Fluid fluid fluid

You may think this is a post about liquids, and how much kids have oozing from them at any given time, or about the fluids that having children your body makes, or you get covered in. Nope thats a whole different ball game.

And as you sit here and read this ,my bet is that you and your child is covered in something already. 

No, being  fluid to  a Mum ( apart from above ) is  a mantra and or a motto, we need to repeat as the day gets away from us sometimes ( best laid plans and all that ). Remember  as fluid nourishes the body, (we are something like 85% water), fluid (or the notion of it) nourishes the soul. To Go with the Flow. As a nanny I had to have routine. It was expected to cover so much in a day , but I also learned fluidity, yes I may have a class or playdate but sometimes something just came up to change that. My child was sick or I had to do something else. I watch so many Mums get tied up in knots trying to stick with in perceived parenting boundaries. Especially when it comes to sleeping and pooping and eating.

Here are three golden rules. 

• Food -No child is going to starve when food is on offer, they will get what they need even though it doesn’t look like it is going in.  
• Nappies-maybe a follow on from food but your child will poop. Sometimes weird and wonderful consistencies and colours and just when you have put that clean nappy on !! Just like us , we don’t go every day or  we go several times a day.  There is help for both    ( baby massage and foods to help them start and stop)
• Sleeping – you can’t make a baby go to sleep if they don’t want to , trust me I know every trick in the book. You can encourage them with ways to find that link to sleep. You can watch for cues that they give for you to pop them in bed. And that old chest nut , I’ll cut their day sleeps so they will sleep more at night , doesn’t work , ever !

And thats were fluid comes in , and not just hydration or leakage. But allowing you and your family to find their own flow. Find the patterns that work for you , everything else and everyone else will have their own and at times they will fit together and times you’ll all be on different pages. Don’t look at another’s flow and try to copy, but if it’s working try to emulate as in , give it go, tweak and twiddle it a bit and presto. You and your baby have a day that works for you. But tomorrow will be different , so tweak and twiddle again. 

Go with the flow…

I have my ISH plan ( in the book All The Small Things ) but even I throw it out the window some days.  My wee ones classes are all different days and times and even on our free day , something comes up and we have to pop out or stay in, so she eats in a cafe instead or sleeps in her own bed for a couple of hours . We are fluid with it. It is very freeing to allow you and your baby to just see where the day takes you . It takes the pressure off. And we Mums have too much heaped on us already.  It allows us to include a bad night into our day, to absorb it with a communal sleep. ( it’s not just sleep when they do when they are younger , trust me , Im allowing you to cat nap , guilt free with them forever )! To have a duvet or couch day and or to go out all day , snack pack/lunch in hand and not come home till late. 

Plan .. to change it if you want

Have an idea of what you would like to do this day or that and be open to possibilities. Just like getting lost on a walk , its wonderful to see where the day can go.  So remember be fluid, in your thinking , get covered in fluid, ( embrace it , your clothes will never be clean again ,even if you only just put them on ) it means you and your child and doing something together ! Go with the flow and let everything else wash away. It does all wash away except felt tip, for a kids toy its not child friendly …. of sofa friendly …………… or your jeans friendly