Christmas......bring it on!! xx

Well, here we are, nearly at Christmas! I absolutely love Christmas time. I love the lights, the glitter, the magic, the sparkle and everything! I love the snow too (so long as we don’t have to drive anywhere in it!) We have had a bit of snow here this year, but not enough to get the sledges out unfortunately! But seeing the snow falling was brilliant! The kids have broken up from school (yay!) the presents and food are just about sorted, just a few last minute bits to do, so it feels like it can really begin now! The girls are all incredibly excited, it’s funny, when you’re a child, you spend so long looking forward to something that is all over in a flash! Abbie can barely wait, she is so excited!! But give it a couple of days and that’ll be it for this year, and it’ll be another whole year to go.

The down side of Christmas though is all the extra cooking, cleaning, sorting, shopping and preparation that go into the all important couple of days!! Then, you wonder, as you try desperately to get the door shut on the ‘over full’ fridge, whether all this extra food is really necessary? It’s not as though we are going into hibernation for the winter, although, quite probably, we have enough food to last us until about March.

Then there’s the ‘half a toy shop’ worth of toys that will appear under the tree for four very lucky little girls. I have tried to have a bit of a pre-Christmas clear out in anticipation of the onslaught of new stuff, but I’m still not sure where they’re going to put it all. I have no doubt, that come Christmas day, we will be in danger of drowning in a sea of festive patterned wrapping paper!!

Next is the cooking of the turkey........ Delia? Jamie? Or Nigella? Oh the decisions! Whichever we choose, a good few hours of preparing, cooking and cleaning up is still ahead! All for a meal that is over in a matter of hours!

I can already feel the over-indulgence kicking in, better loosen that belt a bit and start my diet with vigour in the New Year!!

I hope that you all have a really wonderful and magical Christmas...I hope Father Christmas brings you all you want and that whatever you get up to, you have a brilliant time!!

a hundred things to do!

I was thinking the other day, how much easier my life would be if someone would come and do all the washing, cleaning and cooking for me!! Just imagine having plenty of time to spend with the kids and not having to get cross with them for wanting you to do things with them, whilst you are trying to do numerous other tasks. I was trying to cook Sunday lunch on Sunday (obviously!!) and I had made the mistake of setting Abbie and Millie off on the task of making and decorating their little Christmas pots to fill with sweets for a school competition (after giving in to Abbie’s constant and persistent nagging that she must make her competition pot right now!) So in between peeling the veg, I manage to get out some glue, scissors, tissue paper, glitter and sticky bits and leave all the kids happily at the craft table creating their master pieces! (If Hannah puts any more glue on that paper it will surely disintegrate into a yucky, sticky mess.......ohhh yep, there it goes!) So now, in between cooking the roast potatoes, making the gravy, making bread sauce, I now have to help with the shiny bits that keep falling off the pots, peeling the backs off the sticky googly eyes, and mopping up some of the vast amount of glue that Hannah is in danger of drowning in. In between turning the roast potatoes and stirring the gravy, I see a slim window of opportunity to quickly get the washing out of the machine and load it into the dryer, however, mid task I am urgently summoned to get some paint out, as the box that Millie has used for her Christmas sleigh needs painting before she can stick the bits on it. In an effort not to let them get paint everywhere, I put a bit of newspaper on the worktop, and let her stand on a chair in the kitchen to quickly paint the box. However, the chances of getting a task like that done quickly with minimal disruption is almost non existent! So the rest of the clan duly troop into the kitchen, demanding their turn at some painting and suddenly I am surrounded by pieces of paper drowning in paint (Hannah’s technique again!!) in amongst cooking the Sunday dinner! So I rush between mopping up paint and glue, to stir the bread sauce, pack up some of the shiny bits, get the chicken out the oven, vac up a bit of glitter, lay the table, finish putting the washing in the dryer, put the ‘wonderful creations’ somewhere for the glue and paint to dry, put the veg on to steam, wash the paint pot and glue sticks, carve the chicken, dish up everyone’s dinner.....phew! To top it all, the dishwasher has packed up and I am faced with a mountain of washing up!!

Always on the school run!!

Always on the school run,
When we should be on our way,
We’re hunting for that toy,
With which they have to play!

Always on the school run,
When we really should be there,
We’re on a hunt for shoes,
And I haven’t done their hair!

Always on the school run,
They all need to do a wee,
Couldn’t you have gone earlier girls?
Do you know how late we’ll be?

Always on the school run,
We dash around like mad,
Grabbing coats & jumpers,
Lunch and reading bag!

Always on the school run,
Are your teeth done yet?
Get your coats on, do them up,
We’re going to get wet!

Always on the school run
I feel I nag you all,
To hurry up, get on our way,
Don’t be late for school!

Always on the school run,
I hope that we’re not late,
C’mon girls, we’re nearly there,
They haven’t shut the gate!

Always on the school run,
We make it through the rain,
It won’t be very long until
We start it all again!!

