If you feel your life is really rich, what makes it rich?

[Pruni]

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-book group
-like minded mothers for long tea and chats
-planning time for me or me and dp
-my children (sometimes)
-keeping in touch with old friends - even the odd postcard written in a few minutes helps
-radio 4
-good telly
-not being so horrid to myself

erm - will think of some more.

I love my husband (sorry cheesy but I do)
I love my kids
I love reading, making things
I get excited by new things still, new developments in culture and technology
I am an armchair traveller

I am CRAP at staying in touch with old friends but I do try

Fab Husband
Fab children (...with the usual whingey reservations)
Holiday booked for the summer
Possibility of something very rewarding on the job front
Group of friends who are on the same wavelength
A shared vision of our future with dh (to start travelling again when children are older)
A hobby I enjoy doing and other people enjoy buying/wearing!

I say all that, I wouldn't say my life is really rich, but I've made some changes that have improved it and I feel secure and comfortable at the moment which is good.

• Relationships with dh and dd
• Closer relationships with sis and other family since having dd
• Books and music
• Planning stuff to do with family, and for me and dh
• Work
• doing things and going places rather than buying stuff IYKWIM
• keeping up with what's going on in the world

Having a work/life balance that suits me.

Meeting up with friends regularly & seeing plenty of my family.

Belonging to a book group so I have to make an effort to read.

Stuff that is lacking - watch too much TV in the evenings and that means I don't chat to DH enough. Probably compounded by being 8 months pg so by the time we've had dinner I'm fit for nothing & pass out on the sofa!

Ignoring past few months

• Quality time with ds - hearing him laugh!
• Special times with dh - romanic night out, surprise picnic, walk along the beach

-Family occasions where we all get together, open a few bottles of wine, and just have a good laugh

• Friends who make you feel special and important

Also nice holidays that involve sight seeing, a bit of culture, something you've never seen before, as well as space to relax and have fun.
Travel and visiting new places, UK or abroad, keeps my mind going and gives me something to look forward to.

i like to be involved with my children - i go into school to read. i also help at Beavers.they like it that i am there. That gives me satisfaction.Makes me feel wanted...
i like chatting to mums in the playground.

mls I have seen your thread but not posted on it. Just wanted to say I think you are fab for posting here and thinking about the positive things in your life, despite what you are going through right now.

Big respect to you.

Pruni, sorry for hijack.

Lovely husband
Fantastic daughters
Great link worker (who is sadly moving on)
The memories of all the adorable lo's it has been my absolute joy to care for.
The present lo who is just adorable.

I'm blardy lucky I am.

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thanks doggiesays

I liked this thread as it gives me a chance to focus on happy things. There's nothing like hearing ds chuckle away without a care in the world - no better sound!

Still think getting out and about, even appreciating things close by, the countryside, the seaside, nice parks, places of interest - always makes things seem a little bit better!

pruni hope you're getting some good ideas...

pruni get your friends together and arrange a regular meet up at starbucks for a gossip and a good laugh! will be a good start!

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No, Pruni, I disagree, I think it's good/healthy to get excited about Starbucks. That's proof you are well-adjusted to your circs.

I'm a bit sheepish about my badly-digested self-help technique, but I'm definitely happier for reconciling myself to the fact that the life I led before children is over, and this one is totally different. (I don't mean that it's less fun -- but it is definitely harder/less easy.)

It has taken me a while to work this out. It has probably helped me to be a bit easier on myself.

I do get bursts of satisfaction from the silliest things now, like finding the kitchen scissors are (for once) where I last left them. That's great, I try to hold onto those moments -- not to mention the scissors.

Big thrills: when everyone is in a good mood. Nice weather. Nice food. Books. Cinema. Having lovely booze in the house. And, yes, Starbucks. Or Caffe Nero, anyway.

Today these are the things that enriched my life -

• ringing my mum to see how Lottoies school trip to the farm went to be told all the children were good but Lottie was especially good and she even faced her demons and fed the goats!

