Gabbing with grown ups

Our blooming garden.

Being a mum to small children (especially a stay-at-home mum) can send you bonkers. Over my five years of being a mum, I've discovered a few things that are essential to keeping the crazies at bay.

The number one, most important thing you must do is keep up contact with adults. Being with kids all .day.long. and not having at least a few adult interactions will melt your mind. Blogging definitely helps. As does Twitter. But it's essential to have face-to-face grown up gab too.

Last week I recognised that I was losing my mind and needed some big people time. Chatting about the finer points of Scooby Doo was doing my head in.

Fridays have become my day to catch up with friends. We have ballet and I get to see my good friend who has a life identical to mine. We, of course ,caught up with all the things we'd both done (a lot of 'me too's were said). I asked her and her girls over for lunch and then told her I had no food, so she brought a wonderful spread. I'm a great hostess like that.

In the afternoon, my oldest friend and her kids visited. We've known each other since we were 5. We grew up around the corner from each other and now we live on the other side of Sydney around the corner from each other. Our kids go to preschool together. It's always brilliant to catch up and chat with her. There's nothing more comforting than an old friend who knows you well. Who saw you throw up in a bin on your first day of big school. Who also saw you throw up at Schoolies. Who's also seen you throw up with morning sickness. That's a lifelong friend.

On Saturday, we had dinner at a good friends' place. They cooked up a truly delicious dinner. The kids had a ball. Goose stayed up bright-eyed until 11pm, partying on while her brother and sister slept. It's so nice to go out and laugh. Though I think I was a bit of a zombie. That's the problem, I find when I do see other grown ups I either talk their ear off or go into zombie mode.

On Sunday, another good friend came to visit. I haven't had a good chinwag with her for a long while, so it was really nice to catch up. Plus she brought sweet treats. What's better than that?

Blue sky! I'd forgotten what it looked like. 

The lashing rain has finally stopped and the sun finally came out. The garden now looks lush and gorgeous. It feels like holidays are approaching. Late Sunday arvo, D and I lay on the grass in our back garden and watched the wind blow through the gum trees. It was bliss. It's so much easier to enjoy and appreciate the kids when I've had time to stretch my adult mind.

I feel sane and ready to tackle another week of kid-wrangling.