Sue Shaw Nov 2009

A car full of kids....(and noise levels of epic proportions)

So I load the car and set off on a two hour journey....all is going well to begin with (the sat nav is working again, so I can feel safe in the knowledge that my modern technology will be there to help me out should I so need it!!) The first half of the journey is calm and event free, three out of the four sleep, and Abbie and I sing (not that tunefully in my case) along to Lady Gaga (I marvel at the amount of words Abbie actually knows, and begin to wonder, not for the first time, if she really should be singing some of the words to these songs, although, thankfully she is unaware about the meaning of most of what she is singing, and even I have no idea what a disco stick is, maybe I’m just being naive?) Half an hour before we reach our destination it all kicks off...big time! Hannah, who five minutes ago, was peacefully sleeping, oblivious to the ongoing journey, has now been abruptly woken by a very inconsiderate Abbie. She is now very awake and in a foul mood...watch out anyone who dares to cross her! Next, she drops her crocs and wants me to pick them up for her. As I am travelling at 70 mph on a busy motorway, I tell her that me reaching back to scrabble around for her crocs, is really not a good idea and is not going to happen. I ask if it would be okay for Abbie to get them for her (she is both willing and able!) however this is not the response that Hannah was wanting or indeed prepared to accept. She begins the build up to an almightily tantrum, it involves the loudest screaming and shouting I have ever heard in such a confined space, plenty of throwing her arms up above her head and kicking of feet. On occasions I can just make out the words “No, Mummy get them!” in-between the inconsolable sobbing and dangerously high disable screaming. I actually think the noise could be loud enough to melt my brain, I think maybe all my senses are shutting down. Abbie now has her own crocs on her hands and is pressing them over her ears shouting “Make her stop Mummy, make her stop!” thus adding her own helpful little input to the noise level, Georgia is crying (I’m not sure why, she’s in the very back and I don’t stand a chance of hearing her over the Hannah din.) Millie is counting at the top of her voice, something to do with me saying it was 20 minutes to go, and when she asked how long 20 minutes was, I’d foolishly said she’d need to count to 60, twenty times, and she is trying her best to let me hear that she is doing just that!) I try turning the music up and make an attempt to sing along in a kind of ‘I can ignore the noise if I try really hard’ fashion, but who am I trying to kid, we’re at brain melting decibel levels here. I briefly contemplate pulling over onto the hard shoulder to retrieve the sodding shoes, but then I’m not sure that this can actually be classed as an emergency that would justify using the hard shoulder (although, I’m sure it’s coming close – hey Mister Policeman, I’d like to see you try to drive with this mayhem going on in the back). But then I think, no, hang on a minute, she just a two year old not getting her own way, she will just have to wait. So much as it pains us (literally...ears nearly bleeding now!) we press on and make it to our end target in one piece.....just......

oh so lost!!

Yesterday, the girls and I went to visit someone on the other side of Leicester. It was meant to be a straightforward trip; it was somewhere that I had driven to many times before. However, as I came into the first bit of Leicester, I missed the next turn off. I actually couldn’t remember whether I should take the road to the left or carry straight on. I have done it loads of times before, so I started to worry that I have totally forgetful ‘baby brain’ (that’s what happens when you have kids, and stay at home with them – you forget how to function in real life situations!! – maybe I need to go back to work to stretch my brain cells a bit more??!) Anyway, I turned around and got on what I thought was the correct road, but I had got a bit confused about where I actually was and I soon realised that the road I was on was not looking at all familiar! (Again, I used to have quite a good sense of direction, but here I was frantically following signs for places I thought I recognised the names of- arrggghh!) Eventually I decided that I was definitely heading too far in the wrong direction, so I pulled over to program the postcode I needed into the Satellite Navigation system – then, shock, horror! – the Sat Nav is not working, it won’t even turn on. Okay, don’t panic, I have a map function on my phone with GPS, great, I put in the postcode only to find that I have no 3G connection and it can’t load the map. So I am feeling totally let down and abandoned by all the modern technology, and I am worrying that my constant reliance on all these gadgets has helped me to lose some of my ability to do this on my own!! I drive yet further in the wrong direction, I keep telling myself that at the next junction I am sure to see a sign I recognise! A few stressful minutes later I pull over again and I riffle in the boot and fortunately locate a MAP – yes, that’s right, a paper map, it doesn’t have batteries or plug in, it doesn’t have GPS, just an old-fashioned paper book containing pictures of all the roads!! Now to discover if I still know how to use this thing! Luckily, even with my ‘baby-brain’ I still know how to read a map and very soon I am back heading in the right direction (although I do pass a sign saying that I’m 13 miles (13 miles??!!) from Leicester – how did I get so far in the wrong direction??!! I think next time I should pull over to check the map a lot SOONER!!) So eventually, we pull up at our destination, half an hour late and quite annoyed at myself for being so stupid!!

give me a minute......!!

Give me a minute....

Why is it that kids can never give you a minute? So there I am, trying to go for a wee (I apologise if that’s too much information for some of you!) when they all appear at the door, one by one, Millie is actually carrying a bottle of squash and a jug into the bathroom, asking for me to make some juice, Georgia is crying and saying that I have to go upstairs and look for her pony now, Abbie wants me to wash her cup out for her, and Hannah wants me to push her on the swing. Give me a minute guys....can’t you see, I’m on the loo!!! They have no concept; they just expect it to be done – NOW! While I am a master at multi-tasking, and often find myself doing numerous tasks at any one time, there are limits!!

