as dinner? Cos that's what I'm having. For lunch I had a ham and salad roll. Very nice indeed. Fresh baked bacon and cheese bun thing from the bakery. Lovely. For breakfast I think I had a partial stroke and a coffee.
Who decides what is dinner food, and what is lunch food, and what is breakfast food? And what is a snack? I say if you want to eat something eat it. If it is 10pm and you feel like cereal, have cereal. If it is 4am and you want a steak then if you can be buggered cooking a steak then do it. I don't believe in following foodie rules. If I did then I wouldn't get a mega box of KFC and eat it for every meal until it was gone.
Anyway, I digress. Tonight I am having mixed antipasto of olives, semidried tomatoes, mushrooms, artichokes, and also some itty bitty teensy tiny olives which are as of now my new favourite thing. I also have another of those bread rolls from lunch and some good quality olive oil with some balsamic vinegar and I'm doing the ole dippy thing. It is a very very nice dinner. It is only happening because I'm so shagged after last night and today dealing with the sick kidlets that there is no way I could have trusted myself around open flame. The extent of the kids cooking involved the microwave. Salad for lunch too. Healthy stuff, all good.
It's so hard seeing the kids ill. Particularly with the breathing thing. They are quite understandably leaking phlegm from every available orifice at an alarming rate, however their breathing is laboured and heavy and you can hear the congestion in every breath they take. I can feel it too. I hear them breathe and I feel the pain they feel. Does that happen with all mums?? My little ones hurt themselves and I literally physically feel their pain. Perhaps it is my way of trying to will the pain from them and into myself, for I would far rather suffer myself than have them endure even a moment's pain or sadness.
Angus had his second "taste" of solid food today. The first came courtesy of Tabitha running over and trying to put a meusli bar in his mouth. The second came courtesy of, hmmm, oh, let's see if we can guess shall we? Yes. Tabitha. Again. What was it today? Apple, with just a tiny bit of banana on the side. So why do I let this happen? I am right there. I'll tell you why. Tabitha is stealth. Tabitha has speed. One minute she is beside you, the next she is reprogramming the VCR. There is simply no stopping her. She may well end up being a spy when she grows up. Or a ninja. She's that good.
I'm thinking I should start doing some of the essay. I have done 58 words so far. 33 of them are the topic. So technically I have really only done 25 words. Pretty impressive hey. Of a 2500 word assignment I have done 1%. I just have to repeat that 99 times and I'm done. Sensational.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The only good thing
about last night was that it is finally over. All three of my little ones have a cold. It is heartbreaking listening to them struggle to breathe, hearing the phlegm in their chests and throats and noses. And when they cry and you try to cuddle the pain away they fight because they feel horrid and don't understand it.
I have had no sleep. That is understandable. When one child would settle another would awaken. On many occasions there was an overlap and I just had to deal with whichever child was more distressed of the two and go back to the other once I had settled the mega distressed one. It is not an easy situation to be in, looking after three sick kids. Daytime is okay, they are awake, you are awake, you expect things to be pretty dodgy. At night it is a case of trying to sleep. On nights like last night I don't say to myself "please I just want to get a few hours sleep" I say "please I just want to get five minutes sleep". Anything. Something. But nothing.
So today I'm fairly shattered.
I am trawling online stores today. Well, not so much online stores as catalogues for stores that I can find online. I figure if I can work out what I need asap and then organise how I can get it where it needs to be then that solves one problem, or indeed several. I need to do a mental checklist of what needs to be done. Actually I can't really rely on my mentalness so I might write a list instead.
And away I go again....children beckoning.....and in between I shall shop.....
I have had no sleep. That is understandable. When one child would settle another would awaken. On many occasions there was an overlap and I just had to deal with whichever child was more distressed of the two and go back to the other once I had settled the mega distressed one. It is not an easy situation to be in, looking after three sick kids. Daytime is okay, they are awake, you are awake, you expect things to be pretty dodgy. At night it is a case of trying to sleep. On nights like last night I don't say to myself "please I just want to get a few hours sleep" I say "please I just want to get five minutes sleep". Anything. Something. But nothing.
So today I'm fairly shattered.
I am trawling online stores today. Well, not so much online stores as catalogues for stores that I can find online. I figure if I can work out what I need asap and then organise how I can get it where it needs to be then that solves one problem, or indeed several. I need to do a mental checklist of what needs to be done. Actually I can't really rely on my mentalness so I might write a list instead.
And away I go again....children beckoning.....and in between I shall shop.....
Monday, February 7, 2011
Unexplained thuds
should always be investigated. Do not automatically assume that the thuds are a result of an unbalanced load in the washing machine that is going. They may in fact be a result of your middle child realising that if she stands up in the cot she can reach the bookcase. And those thuds may just be the sound of books being dropped from said bookcase to the floor, one by one. And you may come in to see a very guilty looking child, book in hand, and a rather large pile of books unceremoneously plonked at the foot of the cot.
