End Of Another Year

Well we’re coming to the end of another year and in so many respects 2016 has been a bit of a bastard. If I was feeling so inclined I could discuss my thoughts and musings on some of the biggest talking points. That is the point of having a blog after all but as you can probably see I haven’t been the most prolific blogger this year and that’s mostly down to what made my (our) year a tough one and that was two kids. I mused in my last post in August that just making it from one day to the next was pretty much my life for most of the year. That hasn’t changed at all but, I’m starting to see a little light at the tunnel. Sure there’s a whole load of things that could happen and there’s every chance that 2017 could be even harder. Still, if we can get through 2016 then I’m fairly certain we can get through anything.

I’m not trying to say our kids have been awful as in bad behaviour. If I’m honest and look back on the year both our kids have, for the most part, been pretty awesome. Sure they have their moments especially Chloë who’s discovering new emotions and feelings pretty much every day. However, if I look at everything in context they’ve been awesome. They’ve both come on in leaps and bounds developmentally. Lucy found her walking feet by her first birthday and Chloë’s speech and recall continue to astound me. Don’t ever promise that kid anything you’re not willing to fulfil as she’ll remember, trust me! No, what made this year difficult for me was mostly the sleep deprivation.

Lucy’s sleeping is pretty good unless she is sick/teething/or has an upset tummy. Chloë, on the other hand, wakes at least once if not twice per night. There’s a routine to it too, generally, the first wake up is before we head to bed (roughly 10 pm most nights) and the second tends to be anywhere from 3 am – 5 am and if it’s the latter end of that scale it’s pot luck as to whether she’ll go back to sleep. It affected my demeanour, my work life and our home life. I’m not afraid to say that there were days where I was an absolute arse irrespective of who you were. Whilst I’d do my best to cover it and at least try to be polite, my tolerance levels this past year have been somewhat shocking.

It’s Another Full-Time Job

Make no mistake ladies and gentleman being a parent is hard fucking work. I’m thankful that we had great support from our close friends (read family) here in Canberra. More importantly, I’m very grateful for my loving and patient wife. We’ve had some interesting conversations over the past year, we’ve celebrated ten years of marriage and we’ve supported each other through our own personal struggles and low moments in the past twelve months. It’s not been an easy ride but we’ve muddled our way through it and I honestly feel very positive about the year ahead. Last few weeks things have improved on the sleep front for the kids and from that we’ve all benefitted.

There are still some challenges to overcome and things to work out and move on from but we’re getting there. There’s a lovely holiday planned for next week in the Blue Mountains over Cat’s birthday and New Years. With another one planned for early next year in Western Australia with family. It’ll give us some time away from home. More importantly, it may give us a chance to unwind and spend some good time together as a family. Honestly, we’ve not had a lot of that this year. One thing that has improved things is a refocus on spending time together. A renewed focus on activities as opposed to anything else.

Roll on 2017

So here’s to the year ahead. Likely filled with many more challenges as both our kids continue to learn, grow and explore. Their new daycare has been instrumental, I think, in their continued curiosity at the world around them. It’s easy to get cranky at the world and look at the continued, rather depressing, goings on and wonder how can things improve. I then look at our two kids and see two little humans blissfully unaware of any prejudices or notions of hate. They see so much awesomeness and wonder in the simplest of things it’s hard to stay cranky for too long, just ask Chloë. I  hope so much that not only does this continue but that slowly, in time, future generations realise how silly we lot are and have enough time to undo all the stupid we’ve allowed to propagate during our lifetime, not just the past twelve months.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and loving Christmas/Giftmas/Festive holiday and a safe New Year. Here’s hoping that 2017 brings you all nothing but good things. Goodbye 2016, let’s hope your shittiness doesn’t rub off on next year!