Feeling Guilty This Valentines’s Day

The 14th February comes around again and the shops are full to the brim with stuffed toys carrying hearts embellished with heart felt messages,huge bunches of bright red roses and boxes upon boxes of delectable chocolates.

Our Instagram and Facebook feeds are full of gushing posts to loved ones and pictures of romantic dates and gorgeous gifts…then reality hits me that yet again I have made zero effort for the man in my life!

The man that always goes out of his way at this time of year, not with extravagant presents or over priced days out but simply with loving gestures and beautiful words that mean the absolute world to me, even though I don’t let him know this enough.

This year it really hit me that I can’t use the excuse that I’m not romantic and we don’t need a day to celebrate our love as in reality our busy lives find it hard to share a cup of tea together, let alone a entire meal on our own.

So from hear on in I will use this special day to celebrate the kind, loving, thoughtless man I was lucky enough to find all those years ago and make him feel as appreciated as he does me.

Date Night Stress With Kids

  

A few months ago after a wonderful child free day I had shared with my husband I wrote a post about the importance of making time for your marriage.  

I had promised myself that I would set time aside for us both to have a date night once a month.  This hasn’t really taken off and it is all down to me and the effort and guilt it takes to leave the house when you have little ones.

Hubby had put his foot down this week and booked cinema tickets so I simply couldn’t wriggle out of it!

So the military operation to leave the house alone begins. They all need to be rounded up from the different schools, nurseries and clubs they are all at on a Friday afternoon.  Of course to make things awkward they are all late just to mess my limited time frame up a bit more.

Next up is feeding time at the zoo, a seemingly mess free oven dinner is prepared but they still manage to cover every surface of the entire kitchen which then takes hours to clean up before sticking them all in the bath to get cleaned up before the baby sitter arrives.  

Babies cleaned and in their PJs I now try to get myself looking vaigly presentable for the general public when I can hear a huge gush of water! Yes number three has managed to pull the basin from the wall in the bathroom causing a flood all over my just cleaned kitchen!

More time was spent cleaning up another disaster and I still had the youngest who is still breastfed fed and settled.  I finally sit down hair half done and jeans still drying on the radiator when my husband walks through the door all fresh and ready as he is able to get ready child free at work glaring at me for not being ready.

I eventually manage to get out the door with the guilt of leaving a crying baby, shouting at my husband if he won’t settle I’m coming straight home and we are being completly selfish for leaving a crying a baby just to satisfy our own needs.

A frosty drive into town was then eased by a video sent from the babysitter of some more than happy children snuggled on the sofa.

A couple of glasses of wine in, an uninterrupted conversation and the choice of something else rather than Cebebbies to watch then made the stress and the guilt of the last few hours all worth it.
  

  

My Captured Moment:Brotherly Love

  

When number five was born,to say that number four’s nose was put out of joint would be an understatement!

He did not take to him at all and it’s only really over the pasting or so that he has started to show him some real love.  

As you can see from this picture now a little to much at times!