We had another road trip today. In many ways a very successful one, in other ways not so much. The success was that we went to look at a rental property and it ticked every box. And it "felt" right. And I think that is more important than anything to be honest. So I filled in the application on the spot, as I had brought everything I may need with me just on the offchance that it was the right place, and within half an hour the real estate agent had phoned me to ask some questions, phoned the owner of the property and phoned me once again to tell me the application was successful. So next week starts the next chapter in our lives and we have a beautiful new house to live in.
Lexi picked it. Odd? Yes. We were looking through numerous properties on the internet and she was looking at the photos with me then this house popped up and she said "I want this one mum". I said "really?" And she said "yes please mum". Interesting. So I phoned, made an appointment, we loaded up and off we went. When we got there Lexi was beside herself with excitement, standing at the door waiting patiently for the real estate agent to arrive to show us through. As he opened the door she ran through all the rooms excitedly, landing finally in the lounge room with a huge smile on her face and promptly said "this is my new house mummy!". Okay then. So I looked through the rest of it, out the back, fabulous yard, house itself is pristine being that nobody has lived in it before, and it really is just lovely. Application filled out and time to get back in the car. Hmmm. Lexi again. "Noooooooooooo!!! This is my new house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Needless to say she liked it and did not want to leave. She would have been happy to move in then and there. So I explained to her that we needed to go through the process (yes, pointless, but still, I tried), we hopped in the car, did a drive thru at Maccas to grab some food, Angus is screaming by this stage because he is starving, Lexi is screaming because she didn't want to leave and I am desperately searching for a park in which to eat our lunch. I did not find a park, I found a large grassy area that was good enough, or so I thought. I didn't factor in the huge rains that have fallen of late and discovered too late that the dirt was not dirt but mud, so everyone was pretty well covered in it, although happy because they had some food and drink.
Angus fed. Check. Girls fed. Check. Mud everywhere. Check. Nappies changed. Check. Let's get back in the car and head home. Phew. Massive effort.
Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to settling in there. I don't actually have any furniture as yet, save for a few things that friends have very kindly donated, so that in itself poses a few challenges. I'll need to get my boots on and get organised, for I have only 9 or 10 days to do so. Can't move in without beds for the kids so that is top priority. Me, I can sleep on the floor. Angus, he can sleep on some blankets on the floor until the cot arrives a few days later. No problems. Just gotta get the girls beds sorted. And a fridge. And a microwave. And a tv. We'll be right.
Results of one of my assignments came back today and although I didn't do as well as the first one I wasn't terribly surprised, for it was the assignment on shipping law that I found about as exciting as pulling the hairs out of my big toe one by one. Pointless, painful, and something I really never need to do or know about. But it means that even if for some random reason I don't complete the next assignment I have still passed the subject. That's a nice feeling.
I'm having a glass of champers to celebrate the impending move because I think it is cause for celebration. Moving forward. Thinking to the future. I chose the location for several reasons. It is not too far from family, and importantly it is close enough to be commutable to Melbourne for when I start work once my Masters degree is finished. It's all good.
Now I must continue the efforts at actually getting the Masters done and head down bum up it and do some study. Each of the kids has been up already, Tabitha in a very messy way. She does not handle teething well at all. Poor poppet. And Lexi, well, let's just call her a sympathy crier shall we. At least tonight it isn't as cold as last night and hopefully my chapped lips will stop burning so I can enjoy this champers and get stuck into the wonders of the Privacy Act of 1988. Fabulous.
We had another road trip today. In many ways a very successful one, in other ways not so much. The success was that we went to look at a rental property and it ticked every box. And it "felt" right. And I think that is more important than anything to be honest. So I filled in the application on the spot, as I had brought everything I may need with me just on the offchance that it was the right place, and within half an hour the real estate agent had phoned me to ask some questions, phoned the owner of the property and phoned me once again to tell me the application was successful. So next week starts the next chapter in our lives and we have a beautiful new house to live in.
Lexi picked it. Odd? Yes. We were looking through numerous properties on the internet and she was looking at the photos with me then this house popped up and she said "I want this one mum". I said "really?" And she said "yes please mum". Interesting. So I phoned, made an appointment, we loaded up and off we went. When we got there Lexi was beside herself with excitement, standing at the door waiting patiently for the real estate agent to arrive to show us through. As he opened the door she ran through all the rooms excitedly, landing finally in the lounge room with a huge smile on her face and promptly said "this is my new house mummy!". Okay then. So I looked through the rest of it, out the back, fabulous yard, house itself is pristine being that nobody has lived in it before, and it really is just lovely. Application filled out and time to get back in the car. Hmmm. Lexi again. "Noooooooooooo!!! This is my new house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Needless to say she liked it and did not want to leave. She would have been happy to move in then and there. So I explained to her that we needed to go through the process (yes, pointless, but still, I tried), we hopped in the car, did a drive thru at Maccas to grab some food, Angus is screaming by this stage because he is starving, Lexi is screaming because she didn't want to leave and I am desperately searching for a park in which to eat our lunch. I did not find a park, I found a large grassy area that was good enough, or so I thought. I didn't factor in the huge rains that have fallen of late and discovered too late that the dirt was not dirt but mud, so everyone was pretty well covered in it, although happy because they had some food and drink.
