Thanks for the articles Kathryn, although there is no number two, and no intentions of there ever being a number 2, I've just been at a point lately where I wasn't dealing with Ashlea at all. She'll do something that I don't like, i'll yell, she'll cry, I'll smack her or send her to her room, then sit there listening to her cry or whinge and just lose it.

She is a very sooky/whingy child, and she does cry alot which drives me insane. I have realised though that when it is just me and her at home together, or if someone else is looking after her she is an angel, but if we are at friends, or friends are here or there are other kids she becomes quite difficult. I then realised alot of it was to do with the fact that she is so used to it being just me and her for as long as she can remember, that she must find it hard to share my attention with others.

Having said all that, lately i havent been enjoying her, or the parenting thing, which really upsets me because I can remember when i was pregnant thinking that I would be the best mum in the world blah blah blah and at the moment i'm anything but. I actually look forward to the days when she is going to dad's at the moment, which then makes me feel like $hit for feeling like that.

Anyway, after all that ranting and raving, I read these articles and esspecially loved the bit about drawing a sun and writing all the good things they do on the sun's rays each day. It made me start to think of all the little things she does that makes me love her to pieces

Our biggest problem is that she is just as short tempered, stubborn, determined and pig headed as me and when its on, its all on.

Just after reading that she woke up, which usually drives me crazy cause her sleeping hasn't been great lately, which means either is mine, so we are both tired and grumpy the next day, but this time I just wanted to lay in bed and snuggle with her until she went back to sleep.

I know there is alot of other things going on that are stressing me out at the moment, but I realised I need to take a step back from everything and have some 'Mummy and Ashlea' time.

Thanks for posting the article