It's funny, but whenever Rob comes home and asks me “What have you done today?” I always immediately get defensive and feel a bit guilty; thinking that saying, “actually, just looking after your four children” isn’t enough. Although, I know he doesn’t mean anything by it, he’s just interested in my day and what we’ve all been up to. I just immediately feel the need to justify my day, and I find myself listing things, such as, “Well, I’ve done four loads of washing, dried it and put it away, I’ve made lunch, I’ve made tea (twice, once for the kids and then for us) I’ve done the clearing up, I’ve stacked the dishwasher, I’ve scrubbed Cheerios off the floor, I’ve tidied toys away, I’ve put clean sheets on everyone’s bed, I’ve changed nappies, taken Hannah for a wee, done the shopping in town.........” (You may notice that ironing never features in my list of jobs, I don’t do ironing, we prefer to go for the ‘straight out of the tumble dryer’ look!! – I can recommend it, it saves hours of time!) I can’t help it, I think because I don’t go out to work (well paid work!) that I feel that I need to make sure he knows that I do more than just drinking coffee and watching daytime T.V. (I don’t actually watch daytime T.V. – but have been known to do a bit of daytime ‘blogging’, well, a girl’s entitled to a coffee break, surely?!!)

And why is it that I get such a feeling of immense satisfaction when I manage to get the house clean and tidy (well, to a reasonable state, I think the days of really clean and tidy are long gone!) All I’ve done is manage to mop the kitchen floor, stack and empty the dishwasher a couple of times, vacuum the floors and the stairs and clean both the toilets and sinks, tidy all the girl’s bedrooms and keep the girls occupied for the day, yet I feel like it’s a major achievement! Maybe that’s what my job satisfaction boils down to these days – managing to keep the toilet clean? The trouble is, it never lasts long! As soon as they’d had their tea tonight I was down on my knees on a baked bean wiping mission! Is this what it’s come to? The highlight of my week is managing to get and keep the house in a reasonable state for half a day? Today I have come to the realisation that keeping the house clean and tidy is a never ending task, it is impossible to complete and I need to stop beating myself up about not achieving it! I need to try to accept that I just have to do as much as I can, and learn to live with it! It’s not easy, but there are definitely more important things in life to worry about, other than whether I've managed to vacuum the bedrooms today......

Dusting off those credit cards.......!! (can I remember the drill??!!)

Well, I found myself in a very unusual situation yesterday – I was in a shopping centre, ON MY OWN!! Now that doesn’t happen very often these days. (Admittedly, I was only there so I could drive Rob home after he’d had a few beers in the corporate box at the football (one off work thing) – but I’m not complaining at getting the chance for a few solitary hours of retail therapy!!) It’s funny, because it actually felt really weird to begin with. It was strange to be in this big, bustling shopping centre with no-one else to think about apart from myself. Have I really been out of the loop for so long, that I can’t remember how to function in the real world? I almost felt a bit self-conscious to begin with (how weird is that?) I wasn’t quite sure what I should do first! I guess it’s just been so long since I’ve had the chance to wander around the shops without thoughts of where the kids are, constantly doing the quick head count (have we still got everyone?), pushing a buggy and worrying about what they’re up to & what they might be fiddling with, that maybe I’d forgotten how to do it! Obviously it didn’t take me long to get back into it! A couple of shopping bags later and I found myself getting well at truly back into my stride! There was a time when I could spend a good few hours happily browsing the retail world, back in the day when we were enjoying the DINKY lifestyle (Dual Income No Kids) Whereas nowadays, the reality of a shopping trip for me is, dashing down to a retail park, (with as few kids as possible) parking outside and legging it round, grabbing a couple of bits and pieces, before the kids (who aren’t at school or playgroup) get too bored and mischievous, then making the mad dash back for the playgroup or school pick up, and anxiously hoping that you don’t get held up in traffic on the way back.

Highlights & Lowlights of the week!

Highlights

Hannah and Georgia washing each other’s hair in the bath tonight and taking it in turns to wash each other’s backs with a flannel – soooo cute!

The look on Millie’s face and how incredibly proud of herself she was when she walked independently round from her classroom to meet me in the waiting area at school. I made the big mistake of sending Abbie round to meet her on the first day (as Abbie was out first) and I was subsequently met by a very disgruntled Millie, very crossly telling me “I KNEW where to go Mummy, I DIDN’T NEED Abbie to come round!”

Abbie and Millie walking off into school in their little uniforms, with their school bags and lunchboxes, holding hands and chatting on their way round!!

Abbie and Millie practising the school harvest songs together in their bedroom, in the dark (when they were meant to be asleep!)

Having a bit more time to spend with Hannah and Georgia and being able to play games with them without interruption!

Hannah all wrapped up in a towel, after her bath, falling asleep on Abbie and Millie’s bedroom floor while the other all played around her!

Lowlights!!

Total child ‘melt down’ during the very tricky after school/ teatime/ bedtime slot! It feels like at least three of them were lying on the floor, kicking, screaming and crying at any one time! Over-tired!! Aaarrrggghhhh!

Tired, whingy, crying kids!!

Hannah pulling a strip of wallpaper off the wall in our bedroom! (she is also the one who decorated the car with a stone a few months ago – the little monkey!) Then she looks up at you with her big brown eyes and her cute little face and says “Rorry Mummy!”