Angus fed. Check. Girls fed. Check. Mud everywhere. Check. Nappies changed. Check. Let's get back in the car and head home. Phew. Massive effort.
Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to settling in there. I don't actually have any furniture as yet, save for a few things that friends have very kindly donated, so that in itself poses a few challenges. I'll need to get my boots on and get organised, for I have only 9 or 10 days to do so. Can't move in without beds for the kids so that is top priority. Me, I can sleep on the floor. Angus, he can sleep on some blankets on the floor until the cot arrives a few days later. No problems. Just gotta get the girls beds sorted. And a fridge. And a microwave. And a tv. We'll be right.
Results of one of my assignments came back today and although I didn't do as well as the first one I wasn't terribly surprised, for it was the assignment on shipping law that I found about as exciting as pulling the hairs out of my big toe one by one. Pointless, painful, and something I really never need to do or know about. But it means that even if for some random reason I don't complete the next assignment I have still passed the subject. That's a nice feeling.
I'm having a glass of champers to celebrate the impending move because I think it is cause for celebration. Moving forward. Thinking to the future. I chose the location for several reasons. It is not too far from family, and importantly it is close enough to be commutable to Melbourne for when I start work once my Masters degree is finished. It's all good.
Now I must continue the efforts at actually getting the Masters done and head down bum up it and do some study. Each of the kids has been up already, Tabitha in a very messy way. She does not handle teething well at all. Poor poppet. And Lexi, well, let's just call her a sympathy crier shall we. At least tonight it isn't as cold as last night and hopefully my chapped lips will stop burning so I can enjoy this champers and get stuck into the wonders of the Privacy Act of 1988. Fabulous.
From one extreme
to the other it would seem. I left a climate where it was 26 degrees and 98% humidity at 6 in the morning, even earlier. Now I'm sittting here, in February, with the heater on because it is 5 degrees and I can't feel my ass. Not, as I have mentioned to others, that I actually want to feel my ass, but you know what I mean.
I tried a different method to keep Tabitha in bed this morning, and I'm sorry to say it was a rousing failure. However I will know for next time that that method doesn't work. I'm not really surprised to be honest. It was a long shot, and being that she is only 19 months old I didn't really anticipate she had the maturity to comprehend what I was saying. Lexi doesn't either. Actually, I'm not sure it would work on anyone of any age. I speak of begging. Pleading. Pleeeeeeeease go back to sleep Tabitha. And you can't bribe them with food in the middle of the night or early morning either. There is no "I'll make you a milkshake later if you go to sleep now" because all they hear is "blah blah blah milkshake blah blah blah" and you're done for. They want milkshake now.
I didn't end up doing any of my essay last night. I needed a night off. I didn't get great things achieved though, I just fluffed around on the internet. And then went to bed. And basically as soon as I was in bed Angus woke up. He does it on purpose, I swear. At least Tabitha had a good night. Just an early morning. But I'll be thankful for small mercies.
What can we do today? Methinks it is day 'o cleaning today. I need to vacuum again, I have been all together slack with that, however the thought of roaming the floors on my knees to accommodate the lack of vacuum sucky pole thing is not terrifically alluring, particularly considering I can't feel my ass, and as such, bending down etc is slightly less easy than it would be were I able to feel said ass.
I think I should cook something today, get the oven going to warm the place up a bit. I have some apples that are looking a bit greener than green so I think I'll make an apple tea cake. Just gotta find some brown sugar. Actually I might chuck some golden syrup in too, just for good measure. Wonder if there's any vanilla essence anywhere....hmmm......
I'm not much of a baker, although I can bake. I just don't. I don't really like sweet foods. I much prefer savoury, any day of the week. Except when I'm pregnant, then I could eat the entire contents of the cabinet at Donut King and ask where we're going next.
I had a hankering for roast pork and crackling this morning. Okay, I'll be honest, I hankered just for the crackling. Very tempted to make a mercy dash into town to buy a roast, however there is no such thing as a quick dash with three kids so perhaps I'll just use my imagination, google a picture, and get one next time I'm in town.
I should probably get organised. I have had half a cup of coffee and that is beginning to warm me up in conjunction with the heater. 5 degrees. In summer. That's insane.
I tried a different method to keep Tabitha in bed this morning, and I'm sorry to say it was a rousing failure. However I will know for next time that that method doesn't work. I'm not really surprised to be honest. It was a long shot, and being that she is only 19 months old I didn't really anticipate she had the maturity to comprehend what I was saying. Lexi doesn't either. Actually, I'm not sure it would work on anyone of any age. I speak of begging. Pleading. Pleeeeeeeease go back to sleep Tabitha. And you can't bribe them with food in the middle of the night or early morning either. There is no "I'll make you a milkshake later if you go to sleep now" because all they hear is "blah blah blah milkshake blah blah blah" and you're done for. They want milkshake now.
I didn't end up doing any of my essay last night. I needed a night off. I didn't get great things achieved though, I just fluffed around on the internet. And then went to bed. And basically as soon as I was in bed Angus woke up. He does it on purpose, I swear. At least Tabitha had a good night. Just an early morning. But I'll be thankful for small mercies.
