My princess is growing up...

Have you ever had one of those dreams where, somewhere during the dream, you have to go to the toilet but nothing comes out no matter how hard you try? Then you wake up and you realise that your bladder is so full it wants to pop, but you didn’t WET THE BED!! And you go the toilet to do the necessary, smiling at the fact that our bodies are amazing in that it knew how to wake us up to get us to go to the loo… I get those a couple of times a year…

I’ve been struggeling to get my 5 year old daughter Chené off her night nappy. I know, I know… FIVE?? Somehow she won the powerstruggle and I just gave up, hoping that someday things would change. Recently she went to go sleep over at a friend’s house, where Auntie Debbie told her she was a big girl now and she mustn’t wear nappies anymore!! She came home, promptly informed us that Auntie Debbie said this and Auntie Debbie said that, so she’s going to stop wearing the nappies. My jaw dropped to the floor… How long had I been telling her this SAME thing? How long? So, I asked daddy to take the 10H30 pm toilet run, which he has been doing for more than a week. So far it’s going VERY well… I’m so proud of my little princess. I see Debbie at the daycare every day, so she gets a running commentary of how Chené’s doing. I laugh at this because Debbie knows my struggles with the nappy thing and she obviously saw a gap of how she could help. I cannot thank her enough! This is such a big thing in our household, you have no idea!

Last night I went to the information evening for Chené’s Gr R class next year. I sat there listening to all they did and the rules and regulations – and I felt like crying. Mostly because I know how much my child hates rules and structure. She’s like a butterfly, spreading love wherever she goes. Her imagination is amazing and she’s so good with her little sister. I really don’t like having to send her to school. To make things worse, they start at 7H45 – are they crazy? That’s the time we’re still running around like chickens without heads, trying to get the kids packed up, grab our things and get in the car! So daddy got a stern talking to last night about how he CANNOT sleep late anymore. Once he finally gets up, he’s ready in 5 mins, but the girls take a bit longer - which usually makes us late. In winter I fight with them EVERY day to get them to get up… I get up at 6h15.

So, I’ve decided to not think about it any more and to rather concentrate on our holiday coming up and on decorating the new school bags Chené got for use next year (they encourage this). I was thinking of something with a princess or a balarina theme… any ideas guys? I’m a VERY creative person, but a bad decision maker! HELP PLEASE!! Anyway, hope you all have a wonderful weekend. The sun is shining in Cape Town! Be blessed!