Being back to the morning chaotic routine, which involves, breakfast, reading books, spellings, packed lunches made, shoes on, jumpers found, bags packed, teeth cleaned, letters/ forms to return remembered and everyone out of the door on time!

Ladders, superstition and things going wrong!

Well I didn’t think that I was a particularly superstitious person, but as I walked under a ladder last week, it did cross my mind that I hoped I wasn’t bringing any bad luck upon myself! So let’s see.....what has happened since then? Well first of all I lost my wooden ring that Rob got for me when we were down in London the other weekend, I’m a bit gutted because I really liked it, and whilst I can still hope that it is going to turn up, I think in reality the likelihood of that happening is fading fast.... Next, we used the fold out gazebo at the weekend when we were camping, but we didn’t peg it down (I know that hindsight is a wonderful thing – but we kept needing to move it round as the sun changed position, I know that’s no excuse and we should have put the effort in to peg it each time) Anyway, it was fine on the Saturday, but on the Sunday the wind had picked up and it was quite strong and gusty. A gust of wind caught the gazebo and now one of the legs is bent and it is not able to fold down anymore. We were quite gutted about that too, as we haven’t even had it long and have only used it a handful of times. Rob is on a mission to try to fix it in some way, so hopefully it will be used again! When we arrived home from camping, we realised that we had managed to lose the key to the internal garage door. No amount of hunting managed to turn anything up, we even when so far as to unroll the tent to check some of the pockets in it (so having thought we’d packed it up for the final time this season, we found ourselves, well Rob and all four of the girls, crawling inside a half unfolded tent, feeling in various pockets, but unfortunately to no avail). So Rob makes the decision that he is going to have to break into the garage and fit another lock, this firstly involves two phone calls to two different people for advice on the best way to go about it, he then stands poised, with a tool in his hand, ready to do some serious damage to the garage door, when he finds that the tool he has is too small (no jokes here, thanks!!) While he decides what the next course of action is, he checks through our other keys and finds the SPARE for the garage door!! The door is saved at the eleventh hour! Under minor issues, I couldn’t find one of Hannah’s crocs for the camping weekend and we had to go without it, Rob stood on the broom handle and bent it, and I turned the TV off at the wall at the weekend, forgetting that I had programmed to record the X-factor! (Thank goodness for the watch again function on V+) Whilst I don’t feel that I’ve become hugely superstitious, I think that maybe I’ll avoid walking under ladders for a while!!

school run overdose and mischief!!

Well it’s been a bit of a funny week, with Millie starting school. To begin with she was only in for half days and even now that she’s in for two full days at the end of the week, she still starts later in the morning and finishes 15 minutes earlier in the afternoon than the rest of the school. So I’ve had a total ‘school run’ overdose this week! I feel that all I have done is walk everyone over to school for 8.50 when Abbie goes round, then wait around until 9.15 for Millie to go round, then head back home or to town for shopping. Then head back up to school at lunchtime to pick Millie up and take everyone home for lunch, then head back up to school to pick Abbie up at the end of the day! I am quite looking forward to Monday, when they will both be in at the same time for a full day! Millie has been getting steadily harder work on the trips to and from school as she has been getting steadily more tired! I began the week taking the buggy, with the board on in case Hannah and Georgia needed to go in, but in the end gave up as it was Millie spending more time in it than the little ones (usually managing to upset Hannah and Georgia and cause some sort of argument in the process) Why is it that kids always have to make things more complicated than they actually need to be? On one occasion Millie decided that she needed to go over to school in her roller skates (really?) which was quite an interesting trip. It involved a lot of wobbling, squealing, slow progress, her sitting in the buggy when she couldn’t ‘skate’ across the grass! and her trying to climb up, in skates, between the trees when getting from back to the path from the field (umm nothing like making the school run trickier than it needs to be!) On Wednesday Millie had the day off, but we still had to do the three trips to and from school as I had to go over in the middle of the day for a meeting to find out how Millie is settling in! Fortunately, she is settling well, and so far seems to be enjoying it...long may that continue. Abbie has decided that she doesn’t want to be in Year 2, as it involves too much work and not enough choosing!! So added to the numerous trips to school this week, we have also had to comfort an upset Abbie, who no longer wants to go to school, and I’ve had to hand her over, crying, to the teacher on the corner and that’s never fun! I think she will be happier when she can walk round in the morning with Millie...... (fingers crossed)

So now I’m left with just Hannah and Georgia during the day (I say ‘just’, but obviously it’s still half of the full amount!) I am actually looking forward to having a bit of time for them, I do sometimes feel they’ve missed out on a bit of attention and time with me. We’ve done the shopping (they were both brilliant all the way round Tesco) and been to the library. We’ve shared a load of books and I feel that they are enjoying a bit of time when they are not being bossed about by the older ones! Although, I do now have to watch what mischief they are getting up to. Usually Abbie or Millie will come to tell me if they’re getting into any bother, but the other day there was no-one here to grass them up when they climbed on the desk in the spare room, took all the batteries from the battery box and all the CD’s off the shelf and ‘arranged them’ in a pretty pattern on the floor, I think the ‘arranging’ might have involved some throwing if the crashes and giggling I could hear as I ran up the stairs was anything to go by!!

