The past three months have been pretty exhausting. Our nanny went on holiday and called in to say she’s not coming back. We were devastated. Tackling a full time job and housework plus a six year old Energizer bunny home on summer vacation and a sudden business trip to London thrown in the midst of all this proved no easy task and my stress levels hit the highest notch on the stress-o-meter.

To help bring some method to the madness, Hubs and I created a routine to which we reverently stuck to. There were moments when we felt things were falling behind and slipping between our fingers but we gritted our teeth and trudged along, singing (or rather angrily shouting) the theme song from Lego Movie,  ‘Everything is AWESOMMME!’. Our little boy would complete the chorus, ‘Everything is cool when you are part of a team!’.  It worked for the little Lego people and it definitely worked for us, though our neighbours started giving us the occasional odd look.

These three months helped us realise the value of time and how precious it is. It has become a luxury not many of us can afford. Well the good news is nanny did come back (after three months!) and everything is exactly as it was before, except that we make each hour, each minute and each little tick of the clock, count.

Apart from the union song of Lego people, I discovered a few other things that helped me keep my sanity intact amidst all the chaos, little things which under normal circumstances would have seemed, well, quite normal.

And here’s the list, in no particular order…

 

Flowers

Pretty flowers on the kitchen windowsill can brighten up even the dullest of days. When I step into the kitchen looking menacingly at the pots and pans I would glance up at the window and take a nice long look at these beauties and Poof! my grudge against the pressure cooker would vanish, into thin air…

 Scented candles

There’s nothing more calming than the warm mellow glow of a candle and the fragrance of bergamot and lavender filling up a freshly cleaned room, utter bliss!

My favourite tunes

I don’t know what I would have done without Melony Gardot, Carole King and Celso Fonseka. You guys are brilliant, just brilliant!

Butter!

An instant pick-me-up:  grab a cracker, take out the tub of butter from the fridge, scoop out a golden glob of the soul comforting stuff and pop the whole thing in your mouth. I must have eaten tubs of it. From crackers to toast to rice –  doesn’t everything tastes better with butter?

Bedtime read

I have to read at least a page, or a paragraph (actually even a sentence would do) before sleeping. It’s an addiction.

 Morning coffee

Made with freshly ground beans, brewed by Hubs. Nothing beats it!

Bath foam

I couldn’t spare any time in my strict routine for a long, indulgent soak in a tub full of soapy bubbles but a warm shower with my favourite bath gel was just as good to feel fresh and invigorated.

A glass of grape

There was no time for swirling and sniffing (waste of good wine, I know…) but a few quick sips of the amber liquid was all that was needed to put me back on my feet, ready to take on the world.

My five year olds’ quips

Laughter is the best medicine – and there’s plenty of it to go around when you have a cheeky five year old living under your roof. Here’s one that had me in stitches:
(scene: five year old, my sister, her eleven year old daughter and myself sitting around the dinner table)
5 year old looking at 11 year old: “I want to marry you”.
11 year old (turning red with anger or embarrassment or both): “I don’t want to marry YOU”!
5 year old (pretending to be disappointed): “If you don’t marry me I will go to the North Pole”!
11 year old (face red as a beet): “Go wherever you want! I don’t care”!
(A split second silence)
5 year old (grinning from ear to ear & pointing at all of us in turn): “I will marry you, you and you”!
Out of the mouths of babes they say…

Hubs

You always save the best for last. Hubs…he’s my rock. What more can I say?

So there, I got by with a little help from these friends. How do you de-stress and get through little rough patches in your life?