When I was pregnant with my first child I had those fantasies that I suppose all mothers-to-be do......
My baby will sleep great, eat great, and we will be a picture of family bliss.
I'll take refreshing walks every day with baby in some great jogger pram, excersising my way back to my pre-baby body.
As baby enters toddlerhood I'll have even more time for personal presentation, and we'll drink 'babycinos' at the local cafe.
To allow for jogger pram, the car will be upgraded to some version of a small trendy SUV - to be able to see over all the other small trendy SUV's in the supermarket carparks!
Now, back to reality!!
Shannyn was actually a great baby, not too troublesome toddler and still gives us little to complain about. Boy did I get a rude awakening with Ashlee!! I don't want to paint her as a complete monster because she is to all reports a typical toddler; we just got spoilt with the first one!
My reality is that you are more likely to find me at Donut King than Gloria Jeans, I'll be wearing ratty jeans and have flyaway hair, Ashlee will be leading me on some wild goosechase through the supermarket because she refuses to sit in the seat, and our 'new' station wagon has more scrapes on it (not contributed to by me!) than a three year olds knee.
But for all the frustrations and embarrasment I sometimes feel - anyone who has had to try and coax a two year old off the floor at Big W will know what i mean ;-) I can't help but smile at how great life is right now; and know that I might be driving that Toorak tractor one day........