Really? You need the toilet AGAIN??

Trips to the loos, now there’s a whole adventure in itself! When you’re out and about a trip to the toilets with four little ones is certainly a mission. And why is it that kids always seem to want to make it as hard work and complicated for you as possible? When we were away camping at the weekend a friend actually commented to me that I do get to know the toilets quite intimately anywhere we go, and that is a very true observation. It would help if they would all learn to go at the same time! But no, you just get back from taking one and another one decides that they want to go! I seem to spend my life trekking to and from various toilet facilities!!

In one instance, we had all been out for the day, and, on arriving back at the campsite Rob drove the car to the toilet block (our tent was a fair walk from the toilets – a walk that I was becoming increasingly familiar with!) so that everyone who needed to go could go! Abbie and her friend (who was travelling in our car) leapt out and dashed into the loos. Millie (who, when we had got back into the car from our day out had said that she needed a wee) was now adamant that she didn’t need to go. We tried our gentle powers of persuasion, but no amount of “Go on Mil, you said you needed to go, we’re right outside the toilets...” would convince her to budge out of the car. As she is now getting worked up and cross shouting “I DON’T NEED THE TOILET!” at the top of her voice, we decide to leave it, and we all head back over to the tent in the car (as I too, am getting steadily crosser, saying “You had better not want to go the minute we get back to the tent!”). Of course it is inevitable that two minutes after arriving back at the tent, Millie needs to go to the toilet and doesn’t want to go on her own! (I bet you saw that one coming, I certainly did!!) Fortunately for her Rob had more patience with her than me (in this instance!) and he duly made the trek back to the toilets! I’m ashamed to say that on this occasion, all I could do was hiss “We’ve just BEEN there! You SAID that you DIDN’T need to go!” at her through my teeth!!

Then there was the trip to the toilets in Stratford. Rob had gone back to the car to load the buggy and I had taken the four girls to the toilet (anyone else thinking ‘short straw’?) We get into the toilets, with tiny cubicles that you can hardly breathe in, and I just about manage to squeeze in with Hannah and get her on the toilet, Abbie is loitering in the cubicle doorway, she doesn’t want to go on in one on her own, she wants to go on this one after Hannah. I then realise that Millie and Georgia are no longer in the toilets, worried that they might try to head through the car park to find Rob, and they don’t even know where the car is parked I make the decision to leave Hannah sat on the toilet, shout “Stay there!” at Abbie and run out of the toilets in search of the missing two, sure enough I spot them ambling in the wrong direction, fortunately back along the path we came on and not across the car park. I run after them, acutely aware that I have left Hannah perched in a public toilet waiting for me to wipe her bottom. I retrieve the missing two, and under much protest they agree to come back with me (just while I rescue Hannah girls, please, then I’ll take you to the car!) And I get a number of bemused looks from the other toilet users as I burst back into the toilets, dragging two protesting children (Millie keeps saying, “but we will look for cars, Mummy!”) and return to my other children, one of whom is sat on the toilet with the door wide open shouting “wipe my bottom, Mummy!” Even the most straight forward things in life like going to the toilet can be made into a whole complicated task when you add a few kids into the equation.........

a day of fun!! (even if it's raining)

I know this should come as no surprise, but life really is so much easier if I don’t try to do anything else other than look after the kids, sort the meals and do the basic amount of essential clearing up. Today has been a wet day and we have stayed in all day – potential for a very stressful day, but so far (don’t want to speak too soon or anything!) it’s been fine. The reason for this, is that I’ve done loads of stuff with the kids and nothing on the house! We started off this morning by painting some pottery from a little paint your own tea set, then the girls painted a load of pictures, after lunch we all watched High School Musical 3 (luckily, this time, Hannah and Georgia pottered around and played a little secret game behind the sofa! Earlier in the week, when I watched HSM 1 with the older girls, Hannah and Georgia amused themselves by taking the lids off every single pot of glitter from the craft cupboard, emptying it on the floor and spreading it around - I knew they’d been too quiet for too long, that’s always a warning sign of mischief making!) After that we had a manic, crazy dancing session to the HSM soundtrack – I tried to keep out of view of the window, so no-one else would have to witness a 36 year old mummy going wild and dancing like a loony with her kids and music blasting out (not a pretty sight!) – but it was really good fun!! The floor still needs vacuuming, the kids bedrooms need tidying, there are a couple of loads of washing waiting to go on....but hey – we’ve had a fun day together!

Having watched HSM this afternoon, my six year old has now turned into a total teenager! She is at the moment wearing a pair of sunglasses (in the house), her HSM cardi (that she keeps throwing off at appropriate moments) a pair of HSM sandals and she is shouting instructions to the others while ‘performing’ to the HSM soundtrack! She has set herself up a little ‘dressing room’ with a mirror and a chair, where she keeps going to check herself out! Oh my, she’s now on her third outfit change! I’m not sure if this ‘show’ is actually ever going to start, or if it’s just one long rehearsal, with loads of outfits, important accessories and shouting........

(I have just found out that Hannah and Georgia’s little secret game behind the sofa this afternoon involved paper and a pair of scissors; clearing up the hundreds of tiny bits of shredded paper is no problem – I am just so relieved that they haven’t re-designed the curtains.....phew!)

