Things I've learnt in my first three days of maternity leave...or the things that have come flooding back from my days of a stay-at-home mum...

1. Being woken up every day at 5.14 is far far worse when you don't have to go to work as well. 2. When the focus of the morning is making lunches, as opposed to making lunches and getting yourself ready for work, it takes twice as long, is one hundred times more tedious and draws on way too much brain power as to just what can (and should) go into the lunch box. 3. Do you know just how many w.e.i.r.d. people hang out at Warringah Mall during week days? 4. I don't know where this baby drought is, but it sure isn't on the Northern Beaches or - again - at Warringah Mall. It certainly isn't at our own little piece of Mt Druitt/Emu Plains/Penrith/Campbelltown that is Warriewood Square either. Who are all these women with 4WD pram equivalents, in leggings, drinking Gloria Jeans lattes and obviously have a faith in the scrunchie worthy of the biggest, loudest and longest hand-waving praise-the-Lord song possible at Christian City Church (the Northern Beaches answer to Hillsong). 5. Do you know just how delicious it is to go to the movies in the middle of the day, on your own, with popcorn you don't have to share, seeing a movie you want to see with no interruptions? 6. The sheer pleasure of feeling tired so going to bed in.the.middle.of.the.day. is such a rare and special priviledge, I want it known just how much I appreciate the opportunity to do so - and how much I'm going to miss it in the few days/weeks before it is gone for ever once more. 7. It is quite remarkable the varied (and therefore better) diet your children get with you being at home, because dinner isn't simply a case of what can I cook in 10 minutes or less. 8. The time between hometime from school and bedtime is S.O. loooong. Anyway, I had a clinic visit this afternoon. 42 cm from my pelvis to the top of my uterus peoples. Apparently there is still room in there as well. That was mildly horrifying, particularly when the midwife said, 'let's hope its not a 5kg horror'). The 'plan' is that if eating loads of chilli and Chef getting some lovin' doesn't work, then I'm back at clinic next Thursday (20 Oct), then Drs clinic the following Monday, then induced the Wednesday (26 Oct). But this time, just to mix it up, they'll break my waters and leave me alone for 3 hours or so to see if labuor will kick in on its own accord - otherwise its hello synto and lets see if we can break the 45minute labour record set by Felix... I can't believe, and yet I can, we're having these kind of discussions again. Come on uterus - work with me on this one!