#OperationMOVE - The Penny Drops

I'm a bit slow on the uptake sometimes.

I've been feeling all blah and not been moving as much and whinge sook la la woe is me.

This time last year I'd done about half of the C25K running program and whilst I wasn't able to run far or fast I was enjoying it. Then we moved house, my back went ping and once I was recovered from that I just could not be bothered doing anything.

Until Spring, and the beginning of #OperationMOVE.

This year I have many months of running under my belt. I know how much I love it, and how great it is for my physical and mental health.

But still I've been dragging my heels and making every excuse under the sun (or lack of) not to get the trainers on.

Oh hello, lightbulb moment, the SADs have arrived.

I should have cottoned on when my mood started sliding and the sun disappeared. But like I said, bit slow sometimes.

The best thing is that having made the connection I will not let it be an excuse for not moving any more. I'm back on the Vitamin D's, and I'm soaking up the sun when I can see it. You're not going to best me this year SADs, I have races to train for!

Does the weather impact you as heavily as it does me? What do you do to help combat that?

And while you are here, it is check in day so tell me your numbers!

Chronic pain, addiction and other random things.

Picture is unrelated. I did say random.

I don't often write about my chronic back pain, because boring sooky la la whingefest and who wants to read that right?

But it is something that shapes my life one way or another.

About six years ago I was a manager for Tupperware. I don't recall having any particular pain before my back went to hell, but I remember the day it happened all too well. I'd finished a party and was driving home in my lovely Tuppertruck when I became conscious of a nagging ache in my back interspersed with shooting pains. I didn't think much of it at the time, figured I'd been sitting in a weird position or something.

When I got home I bent down to duck under the garage door and in a split second my back felt like it had locked up altogether. Trying to straighten up was absolutely agonising. We sorted out the (then two) kids and I took painkillers and anti-inflammatories and went to bed, thinking it would be okay by morning.

It wasn't. I took two steps from the bed and collapsed in a screaming heap on the floor. I was completely unable to straighten my legs and the pain was like nothing I had ever endured before... it made giving birth look like a walk in the park. My husband called an ambulance and I was admitted to hospital for a few days for IV pain relief. It was indicated that I had a prolapsed disc in my lower back. When I was released I needed crutches to walk for the following weeks. It was a horrendous time, especially with two very young kids who still needed my attention.

In the six years since I have done chiro, physio, exercise, no exercise... there are things that help for a short time but the pain is always there. It eases for periods of time, but every year or so something will happen that causes a huge flare up and a few days in bed drugged off my head. This time last year it went when we were moving house. That was convenient. Not.

If I think back over the past year, there are only two days when I didn't need medication to be able to move. It is at its worst in the mornings and most days are started for me by taking painkillers and moving incredibly slowly until they kick in enough for me to be able to bend. On a very bad day I can't put my shoes on and need my kids to help me a great deal. On a good day the pain is minimised quickly and I am functional within half an hour or so. When the painkillers work I have a constant low hum of pain, it never goes altogether. During a bad patch they get me to the point where I don't feel like crying constantly and sometimes that is enough.

When I started running I hoped that it might be a really good thing for my back. As it turns out, it doesn't make the pain any better but it doesn't make it worse either. My doctor tends to think (as do I) that the benefits make it worth continuing.

During my whirlwind weekend I had the pleasure of meeting a woman I have long admired, that being Kim from Allconsuming. She's not long past back surgery herself and is looking in fine fettle for it. Aside from the fact that she is just an incredibly lovely and inclusive woman, chatting with her has made me think more about the long term with this back of mine.

I've assumed for ages that once I'm not having to lift and carry small people that it will just get better. And hey, possibly it will. I certainly hope so. But in the meantime I'm existing on painkillers daily and in honesty I could well be addicted to them... I've not been pain free for a long enough stretch to find out. And we're talking about moving to a higher level given that I'm still having agonising mornings more often than not. I have enough not fabulous addictions without throwing morphine into the mix and speaking with Kim has made me think that when I next see my doctor it is probably time to get another lot of scans done. Who knows if the problem is the same or has changed or whatnot, it has been a long time since I last had them done.