A rare day and night off! yay!

Rob and I managed a night away together last weekend – what absolute bliss! We are, of course, hugely grateful to Rob’s parents who bravely came to hold the fort at ‘chaos with kids’ street for us. (Anyone who gives up their weekend to take on four young kids deserves a medal! Fortunately for us, even though both sets of our parents live quite a distance away, they can be persuaded to come and spend a bit of time with their ‘adorable’ grandchildren, and since they need to stay for the night when they come, Rob and I can regularly be seen running for the door once they are settled in!!)

We went down to London on the train, went to see U2 at Wembley and spent the night in a hotel. Rob booked the train, so we left at 9.00am on the Saturday morning and arrived back home at 5.30pm on the Sunday – he obviously wanted to get the most out of the rare opportunity to enjoy some freedom and some time together!

We had a brilliant time, wandering round the shops (with nobody demanding to be bought things, maybe I should have given that a try?! And nobody hiding in the clothes isles or moaning about having to walk), we sat and ate cake in the park, (with nobody arguing about which bit was bigger or moaning that they wanted more, and nobody getting incredibly sticky and needing a mountain of wipes!), we went to the pub for a beer and nice lunch sat outside in the sunshine (and I didn’t have to take ANYONE for a poo!! – (check out July blog – Poo...poo and more poo!) On the Sunday, we went to Camden Market, (again, nobody moaned about the distance we walked) and when we were sat in a bar, enjoying a beer and reading the paper in the sunshine, even though Rob and I were both tired from our late night at the concert, neither of us found the need to cry and roll around on the floor!

I wondered if I would feel guilty about leaving them, or feel a bit lost without them, but do you know what? I didn’t! I love them to bits, but they are so constant and I spend so much time with them, that I actually found I was ready to start the next week with them after having a bit of time off. Time off - now there’s something that I am no longer familiar with! Motherhood is such a full-time job that you never get any time off from, so that’s why we appreciated a bit of time so very much. In some ways though, it has made me miss time for me and Rob even more. I know that we come as a family now, and that they’ll get easier (hopefully) as they get older, but it just made me miss a day off from how constant it is once in a while, does that make me a bad mother? I hope not! It definitely did me and Rob a good to spend some real quality time together. I hope it’s not too long before the next time...... pass me those train times someone...!!

following through your threats!!

A friend once advised me to be very careful what you threaten to do if a child continues a certain behaviour, because you need to be fully prepared to follow it through. For example, if having driven for three hours to get to a friend’s house where you are staying for the night, then unpacked all your stuff and sorted everyone sleeping arrangements and settled down for a chat with your friends, you then say to your child (who is being a bit of a pain, having been stuck in the car for three hours previously) “If you do that again, then we’ll have to go home!” Just be aware, that if they do it again, you either need to pack everything back up and drive the three hours back home, or you need to not follow through your threat, therefore giving the child the idea that it doesn’t matter if they continue doing something because you don’t mean what you say anyway. In this situation, it might be prudent to use a threat such as “if you do that again, you’ll have to go and sit on the step, or in another room for X amount of minutes” I think this has caught me out on a couple of occasions in the past, so I do try to think carefully before I issue an ultimatum, although sometimes I can feel myself regretting the words as they are coming out of my mouth in a cross moment!

This happened to me on Friday. Abbie was due to go to a friend’s house to play in the morning. However, before she went I wanted all the girls to have a bath, as Rob and I were going away for the night at the weekend, and I wanted to get the usual Sunday night bath out of the way on Friday so we wouldn’t have to come back to it on Sunday (not sure if that actually works, as they were grubby again by Sunday, but still) So anyway, Abbie is adamant that she is not going to go in the bath, and I hear the threat “If you don’t go in the bath and have your hair washed then you’re not going to your friends house” coming out of my mouth before I can stop it (I really want the visit to the friend’s to go ahead, as it would be so much easier to get beds ready and things sorted for the weekend if she does go). So now it’s out there.....she’s still refusing to go in the bath and I am faced with the prospect of phoning my friend to say that she can’t come (and therefore disappointed her little friend in the process and making my morning harder). All the others have now been in the bath, so now it’s just Abbie, who is hiding behind the sofa in a strop. I decided to go for one last tack, before I cancel the play date. I act like I don’t know that she is behind the sofa and I make a ‘pretend’ phone call (that I know she can hear) to her friend’s Mum, saying something like, “Oh Hi, I’m not sure if Abbie will be able to come today as she won’t go in the bath, listen... I’ll get back to you in a minute, if she goes in, then I’ll bring her round in a bit, but if she doesn’t then I afraid she won’t be coming,...okay, thanks, bye” (I am frantically hoping the ‘phone call’ was enough to clinch it!) Fortunately for all involved, she is up like a shot after I’ve ‘hung-up’ the phone and gone back upstairs, and she has a bath without a single murmur of fuss! (I breathe a huge sigh of relief!) When I drop her at her friend’s house, I find the same battle has been raging there too, her friends Mum had threatened that if her little girl didn’t go in the shower and have her hair washed, then Abbie wouldn’t have been allowed to go and play!! It seems we all have these constant battles and play these mind games to achieve what we need to!

chaos and spillage!