What can we do today? Methinks it is day 'o cleaning today. I need to vacuum again, I have been all together slack with that, however the thought of roaming the floors on my knees to accommodate the lack of vacuum sucky pole thing is not terrifically alluring, particularly considering I can't feel my ass, and as such, bending down etc is slightly less easy than it would be were I able to feel said ass.
I think I should cook something today, get the oven going to warm the place up a bit. I have some apples that are looking a bit greener than green so I think I'll make an apple tea cake. Just gotta find some brown sugar. Actually I might chuck some golden syrup in too, just for good measure. Wonder if there's any vanilla essence anywhere....hmmm......
I'm not much of a baker, although I can bake. I just don't. I don't really like sweet foods. I much prefer savoury, any day of the week. Except when I'm pregnant, then I could eat the entire contents of the cabinet at Donut King and ask where we're going next.
I had a hankering for roast pork and crackling this morning. Okay, I'll be honest, I hankered just for the crackling. Very tempted to make a mercy dash into town to buy a roast, however there is no such thing as a quick dash with three kids so perhaps I'll just use my imagination, google a picture, and get one next time I'm in town.
I should probably get organised. I have had half a cup of coffee and that is beginning to warm me up in conjunction with the heater. 5 degrees. In summer. That's insane.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Teeth are a bitch
Doesn't matter how old you are or how many kids you have, teeth are a bitch. Nothing surer. Tabitha has managed to crack one of the canines as I believe I mentioned the other day, however there are three mongrels of the same variety, plus the double molars, to come. And are they coming or what. Mini chick is absolutely inconsolable. Now that's not really too much of a stretch when you take into consideration that she is a bit precious at the best of times, but now, well, it isn't good. Combine that with the fact that my "advanced" child is well and truly in the terrible 2s six months early and it's all happening chez moi.
Mini dude, it seems, is also having the same frustrations. Identical. How identical if he is only four months old and she is not? I'll tell you. Because it appears the first tooth he is getting is, wait for it, a canine. Impossible? No. Tabitha's first tooth was a canine. It popped out the front of her gum when she was 6 months old, then two months later it disappeared again. What a bastard. So I wait and see if Angus will cop the same sorry fate. Poor little buggers.
I'm usually one that needs a little bit of warning to do things, some preparation time, however today I was absolutely rapt to receive an invitation to meet one of my online friends IRL (in real life for those of you who obviously haven't spent any time on forums or facebook....). It was the opening of a kiddy playland thingy so I thought yep, that'll be the perfect distraction for mini chick and Lexi will love it too. So I went like a bat out of hell, dressed all the kids, coped with tantrum after tantrum from both Tabitha and Angus (although I can't really call Angus's a tantrum cos after all he's only a baby but I thought it would save some words, which apparently it hasn't because I've just gone on for two sentences about how it isn't really a tantrum. Go figure) and then we were off.
Note to self - when you save a new mobile phone number into your phone make sure you have the numbers in the correct order. There is some random waiting for me to arrive as I said I was well on the way about 9 hours ago.
I don't think I actually fully thought through the ramifications of my actions today. It was only once I was almost at the kiddy playland place that I realised that this was, in fact, the first time I had ever been anywhere "public" with the three kids by myself. I have been places with them before, but always meeting someone at the other end who would help me dismount the kidlets from the vehicle. Today, well, I was on my own. I felt my blood pressure rise and got a hot flush. I can do this. I can do this. I was that little engine that could.
When we arrived (which in itself was a monumental effort considering I didn't actually know where I was going, couldn't seem to negotiate google maps on my phone and went up and down the same street half a dozen times before pulling in at the wrong place, on the nature strip purely by accident which was waterlogged from the storms so I got mildly bogged then spewed brown mud everywhere) I was ready. Psychologically. Physically. We were going to do this. I must add though that after the fourth take down the street I thought it might be a sign that I had just bitten off a little more than I could chew.
Anyway, in the car park and I had a chat to Lexi and explained to her that she had to be a big girl and stand by the car once I got her out so I could then put Angus in to the pram, get Tabitha and the bags out of the car, and then we would all walk in to the centre together. She did brilliantly. I was uber proud. I love the word uber. Sounds like goober. Or doozer. And that makes me think of fraggle rock and those mini dudes that used to make the little structures that the fraggles would eat. I loved that show. And the dog, Sprocket. He rocked.
So we made it inside. Phew. Massive effort. And Tabitha held my hand, which is also a massive effort because it is such a recent development, one which I am rapt has sunk in. It's quite funny when you ask someone if they are using a chair and they say no that's fine take it, and you do and you sit at the table beside them and then send a message to the person you are meeting who you haven't met before and they send you a message back and say that they are sitting right behind you and it is in fact the person who you just asked for a chair from. It was a "bahahah" moment. And I felt like a knob. As you do. Oh well. I got over it.
