerable. This is where ColourMe and DrawMe Lincoln were my absolute life savers! In our grab bag for toys, were our latest purchase of farm crayons, our farm flash cards and some toy farm animals. Well the possibilities right there are endless. Not only did it pass so much time, it helped de-stress both me and little one, even the nurses loved them and had a play!
Thankfully after a nightmare week, we are home again and hopefully on the mend. Luckily we have our beautiful DrawMe Lincoln boards and crayons to help colour me better!
By Lou Kirby @learningwithbuddyandboo