Why is being with kids always so chaotic? Chaos and my kids just seem to go together! (maybe it’s just me) Tonight I was trying to cook tea, when Abbie decided she needed to paint her nails (to make herself “beautiful”!!) so she appeared in the kitchen armed with two pots of nail varnish (that she’d been into my drawer to get). So I think, this won’t be too bad (she is six now) and I sit her down on the step into the kitchen and put some newspaper on the floor and let her get on with it (the other three are playing upstairs, so I’m hoping she’ll get it done before they notice!!) It’s all going okay, she’s made a bit of a hap-hazard job, but at least any mess is on the newspaper. Then the others arrive (don’t you just know this is going to be trouble?!) It starts okay, Millie paints her own (I have never seen so much nail varnish up anyone’s fingers and toes, but at least any drips are on the newspaper. Hannah and Georgia have theirs done by Abbie, who speaks to them as though she is a beautician in a salon!! Then the doorbell goes, as I head to the door I hear a shout from the kitchen. Georgia has taken the nail varnish back down off the side and dropped it, of course the lid hasn’t been put back on properly, so it has splashed over the floor and over her clothes. I rush back (shouting “I’ll be right with you!” to my friend behind the door) and frantically run back to the kitchen and wipe up the varnish, strip Georgia off and throw her clothes in the washing machine. I make it back to the door and open it to my patiently waiting friend.

A little later (with the smell of freshly applied nail varnish still lingering in the air) I put tea down in front of the girls and start clearing up the kitchen. Then Millie gives a shout, she has spilt her milk all over the table. Fine, deep breath, I get a cloth and wipe it off the table, her chair and the floor. I head back to the kitchen for all of two minutes before the shout comes that now Georgia has accidently knocked her milk over too (do they have some sort of agreement for a milk spillage night?) Hers has gone all over the table, the floor, her chair and her clean clothes (her last lot have nail varnish on!) and she is crying because she is wet. I get everything cleaned up – again, when Hannah drops her spoon on the floor for about the fourth time, spreading even more rice all over the floor. Then I look round and Georgia is smearing yoghurt up her legs (honestly, why can’t they just eat tea??) Luckily I have given up on clean clothes for her for tonight and she is just in her nappy.

I send them all upstairs after tea, to watch a bit of the bedtime hour in the spare room while I try to clear up the devastation from tea! When I get upstairs I find that they have decided against the option of watching TV, and gone for the getting every card game they can find in the cupboard and spreading them all out on the floor option. They have also all changed their clothes, leaving the ones they took off on the floor exactly where they dropped, and been in Rob’s wardrobe to help themselves to a tie (Millie is being a ‘Daddy’ in the game!!) Then I feel bad about feeling cross about all the things they’ve got out when they are actually playing nicely! (Millie makes a really cute ‘Daddy’ in her tie too!) I just wish they wouldn’t choose to do all this five minutes before bedtime! So with a bit of nagging from me, they help (a bit) with the tidying up and all get their pyjamas on and clean their teeth relatively nicely! Phew!

injury & A&E!

We are back now from another camping holiday. The weather was brilliant this time (let’s face it; it couldn’t have been any worse!) However, it was the trips to A&E that were the ‘highlight’ of this trip instead of the rain! Georgia managed to climb up the slide the wrong way and just as she got near the top, a little girl came down and knocked her off. She was ever so good in at the hospital, she had an x-ray and she had broken her arm. They put a little half plaster on to wait until the swelling had gone down, so it was hard on the top and soft bandage underneath and only went up to just below her elbow. The consultant came out with a great comment, the conversation when something like this,

Him “How old is she?”
Me “ She’s two and a half.”
Him “Any brothers or sisters?”
Me “She has a twin sister and two older sisters.”
Him “A twin? Really? And how old is her twin?”
Me “Eeerr....she’s two and a half as well!!”
I think he realised as soon as he’d said it!

Anyway, so we spend the rest of the holiday desperately trying to keep this plaster cast clean and dry. This is not an easy task on Whitby beach, when she is jumping in the waves in her usual two year old unsteady way! Well, we manage to keep the cast intact for the rest of the holiday, with no more injuries, even though she seems to trip over everything in the tent (maybe we just notice it more because we are trying to get her to be careful?) Then we come to packing up day, towards the end of getting everything sorted, Georgia asked if she could go and sit in the car. She was tired and might go to sleep, so we strapped her into her seat and carry on with the packing up. When we have finished and start of load the others in the car, we notice that Georgia has pulled her cast off her arm (obviously the swelling has gone down, and she’s had too much time to fiddle with it!!) When I said, “Oh no Georgia, you were meant to keep that on!” she just smiled and said, “All better now!” So off we set again to A&E, this time with everyone in the car and all the camping stuff loaded. Fortunately, they fitted the proper one this time, hard all the way round, that goes above her elbow – I don’t think she’ll be able to pull this one off, but I wouldn’t like to set her the challenge!