Lexi had a BALL. She loved it. She was in her element, bouncing on the trampoline, playing in the ball pit, sliding down the slide, then sliding down the stairs of the slide (couldn't quite understand why she felt the need to do this but she was quite content so I let her be). Tabitha did better than I would have expected. In strange situations where there are many new people sometimes she retreats into herself and becomes very clingy. She did this on occasion, but she managed to get into the play area for quite some time before the inevitable mini panic occurred and she came out. But overall she did brilliantly.
The scenario that terrified me the most was when we had to go. I had prepared Lexi that she should be good when we leave and not cry. Yep. I know. Delusional. She was not good. She did cry. Actually howl might be a more appropriate word. Still, I managed to put her shoes on (actually I put her shoes on Tabitha first then she freaked out because I was trying to put Tabitha's shoes on her, so then I had to unshoe Tabitha and reshoe her with the right ones then shoe Lexi and it was all very complex). There were tears as we were leaving and I was grateful to have my previous online friend and now new IRL friend walk out with us, which just added that extra buffer zone.
Kids all in car. Check. Bags in car check. Pram in car. Um. No. I have borrowed a pram. I do not know how to fold this pram. The few times I have done it successfully have been a miracle and I was stupid enough not to pay proper attention to how it was done. So I needed rescuing there....and it appears that you need to unlock the handle before the pram will fold up. That is today's lesson.
Another lesson for the day? Taking Lexi to a kiddy playland induces sleep. Rock on.
We took a bit of a detour and perused the various different areas we (read as me) are considering moving to. I am mighty glad we did actually. It is so difficult to get a proper indication of what a place is like by simply online photos on realestate.com or google earth. It doesn't give you the feel of the place at all. And so what I had thought at the start of the day and what I now think are two totally separate things.
I'm going to have a slack night tonight. Maybe half an hour or so of essay research, fluff around on facebook for a while, then chill in front of the box and have a semi early night. Sounds like a plan.
Mini dude, it seems, is also having the same frustrations. Identical. How identical if he is only four months old and she is not? I'll tell you. Because it appears the first tooth he is getting is, wait for it, a canine. Impossible? No. Tabitha's first tooth was a canine. It popped out the front of her gum when she was 6 months old, then two months later it disappeared again. What a bastard. So I wait and see if Angus will cop the same sorry fate. Poor little buggers.
I'm usually one that needs a little bit of warning to do things, some preparation time, however today I was absolutely rapt to receive an invitation to meet one of my online friends IRL (in real life for those of you who obviously haven't spent any time on forums or facebook....). It was the opening of a kiddy playland thingy so I thought yep, that'll be the perfect distraction for mini chick and Lexi will love it too. So I went like a bat out of hell, dressed all the kids, coped with tantrum after tantrum from both Tabitha and Angus (although I can't really call Angus's a tantrum cos after all he's only a baby but I thought it would save some words, which apparently it hasn't because I've just gone on for two sentences about how it isn't really a tantrum. Go figure) and then we were off.
Note to self - when you save a new mobile phone number into your phone make sure you have the numbers in the correct order. There is some random waiting for me to arrive as I said I was well on the way about 9 hours ago.
I don't think I actually fully thought through the ramifications of my actions today. It was only once I was almost at the kiddy playland place that I realised that this was, in fact, the first time I had ever been anywhere "public" with the three kids by myself. I have been places with them before, but always meeting someone at the other end who would help me dismount the kidlets from the vehicle. Today, well, I was on my own. I felt my blood pressure rise and got a hot flush. I can do this. I can do this. I was that little engine that could.
When we arrived (which in itself was a monumental effort considering I didn't actually know where I was going, couldn't seem to negotiate google maps on my phone and went up and down the same street half a dozen times before pulling in at the wrong place, on the nature strip purely by accident which was waterlogged from the storms so I got mildly bogged then spewed brown mud everywhere) I was ready. Psychologically. Physically. We were going to do this. I must add though that after the fourth take down the street I thought it might be a sign that I had just bitten off a little more than I could chew.
Anyway, in the car park and I had a chat to Lexi and explained to her that she had to be a big girl and stand by the car once I got her out so I could then put Angus in to the pram, get Tabitha and the bags out of the car, and then we would all walk in to the centre together. She did brilliantly. I was uber proud. I love the word uber. Sounds like goober. Or doozer. And that makes me think of fraggle rock and those mini dudes that used to make the little structures that the fraggles would eat. I loved that show. And the dog, Sprocket. He rocked.
So we made it inside. Phew. Massive effort. And Tabitha held my hand, which is also a massive effort because it is such a recent development, one which I am rapt has sunk in. It's quite funny when you ask someone if they are using a chair and they say no that's fine take it, and you do and you sit at the table beside them and then send a message to the person you are meeting who you haven't met before and they send you a message back and say that they are sitting right behind you and it is in fact the person who you just asked for a chair from. It was a "bahahah" moment. And I felt like a knob. As you do. Oh well. I got over it.
Lexi had a BALL. She loved it. She was in her element, bouncing on the trampoline, playing in the ball pit, sliding down the slide, then sliding down the stairs of the slide (couldn't quite understand why she felt the need to do this but she was quite content so I let her be). Tabitha did better than I would have expected. In strange situations where there are many new people sometimes she retreats into herself and becomes very clingy. She did this on occasion, but she managed to get into the play area for quite some time before the inevitable mini panic occurred and she came out. But overall she did brilliantly.
