Being Strong

I have always been a big believer that you are only dealt what you can handle in life.  Lately I have been doubting that.  I knew that being a parent was going to be exhausting.  I was never going to have the full on care free life I used to have when I was a teenager.  If I could go back to living at home being a checkout chick and paying $50 a week in board to mum and dad some days I wish I could.  You don't find out until you face the big bad world how sweet it is as home.

When the twins were babies, Pat was working as a chef so worked horrid hours.  I learnt to deal. When they were born his employers were nice enough to give him a whole 4 days off (funnily enough, one of his workmates also had twins that were born 2 weeks after ours so both of them missed out).  As they were going from babies to toddlers I was one of those parents who used to brag about how good my kids were.  They were angels and could do no wrong.  Yes I was one of THOSE parents lol.  I have to admit they were pretty good.  I cleared the terrible 2's without a worry.  I had another baby and things were actually running rather smoothly. After we had Noah, Pat decided that he was going to put cooking on hold for a few years and actually get to know his family.  He got a factory job (which believe it or not paid more than being a qualified chef).  Monday to Friday and we loved it.  We could do things as a family on weekends, no more split shifts and it was great.

 The changes we have seen in Callum have been astonishing.  The child who barely spoke was now putting whole sentences together and even singing!  The first song I ever heard him sing was "Hot and Cold" by Katy Perry when it was the theme song to Masterchef.  I sat there and cried.  I've never heard him sing along to a song before.  From there on his talking got better and better.

 July 2010 we decided to take the next journey in our life and Pat now works away from home offshore as a chef.  He missed cooking.  I was under the misconception of "I will be fine", "I'm a tough cookie".  Admittedly most of the time I have been but I have been too busy to notice how much of an emotional toll everything was taking on me.

In the last year and a half Callum has gotten used to Dad working away from home.  He knows when we take daddy to the airport he goes to work.  I now have a small insight into what it feels like to play mum and dad on my own.  Let me tell you what I take my hat off to all the single parents out there because it's bloody hard! His first swing out was 8 weeks long.  I thought by the end of it the ground had opened up and I had been sucked into hell.  I had no idea how much control I had lost with my children.  They thought they ran the place.  Who are these small demons that are ripping through my house.  When Pat started working away it was just before the twins started Prep.  Callum started in the 4th term of 2010 at a special school for his language 2 days a week.  It made a heck of a difference.  He continued to go to special school for two days a week as a help to transition him into the mainstream school he attends.

2011 was a fantastic year for us.  Well to an extent anyway.  Both Callum and Rhiannon started Prep and they were both loving it.  There was so much support for him.  The special school got him Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy (which he still really needs).  He had social stories made to transition him through each major change that happened throughout school.  He thrived on routine.  I thought last year was absolutely fantastic.  Until the start of this year.......