• emailing my friends and family to see if anyone knew who would be interested in sponsoring some things at the school fete and my best friend jsut giving the school £75 out of her own pocket for the candy floss machine because she is a fab friend and Godmother to Lottie

• my bosses wife not only making it through the night but actually feeling better today and sitting up in bed and being able to speak.

In general my family and my friends enrich my life, everything else is material shit.

ok maybe other stuff isn't all material shit, but in comparison to good, loyal loving friends and family it's all imaterial and unimportant, in comparison to .... ohhhh, hopefully you know what I mean.

Food! Since being on mat leave I've been rediscovering yummy food and cooking.

Countryside - dh is very outdoorsy and dd seems to be following him in this so we go for walks a lot

Babies - cos they're so gorgeous

Family & dh - because, lucky me, I basically get on well with both sides and everyone is in reasonable health atm (though this will change if my dad doesn't cut back on his drinking )

Books - the best thing is that because I am surrounded by all dh's books I can just grab something off the shelf to read and know I will have someone interesting to discuss it with, which is lovely. And it's fun reading new books (like the Dawkins one) at the same time and deciding what we think.

Writing - you wouldn't believe how good I feel when I manage to produce 500 words of a story which is probably not much cop but I am having fun telling it to myself.

There are lots of things in my life which I am not doing atm which feel important for my happiness long-term - I hardly see my friends at all, and dh and I hugely miss sailing, which has not been very easy to do since having dcs, but I enjoy anticipating getting back to that one day.

I was depressed when I was a student and one thing I learnt was that it's worth doing all the little trivial things that make you just a little bit happier. Hence I make no apology for putting food at the top of this list .

Pruni, I'm sure you have squillions of friends on Mumsnet already but if you want to email me it's edgarmackay at tiscali dot co dot uk.

Agree with BakedPotato about Starbucks!

The things that keep me soldiering on:

Dh and the children - always interesting, sometimes wonderful, sometimes a challenge

Books, films, music

Friends - am lucky to be quite good at keeping in touch with old friends, and superlucky to go to dinner with a bunch of women friends regularly

Communal activities - through church, school, work - eg running a fair trade stall, helping with Sunday School, being on the PTA

Knitting

Singing - even in a small parish choir, I feel so much happier now I am singing every week again

I am an urban character Pruni so a big plus for me is seeing people, words, images and places, always different, endlessly fascinating, every morning on my walk through the city to work. I can imagine I'd feel the same about a rural journey made regularly too

things that do it for me:

family - my kids, dp, love love love them.

seeing friends - love having people over for food or just drinks and dancing to old music

Laughing my head off with people who know and love me

emails, cards and texts from my oldest friends so I know they are thinking about me and making me think about them

where I live - I am close to the sea and beautiful countryside and the city I live in is cool and quirky

feeling informed - keeping up with what's going on in the world

Reading a great book/ seeing a great exhibition and feeling your soul enriched a little bit by it

Challenging myself a bit - at the moment am trying to read brainy non-fiction books and I can feel my brain hurting but it's a good sort of hurt, like exercise!

Health is wealth.

It really and truly is.

DS and DP of course - they make life fun.

Having a creative job, and time to be creative, make clothes etc., in the evenings (usually - when not dealing with horrendous DIY and decluttering tasks as at present)

Lovely city to live in and museums, countryside etc. to enjoy

Music and our very musical circle of friends, going to friends' gigs, etc.

For me, having my (/our!) own home is very high up - something I never take for granted and feel excited abolut every day. I don't know why, I've never been homeless, but as a child my one wish was to have my own home and be able to lock the doors on the world. I just love love love having a kitchen, having pots of herbs, having a squashy sofa, having bedlinen that I chose and paid for, things like that and get so much pleasure from them.

Oh and I forgot to mention food! Being able to choose what food I want, pay for it and cook it. I LOVE that!