The scenario that terrified me the most was when we had to go. I had prepared Lexi that she should be good when we leave and not cry. Yep. I know. Delusional. She was not good. She did cry. Actually howl might be a more appropriate word. Still, I managed to put her shoes on (actually I put her shoes on Tabitha first then she freaked out because I was trying to put Tabitha's shoes on her, so then I had to unshoe Tabitha and reshoe her with the right ones then shoe Lexi and it was all very complex). There were tears as we were leaving and I was grateful to have my previous online friend and now new IRL friend walk out with us, which just added that extra buffer zone.
Kids all in car. Check. Bags in car check. Pram in car. Um. No. I have borrowed a pram. I do not know how to fold this pram. The few times I have done it successfully have been a miracle and I was stupid enough not to pay proper attention to how it was done. So I needed rescuing there....and it appears that you need to unlock the handle before the pram will fold up. That is today's lesson.
Another lesson for the day? Taking Lexi to a kiddy playland induces sleep. Rock on.
We took a bit of a detour and perused the various different areas we (read as me) are considering moving to. I am mighty glad we did actually. It is so difficult to get a proper indication of what a place is like by simply online photos on realestate.com or google earth. It doesn't give you the feel of the place at all. And so what I had thought at the start of the day and what I now think are two totally separate things.
I'm going to have a slack night tonight. Maybe half an hour or so of essay research, fluff around on facebook for a while, then chill in front of the box and have a semi early night. Sounds like a plan.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
There is no privacy
when you are a mum. You have little shadows that follow you around everywhere, and pop up behind you, or in front of you, or beside you, or sometimes whichever place is the least convenient for them to pop up. You can certainly say goodbye to going to the bathroom by yourself, or to the toilet. I went to the loo this morning followed by my two little shadows. As I had a little sniffle I grabbed a piece of toilet paper and blew my nose. Silly me. Lexi pipes up in a very perturbed tone "Nooooo mummy!! That's for your BUM". Hmmm. Maybe I should say bottom instead of bum when I say I'm going to change them.....
We went visiting today. Lexi knew we were going visiting today when she went to bed last night. This was perhaps a mistake. For she awoke at 7am and the first thing she said was "is it time to go yet?". We were due to leave at 2.30pm. I was in for 7.5 hours of this. And dutifully, every five or six minutes, Lexi would ask a variation of the same question. "Is it time yet?" "Can we leave now?" "Should I get my shoes?" and my all time favourite, "Dee (this is what Lexi calls herself because she can't say her own name...) wants to go now, Tab Tab wants to go now, Angus wants to go now, Mummy wants to go now". Yep. By 11 o'clock I thought I was going insane. By 12 I knew I was and by 1 we were all dressed, ready and in the car and had prepared the visitees for our early arrival because I simply couldn't handle it anymore. Methinks words must be said next time we have a visit arranged, or perhaps no words and we can make it a surprise. Either way, something needs to be done before next time.
All three kids slept for most of the hour drive. It is an amazing feeling to know three little folks that you created are mere feet behind you, sleeping gently, dreaming of Elmo or Play School or food or whatever it is that goes through their mind. And as soon as the car stops the eyes pop wide open, much like one of those dolls whose eyes close when they lay down and pop open when they sit up. And the car starts again and the eyes close and the heads droop and Bob's your uncle.
The kids had fun playing with their cousins, and ate far too much chocolate, which is something they don't get a great deal of here unless it is splattered onto a meusli bar because I'm allergic to chocolate so I simply don't buy it. Anyway, they had yummy special treat food, got to play dress ups and also to spend some time with family which was great. Bathed them all there and then when we headed home I could (theoretically, this is the key word) get them out of the car and pop them straight into bed. That theory worked really well. Bahahahah. Tabitha got out of the car first, and started crying hysterically once I put her inside. Good start. Angus I got out next and popped into his cot, but he stirred and I knew it wasn't long before he would fully awaken, so I had to move quickly. Lexi, I unbuckled, lifted her out of the seat, she wrapped her arms around me like tendrils of a passionfruit vine wrap around that which they are climbing, and I took her past the screaming heap of tears Tabitha, down the hall and popped her straight into bed whereupon she plumetted into the land of slumber literally without batting an eyelid.
Back to Tabitha, gave her a bottle, she was happy, hugging Julia (her doll), and so I changed her and popped her into her cot. And then Angus woke up (for which I was fully prepared) I changed him, gave him a bottle, la di da di da, and into bed he went.
All down for the count by 8.30pm. Not bad. That said Angus has woken up once and Lexi has woken up once and it's not 9.30pm yet, but they did settle straight back down again.
I've managed to get on to the uni website so all my books are now requested. Now it is a case of do I wait for them to arrive to start the essay or do I start researching articles. I know what the answer is bugger it. It's the bloody latter. Why can't, just for once, it be the former?? Once these essays are done I commence the next lot of subjects, five more to go till the course is finished, three of those this semester. It should be okay. I think. I hope. My philosophy is this.....each subject this semester had three assignments. So that's six for the semester. Next semester I am doing three subjects however they only have two assignments each, so theoretically even though it is one more subject it should be no more work than this semester. Good thinking? We shall see.