I don't love the idea of surgery, and I hope it isn't necessary down the track. But nor do I love the idea of taking painkillers every day of my life and never knowing what it is to be truly pain free.

I know many mums in particular suffer from a dodgy back now and again. I have a few friends who have endured the extremity of a similar injury to mine as well. It is not as uncommon as we'd like to think.

Do you deal with pain on a daily basis? How do you cope with it physically and emotionally?

Parenting. You are doing it wrong.

When I had just one baby boy, I knew so much about parenting. I was doing it right and a whole lot of people were doing it wrong. Then we had a little girl, and I had another chance to feel superior about our parenting choices. Especially because by then I was tandem breastfeeding like a proper crunchy Mama. No formula would ever pass my babies' lips. No plastic nappies for my precious babes. And no WAY would my baby be sleeping in a cot like a poor abandoned thing. The very thought!

The problem with being right all the time is that there are no shades of grey. There is right and there is wrong. That's it.

The other problem with knowing everything when you have very small children is that when your high horse bolts off into the sunset, you have a really long way to fall and much dirt to eat when you hit the ground.

The longer I've been parenting, the less I know about anything at all. And sure we're still living on the crunchy side, but it is no longer because I know that it is the RIGHT way to do things. It is more because it works for our family and my own belief systems.

When you are right about everything, and very vocal about it, you stand to alienate an awful lot of people. People who may also be doing it RIGHT, even if they are doing it differently to you. Just because it isn't your shade of right, that doesn't mean it is wrong.

Those two girls up there are six weeks apart in age. One is still breastfed to sleep at night, the other had a combination of breastmilk and formula in her first year of life. One sleeps next to her Mum, the other has had her own room since babyhood. One was born at home, one in a hospital.

If you look really closely maybe you can tell which is which...

Oh hang on, no you can't.

Because both of those girls are loved and cherished, and being parented in the best ways their Mums know how, even though some of the choices made are at completely different ends of the parenting spectrum. None are wrong. None are right. They are simply choices.

And even when those choices are not the same as yours, they deserve to be respected.

Whirlwind

I love the airport. I love the promise it holds, the excitement of new places and experiences.

I used to fly a lot more than I do these days. When we had just one small boy we lived in Brisbane for a while, and flew back and forth to Melbourne a fair bit. In later years I'd often go for a weekend with my sister in Adelaide with whoever was the baby, but I never did get to do that with our last baby as we had other challenges to deal with.

I often see bloggers flying here and there for things and think that must be extremely cool. It's not quite as simple for us to do that sort of thing.

Over the weekend there was a launch party in Sydney for the Kidspot Voices of 2013 competition. It took a lot of organising, a LOT of stress on my part and more than a few tears but on Saturday afternoon I finally boarded a plane ALL BY MYSELF and took off on a whirlwind adventure.

I had a couple of reasons for making this trip happen. Firstly because making the top 25 blogs in the personal/parenting category felt like a pretty big deal to me. Secondly because it gave me a chance to catch up with my beautiful friend and business partner to talk face to face about The Shake.

Like a proper runner, I packed my trainers and gear. After Zoey picked me up from the airport we started chatting and didn't stop for the entire time.

We checked out some landmarks whilst discussing priorities and directions we want for The Shake. We had a couple of drinks while getting ready for the launch party and talking some more about how we want to achieve our goals.

And then we headed to the event where we were overwhelmed with support for Zoey's dream-become-reality.

It was so wonderful to be in a room with so many bloggers I have long admired. To finally speak to them in less than 143 characters. To give some of them who have become such amazing friends online a long awaited hug.

The time disappeared so fast. Possibly aided by the wine. And the scotch and coke at the after party. By the time we headed back to the hotel I'd spent time with so many incredible writers, it was quite overwhelming.

The thing with your partner living in a different state is that it takes so long to have a conversation sometimes. We made up for that with a midnight feast, and kept chatting until well into the small hours of the morning.

