VOL 5. - GUESS WHO'S BACK!

Guess who’s back? Back again! Everyone’s favourite exhausted mother of 4 – yep, tell yo’ friends!

Last year we were briefly introduced to one another, and it was special … C’mon, I know you felt it too. And it’s actually
because of your love for my ramblings, that I am landing back in your inboxes again.

Just like how the team at Smart Gift Ideas are your extra volunteers riding that stall journey with you, I am your fellow mum
riding the joyous and sometimes scary rollercoaster that is parenthood. I will happily over-share the very relatable, highly
hilarious mum reflections with you each month in the hopes that my circus, makes yours feel normal.

But hey, there are also a whole bunch of newbies here now (shoutout to all of those Mother’s Day orders!) and if you weren’t
here last year, chances are you’re reading this like I’m sorry, who are you?! Well, allow me to introduce myself:

I am a mum. I drive a minivan. I am ‘the Minivan Mum’. I work full time. We have 4 beautiful children. I will call them 1, 2, 3 & 4.
Tupperware is awesome until you lose the lids. I love our children more than anything. I love time away from our children
more than anything (you can be a great mother and still love this – I promise!) 

All of our children are school age with a couple in high school and a couple in primary school. I wear activewear but I
am not that active. According to a Facebook poll, I am perimenopausal and possibly in need of some kind of collagen
gummies. I shamelessly buy my own Mother’s Day gifts and run the stall at my children’s school because whilst there
are bits of my husband I love (yep - that ‘bit’ is a highlight) and things he is very good at, buying gifts and organising
school events are not those things.

Now as I sit here writing this, reflecting on all the play dates, movies, bowling, car trips, drop offs, pick-ups and snacks
that I oversaw this summer (yes I originally wrote this 2 months ago but remember, this is a judgement-free zone!),
I can’t help but stare at the tall pile of school exercise books our children brought home last December.

Yes, you best believe they are still on the sideboard awaiting a new home. Why? Not because I’m messy.
I am one of those “A place for everything and everything in its place” kind of mums. They remain there because
I don’t know where on earth that place is going to be. 

FOUR. FOUR children - that is FOUR lots of books EVERY YEAR! 

I would love to know what everyone else does with them but equally would not like to know because I just have
this feeling that you’re going to tell me you preserve them all and then I’m going to have to do that too and
honestly, I don’t wanna!

I mean we did look through them and ooohhh and ahhhh and marvel at neat work and great responses.
So proud, I assume they are all gifted and on their way to becoming lawyers, doctors and astronauts, so can we
maybe pop them in the recycling bin now?

Or do we choose one favourite book per child and just keep that one? OR do we take a few pictures of the work
they’re most proud of and let them live on my phone with the other 76,346 images that I will “one day” turn into a
photo book - we all know that is never going to happen and the sooner I buy more of the cloud, the better. 

Although slightly impractical, I could just pop them in the back of the minivan and have that whole, out of sight,
out of mind relief. However they would be joining the likes of endless supermarket green bags, a bag of clothes
destined for the clothing bin, and the many, many pairs of Flip Out socks – man we go there a lot – shameless
plug: Mr Flip Out we will happily accept free passes any time!

And now I am just exhausted from the mental load of even trying to find a new home for them and I am ducking off to
yet another pick-up, so on the sideboard they stay. And there they will probably stay until the end of this year
when even more are added. And yes, I know the kids have been at school many years and yes, I have forgotten
where I put those past books, but I know it was a good, safe place.