I should keep going now I'm on a pseudo roll. The weather is still playing funny buggers so I might light the "just in case the power goes out" candle and get to it. Hope one and all are having a relaxing weekend.
We went visiting today. Lexi knew we were going visiting today when she went to bed last night. This was perhaps a mistake. For she awoke at 7am and the first thing she said was "is it time to go yet?". We were due to leave at 2.30pm. I was in for 7.5 hours of this. And dutifully, every five or six minutes, Lexi would ask a variation of the same question. "Is it time yet?" "Can we leave now?" "Should I get my shoes?" and my all time favourite, "Dee (this is what Lexi calls herself because she can't say her own name...) wants to go now, Tab Tab wants to go now, Angus wants to go now, Mummy wants to go now". Yep. By 11 o'clock I thought I was going insane. By 12 I knew I was and by 1 we were all dressed, ready and in the car and had prepared the visitees for our early arrival because I simply couldn't handle it anymore. Methinks words must be said next time we have a visit arranged, or perhaps no words and we can make it a surprise. Either way, something needs to be done before next time.
All three kids slept for most of the hour drive. It is an amazing feeling to know three little folks that you created are mere feet behind you, sleeping gently, dreaming of Elmo or Play School or food or whatever it is that goes through their mind. And as soon as the car stops the eyes pop wide open, much like one of those dolls whose eyes close when they lay down and pop open when they sit up. And the car starts again and the eyes close and the heads droop and Bob's your uncle.
The kids had fun playing with their cousins, and ate far too much chocolate, which is something they don't get a great deal of here unless it is splattered onto a meusli bar because I'm allergic to chocolate so I simply don't buy it. Anyway, they had yummy special treat food, got to play dress ups and also to spend some time with family which was great. Bathed them all there and then when we headed home I could (theoretically, this is the key word) get them out of the car and pop them straight into bed. That theory worked really well. Bahahahah. Tabitha got out of the car first, and started crying hysterically once I put her inside. Good start. Angus I got out next and popped into his cot, but he stirred and I knew it wasn't long before he would fully awaken, so I had to move quickly. Lexi, I unbuckled, lifted her out of the seat, she wrapped her arms around me like tendrils of a passionfruit vine wrap around that which they are climbing, and I took her past the screaming heap of tears Tabitha, down the hall and popped her straight into bed whereupon she plumetted into the land of slumber literally without batting an eyelid.
Back to Tabitha, gave her a bottle, she was happy, hugging Julia (her doll), and so I changed her and popped her into her cot. And then Angus woke up (for which I was fully prepared) I changed him, gave him a bottle, la di da di da, and into bed he went.
All down for the count by 8.30pm. Not bad. That said Angus has woken up once and Lexi has woken up once and it's not 9.30pm yet, but they did settle straight back down again.
I've managed to get on to the uni website so all my books are now requested. Now it is a case of do I wait for them to arrive to start the essay or do I start researching articles. I know what the answer is bugger it. It's the bloody latter. Why can't, just for once, it be the former?? Once these essays are done I commence the next lot of subjects, five more to go till the course is finished, three of those this semester. It should be okay. I think. I hope. My philosophy is this.....each subject this semester had three assignments. So that's six for the semester. Next semester I am doing three subjects however they only have two assignments each, so theoretically even though it is one more subject it should be no more work than this semester. Good thinking? We shall see.
I should keep going now I'm on a pseudo roll. The weather is still playing funny buggers so I might light the "just in case the power goes out" candle and get to it. Hope one and all are having a relaxing weekend.
For some reason
I'm feeling excited. I have no idea why. There is nothing astoundingly monumental coming up, but there are a few minor things that perhaps have grouped themselves together in the butterfly cavity in my stomach and thus it becomes excitement.
I just said to Lexi "I'm going to change Angus's bottom" and she said "good girl mum". I love it. Positive reinforcement. Just proves to me though that she hears me when I give her and Tabitha (and Angus to a lesser extent) positive reinforcement. It's actually quite hilarious when Angus lets out a ripper burp and I say good boy Lexi basically comes running over and with huge enthusiasm shouts out "good BOY Angus, well DONE". Gotta love it.
I got a bit done study wise last night but the whole uni site down thing did me no favours. I went to bed earlier than usual. Unfortunately Angus awoke earlier than usual so I didn't actually get to sleep any earlier than usual.
Tabitha just sat down on the little mock car toy thing. Well it isn't a car, but it is a seat and pedals and a steering wheel and it makes noise and has a little seatbelt. Anyway, as soon as Tabitha sat down Lexi said "my turn". So I have just tried to explain to her that just because Tabitha is playing on something (which subsequently reminds Lexi that that something exists) it does not mean that it is automatically her turn. She doesn't quite seem to understand. So she stands there stalking Tabitha as she sits on the toy, waiting until she stands up then stealths herself into the seat. Voila. Success. However Tabitha then moseyed on over to the table where Lexi's breakfast remains were, dutifully sat herself down in front of the bowl and started munching on Lexi's breakfast, where in Lexi arose from the car seat (which has now lost all appeal because nobody else wants to use it) and reminds Tabitha that it is HER breakfast, not Tabitha's. It's a constant battle really. Why is it that kids only want what others have, then as soon as they get it, they don't want it?