I woke not to my usual alarm (ie a small person in my face) but when my own body decided it was ready. Amazing.

The problem of course with too many wines is that you don't particularly feel like going for a run the next day, so we didn't. Instead we went and had brunch and big coffees before I had to get to the airport to head home again.

It was too quick. It always is when you are spending time with someone who just understands you, and whom you do not get to see often enough.

My babies all had wonderful weekends as well, and at the risk of this post turning into an academy speech I need to thank so many people.

When you have four kids, two with additional needs, nothing is as straightforward as it seems.

My bestie did our laundry all week because my washing machine is broken. If she hadn't none of us would have had any clothes left to wear and it is a pretty big imposition picking up the washing of a family of six. I can't thank you enough Chel.

My big boy stayed with the Supertrucker because they had a motocross day to attend. It did them both good to have an entire weekend with each other. I love those boys.

My big girl was gutted when she realized that her own BFF's birthday party fell in the middle of this crazy weekend, until that generous and lovely family offered for her to stay there for the entire weekend so she wouldn't miss out. I love that my girl has made such a beautiful friend and am so grateful to them as well.

My little two spent the time with my Mum. This was of course my biggest worry... That my little night wakers may not cope. But they had a wonderful time with Nanna (who also did a heap of catch up washing for me) and the fallout from my Little Mate has been minimal thus far. They are growing up. I missed them though, so much. And I have the best Mum in the universe. I honestly do.

It was such a whirlwind weekend, but it was so good for me and for them on a number of levels.

Does it take the organizational skills of a genius for you to do something different too? I so often just don't do things because it all seems too hard, but as with all hard things it was so worth it.

When size does matter. {Sponsored Giveaway}

This post is sponsored by Colgate and Digital Parents Collective.

Dental health is a big thing at my place. If you've been here awhile you might remember the trauma around my Little Mate's dental surgery last year. Thinking about it still sets my teeth on edge, no pun intended.

Sadly a collision at speed between his mouth and some concrete has seen a couple of his flash new chompers looking a little worse for wear these days, but I remain so grateful that he has them at all. And as you can imagine I'm pretty strict with all the kids when it comes to brushing their teeth.

Anyway, I was sent some new Colgate Slim Soft brushes and popped them on the bench to move to our bathroom later on. That was my mistake.

My big kids spotted them and claimed them immediately. So much for me reviewing them hey?

But then I'm hardly going to argue when my kids WANT to brush their teeth, and a new toothbrush is generally novelty enough that I get a week or so of no heel-dragging at teeth time.

So because I haven't gotten to use them myself, I asked my big boy what he thought. He replied 'It feels softer and more comfortable than other toothbrushes'. Well done son, there's a career in advertising for you yet.

I didn't even need to ask the big girl. The first time she brushed she came running out and told me that 'It's really skinny Mum! It feels soft and skinny in my mouth!'.

From the mouths of babes. About the mouths of babes. Yup.

Here's the pitch. The bristles are 17 times finer than those of an ordinary toothbrush, make cleaning in those crevicey spots much more effective, and the softness doesn't leave your mouth feeling like it's been attacked by sandpaper on a stick.

Here's the REAL pitch. If you buy them, your kids might be more willing to brush their teeth for a while. And that right there makes it worthwhile if you too have children who act as though they've never heard such a shocking suggestion, despite hearing it twice daily forever.

At $3.99 for a single or $6.99 for a two pack, I think that is money well spent.

I will be buying one for myself and hiding it before the two year old eats it. You can find them at Woolworths, Coles and Priceline.

Or maybe you'd like to win some to try? I'm giving away four of the Colgate Slim Soft toothbrushes (which will either see you sorted for a year or cover your kids if you have four like me) to three winners.

To enter please leave a comment telling me how you encourage the people at your house to brush their teeth. No really, I want to know! Entry is open to Australian residents and this is a game of skill so be a bit creative. The competition closes at 5pm on Saturday 25th of May. Good luck!