Nicola Young: Stay calm and carry on - with a little help

THAT'S A WRAP: The Glass Half-Full is the column that keeps the dinner warm.

A BUSY day meant Friday fish'n'chips became Thursday night this week - and I literally became "tomorrow's fish'n'chip wrapper" as I opened the parcel and discovered last week's column doing the honours of keeping dinner warm.

I try to keep takeaways to once a week in my house - it's nice not to have to cook dinner with cranky kids. No dishes to clean up afterwards doesn't hurt either.

This extended period of humid weather is not making it easy for us parents of children of a certain age - two mega-meltdowns made me late for work twice this week.

The first was Mr Four. He wanted a paper plane and, being an occasionally attentive mum, I obliged. Unfortunately, what we shall call "one of life's disappointments" came with the discovery that his Lego man could not ride on said paper plane, and discussing physics with an upset four-year-old was, not surprisingly, unsuccessful.

I shared my fractious start to the day with my colleague who was suitably sympathetic.

The next morning she naively asked: "Any tantrums this morning?" Cue hysterical laughter from my office ... Yes, Mr Six thought it was his turn to have a dramatic over-reaction, although his was a little more understandable.

As a tall lad, he'd been mistaken for a Year 3 and received a notice to enrol in pre-season hockey - he was over the moon as hockey is his latest obsession.

I'm not sure what prompted his interest in hockey, but after dabbling in soccer, ballet and basketball, it was next on his list.

So a huge frustration to discover that he was too young to sign up (hopefully he can take part in winter hockey), prompting the "I-never-want-to-go-to-school-again" waterworks.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, I had a nice surprise assembling the boys' trampoline with my dad in the weekend with only one major piece of re-work.

We started early before the sun got too hot and nearly got it finished in record time, until we discovered one tiny but significant error that prompted having to remove and reattach every single spring. Still, not too bad by our standards.

I follow a few different parenting pages on Facebook - most of them are about "peaceful parenting", which encourages patience with your children.

I do believe this is a positive, long-term approach, especially in the first three years of life when kids need security, but that doesn't mean I'm not using more colourful language under my breath.

I've started chewing Rescue Remedy pastilles. I'm not sure if the secret ingredient works or if it's more a prompt to be conscious about staying calm with that super-chewy sweet in your mouth.

It's good to have friends to share the morning (or evening) parenting sagas with. I miss my mum's group from Perth - more importantly than a common parenting philosophy, we shared a similar sense of humour and could laugh off the new parent challenges together.

One Facebook page I strongly recommend for those who do not take themselves too seriously is blogger Constance Hall. She writes hilarious posts about her dramas as a mum, whether it's accidentally picking up an escapee poo with her bare hand or failing miserably at the sexy selfie while eight months' pregnant - plus more serious posts about accepting your body and cutting yourself some slack when things feel tough.

Hall is a breath of fresh air and a great advocate for keeping it real - a must-follow on Facebook.

So my sympathies to the other parents struggling with getting the kids to school on time, feeding them healthy food, and remaining (mostly) patient on these hot evenings - it's not just farmers who need the rain.

-Nicola Young has worked in the government and private sectors in Australia and NZ and now works in Whanganui for a national charitable foundation. Educated at Whanganui Girls' College, she has a science degree and is the mother of two boys.