Instinct

I have no idea what a 'Mother's Instinct' means or what it is supposed to feel like. Other mums that I encounter in my travels at pre school, toddler group, the children's centre and those family and friends talk about it from time to time but I remain confused as to the concept. Which leads me to today.

This morning smallest refused her breakfast. She struggled yesterday with breakfast and dinner but ate her lunch fine and she seemed ok in herself although she did have a long afternoon sleep so I figured she was tired and a good nights sleep would see her right. However this morning was a nightmare. Her complete refusal of breakfast turned into the same at lunch time for the pre school staff and they told me she was falling asleep on her feet. Since getting her home I checked her temperature, a little high so calpol and she took herself to bed and went straight to sleep. One of the other mums asked me if she was ok as she was grouchy and grumpy - very unusual for her and when I mentioned she asked me if she was poorly. I had no idea and I said so. Her response was 'go with your instinct'. And that scared me as I don't feel like I have any.

I tend to assess what my children present to me in appearance (oldest gets the worst bags under his eyes when tired), energy level, appetite and behaviour. I then run down what the answer might be using common sense and logic. So, after a busy weekend a grumpy small refusing to play nicely is, in my mind, a tired small who needs a sleep. But today, smallest has surprised me as I thought she was tired and she obviously isn't feeling too good but can't tell me what the matter is. I hope that a sleep and the calpol will help her feel better as I am not sure what else to do.

So, coming full circle, is this instinct thing something I will learn in time? I hope so as anything that helps me to understand my children more and be more responsive to their more complex needs has to be useful to them as well as to me.