family

I simply cannot live without it. Routine to everyday life keeps my life organized, keeps me in control and most of all gives me time for me. The older I am getting the more important I am to myself. I need and want time to be able to have my nails done or go to hairdressers or simply read a book. That is on top of a full time job, looking after the boys, keeping the house in order and making sure the whole family eats healthily. It’s my pet hate – cooking – but I do it nonetheless. I am being harsh but I eat to live and not eat to live. No Michelin stars here but it’s all from scratch and healthy.

I like simple dinners, especially since I had a very troubled relationship with food in my early twenties. I was a bulimic and until a colleague at work said to me ‘ Whatever you are eating or not eating you need to stop. You’ll soon look like a skeleton and it doesn’t suit you.’ I looked myself in the mirror and did not like what I saw. There and then I decided to figure out what I actually liked to eat and went on the journey of Atkins Diet. It was a perfect start to my journey of recovery from bad choices. No sugar, no starch and no flour. It was brutal but so rewarding. My weight has been the same for the last 30 years and I can still fit into my prom dress.

It was a choice but one of the best I have ever made. From limited food choices I started adding the ones I actually loved, from nuts to fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, brown/seeded bread, brown rice and wholewheat pasta, everything cooked afresh. I also very much like chocolate, mixed with nuts preferably and I eat it every day. Everything in moderation. My hair was shining again, nails were stronger, I had lots of energy and I was happier within myself. I still am now. And so are the boys. I ate the same when pregnant and breastfeeding. They have no allergies, no behavior problems and plenty of energy. They are growing into strong, healthy individuals with sports and fresh air in galore.

And here we are back to the routine. It all starts with awakening, every day at the same time. I start the day with good old black coffee and hot lemon water to flush the system. And then the organized chaos begins. Breakfast is eaten at the kitchen table, followed by getting changed into school clothes, pack the bags, washing machine on, tidy up and off to enjoy another day at school, work ready for the challenges being thrown at us. I leave the house tidy. The boys tidy up after themselves, it’s the least they can do. We scooter or bike to school. I even went on rollerblades and was called the coolest mum ever. Nothing wrong with being different. The boys get fresh air before hitting the school tables and I refresh my brain before going to work. Our little way of saving the planet as well.

After school I brought with me snacks for the boys – bananas, apples, pears, plums, strawberries, raspberries, any fruit and nuts of any sorts mixed with raisins or a bar like Eat Natural, Alpen anything that slowly releases energy into the system. Then I took the boys to the park – letting them loose running around, climbing obstacles in the playground or making the most of the swings and toboggans. By trying to do it all by themselves they have learnt their limitations and at the same time challenge themselves to succeed. They have learnt how to fall and pick themselves up again. Football was regularly played and tennis was one of our favorites as well.

Once we came home, we all changed into home clothes and then it was homework for the boys, while I started getting the dinner ready. If there was no homework we did spelling tests or practising timetables. Dinner was served at the same time every day, between 5 and 6 pm, depending on football/rugby training schedule. Always at the table and together. The dinner was followed by dessert – in the form of ice cream, chocolate biscuits anything with chocolate instead of sweets that get stuck to your teeth. I am not a fan of them anyway. To drink the boys liked Ribena but otherwise it was just simply water throughout the day. After dinner we all relaxed by watching a film or spent an hour on iPads playing games. When the boys were little it was easier to control how much time they spent on their digital gadgets. It is possible to limit them as long as they have something else to do or they have earned their time on them. Rules are rules and at the end of the day the children and their wellbeing are our responsibility.

Bed time started with the bath, pyjamas and reading. At the weekend we often visited the library and the boys chose their books themselves. Every evening for an hour it was reading time before the lights were switched off and they went to sleep. And that was when I had time for me, myself and I.