We're having a little get together this arvo with some of the cousins so I'm hoping the kids all run around madly and get exhausted which will then make them sleep on the trip home, which granted is only an hour or so, but I hope this sleep extends enough for me to get them all out of the car and plonk them into their beds. My goal for this morning is to get the house and bedrooms etc clean and wonderful looking so that when we get back later this evening I can chuck the kids into bed and everything is done. It's a modest goal, although depending on how the day goes it may be completely inachievable, or not unreachable. At the moment Tabitha is kneeling on the ground in front of Angus's swing swinging it back and forth and Lexi is back on the car toy thing. And everyone seems happy. For now.
Me, I have had one coffee, my first in several days, and I am thinking that another is due. You'll be happy to know that it is has been several days since my last Red Bull, not that I haven't wanted one, just haven't had access to one. I have had coke, but not a huge amount. I'm even thinking of not ordering it in the next grocery shop.......yes, I realise that is idiotic, however give me some cudos for at least thinking about it.
Don't you hate when you realise, in the morning, that you forgot to wash the pan you made dinner in last night? I did all the other dishes but for some reason the pan (and I mean pan in the big sense, it is one of those electric banquet frypan things which are enormous so pretty hard to miss) is still sitting there, unwashed. Domestic blindness must have struck.
Lexi just saw a bird. And another bird. "I see another bird mum!!!" "And another bird mum!!!!" "LOOOOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". Gotta love the excitement. And she is now holding out a spoon with a piece of nutri grain on it to the window saying "here you go bird." Precious. But if I find out it's that insane kamikaze bird from the other night I won't be happy......
I just said to Lexi "I'm going to change Angus's bottom" and she said "good girl mum". I love it. Positive reinforcement. Just proves to me though that she hears me when I give her and Tabitha (and Angus to a lesser extent) positive reinforcement. It's actually quite hilarious when Angus lets out a ripper burp and I say good boy Lexi basically comes running over and with huge enthusiasm shouts out "good BOY Angus, well DONE". Gotta love it.
I got a bit done study wise last night but the whole uni site down thing did me no favours. I went to bed earlier than usual. Unfortunately Angus awoke earlier than usual so I didn't actually get to sleep any earlier than usual.
Tabitha just sat down on the little mock car toy thing. Well it isn't a car, but it is a seat and pedals and a steering wheel and it makes noise and has a little seatbelt. Anyway, as soon as Tabitha sat down Lexi said "my turn". So I have just tried to explain to her that just because Tabitha is playing on something (which subsequently reminds Lexi that that something exists) it does not mean that it is automatically her turn. She doesn't quite seem to understand. So she stands there stalking Tabitha as she sits on the toy, waiting until she stands up then stealths herself into the seat. Voila. Success. However Tabitha then moseyed on over to the table where Lexi's breakfast remains were, dutifully sat herself down in front of the bowl and started munching on Lexi's breakfast, where in Lexi arose from the car seat (which has now lost all appeal because nobody else wants to use it) and reminds Tabitha that it is HER breakfast, not Tabitha's. It's a constant battle really. Why is it that kids only want what others have, then as soon as they get it, they don't want it?
We're having a little get together this arvo with some of the cousins so I'm hoping the kids all run around madly and get exhausted which will then make them sleep on the trip home, which granted is only an hour or so, but I hope this sleep extends enough for me to get them all out of the car and plonk them into their beds. My goal for this morning is to get the house and bedrooms etc clean and wonderful looking so that when we get back later this evening I can chuck the kids into bed and everything is done. It's a modest goal, although depending on how the day goes it may be completely inachievable, or not unreachable. At the moment Tabitha is kneeling on the ground in front of Angus's swing swinging it back and forth and Lexi is back on the car toy thing. And everyone seems happy. For now.
Me, I have had one coffee, my first in several days, and I am thinking that another is due. You'll be happy to know that it is has been several days since my last Red Bull, not that I haven't wanted one, just haven't had access to one. I have had coke, but not a huge amount. I'm even thinking of not ordering it in the next grocery shop.......yes, I realise that is idiotic, however give me some cudos for at least thinking about it.
Don't you hate when you realise, in the morning, that you forgot to wash the pan you made dinner in last night? I did all the other dishes but for some reason the pan (and I mean pan in the big sense, it is one of those electric banquet frypan things which are enormous so pretty hard to miss) is still sitting there, unwashed. Domestic blindness must have struck.
Lexi just saw a bird. And another bird. "I see another bird mum!!!" "And another bird mum!!!!" "LOOOOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". Gotta love the excitement. And she is now holding out a spoon with a piece of nutri grain on it to the window saying "here you go bird." Precious. But if I find out it's that insane kamikaze bird from the other night I won't be happy......
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)