The day after the first trip to A&E, we were given an out-patients appointment in the fracture clinic to have the cast checked. As we were on our way out for the day and both Rob and I wanted to see the x-ray (they didn’t show me the night before) we all went to this appointment. I felt that we made such an entrance when we walked into the waiting room, six of us, all a bit hot and sweaty from camping, four very grubby little kids in tow (the play park at the campsite was particularly dirty and sandy!) one child with her arm in a grubby plaster cast. Then there was all the fuss and arguments about who was sitting with whom, who was sitting in which chair and who was sitting on whose lap in the waiting room! Everyone knew we’d arrived! On the plus side, we were seen relatively quickly...maybe someone had realised the potential struggles with the situation if we were made to wait any length of time?!! (either that, or they just wanted us out of there!)

So today Hannah has fallen over and banged just near her eye, she ran into the hall, slipped and went head first into a wooden box; she’s got a cracking bruise and a little cut. I think it’s looking okay, I’m really hoping it won’t need a trip to casualty, I can just imagine us all trouping in, one child with a black eye, one with her arm in a cast....!

how much stuff??

Why do kids today seem to come with so much ‘stuff’? (I’m sure I didn’t have so many belongings when I was growing up – maybe my Mum and Dad would beg to differ?) Our house is full of it, from the four plastic water bottles, (plus the two extra ones for the basket at school and the three or four extra we have been given by other people at some time) and the six coloured Ikea plastic cups, plates and little bowls, to the coats, jackets, fleeces, jumpers, caps, pencils, pens, colouring books, stickers, glue, bags, toys, crazy bones (one of the crazes at the moment) notebooks, sunglasses, sunglasses cases....and the list goes on...and on. Don’t even get me started on the shoes, crocs, trainers, wellies, and other footwear, we could probably make a line from London to Newcastle if we were to lay them all out end to end! I know that we (as parents) are to blame, and while we try to limit the amount of things we buy for them, it just seems to be the culture these days. I guess you don’t want you kids to miss out in any way. Although, I’m glad to say we do hand things down when we can and we often have things handed down to us from friends, we also try to recycle things where ever possible. Also, we try to be careful about how much we buy for them.

So that brings me to my next point, where do you put it all? I guess being a family of six, all with our own bits and pieces; we are always going to be quite a full house! Today, Georgia lined up, in the hall, all the shoes she could find, she matched them all up into pairs and they stretched from one end of the hall to the other. When I walked past, it just made me think – Really? We’ve got that many shoes? (and she’d only put out a fraction of them) Maybe part of it is the cost of some things today. When we can buy Hannah and Georgia a pair of croc type shoes for £2.49, it is easy to think, yeah, they’d be great for the summer, let’s get them. Maybe there just wasn’t the amount of easily affordable gear around when I was growing up.

I know I’m not the only one who struggles with the amount of stuff and where to put it all issue. I was talking to a friend the other day who was saying the same thing and how when she would come to lay the table for lunch, she could barely even see the table under the paraphernalia of the latest activity!

Well, I’d better get back to it and take the next armful of stuff upstairs and try to find somewhere for it to go......

forever tidying up...

I wonder if kids have any idea how all their stuff gets back to where it should be. I wonder if it ever occurs to them, when the go to fetch something from the place it should be and they find it there, that actually, they left it dumped on the floor somewhere, but now it’s miraculously back where it should be. I wonder if my girls noticed tonight, when they went upstairs after their tea, to go to bed, that all their pillows, duvets and pyjamas were all back on their beds where they should be, even though they had left them all over the floor in various rooms as part of the game they were playing earlier? I wonder whether Abbie was surprised to see the mirror back in the bathroom, when she wanted it tonight to look at where her wobbly tooth has come out (very exciting!), even though she had left it in another room from an early viewing of her ‘gap’? I sometimes worry that I do too much tidying up for them and that I should insist that they do more themselves, but most of the time it is just so much easier and quicker to get it done myself. Especially at bedtime, I find getting them all ready for bed and sorted out enough work, without having to manage everyone trying to be involved in the tidy up. Maybe it’s time to make an effort to get them more involved. The trouble with Abbie helping with tidying up is that she’s a hoarder, so every little scrap of paper, wrapper, old packet, picture, cracker toy from years ago has to be kept! So rather than actually sorting things out, we end up just finding places to put all the important scraps that she just can’t part with! (Abbie so doesn’t get that the fun is sometimes in the making of the thing, not in keeping the cardboard box with a few things glued on for ever and ever!) Millie is good at tidying and can be persuaded to get rid of that old bit of broken plastic toy, but her idea of tiding is lining up all her toys along the window sill and on her bedside table.

Also, why is it that when you try to get rid of some toys or games that no-one ever plays with, if any of them happen to see it happening, suddenly that toy is the very special to them, the most important toy in the world and they just have to keep it. They haven’t touched it for months and months but they couldn’t possibly part with it, as it is just so brilliant and they love it sooo much.

Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to keep on with the never ending task of tidying up after them for now.... I wonder at what age I can leave them to sort out their own rooms? Maybe I’ll just keep the door shut and pretend it’s all not there and they’ll just have to climb their way into bed each night!

and the day goes on........and on.....

Today has been a REALLY LONG day. It hasn’t stopped raining ALL day. Admittedly, we did attempt another shopping trip into town this morning – see previous post, but add persistent HEAVY rain into the equation (and four umbrellas and wet, soggy kids) – not much fun! Every time I look at the clock, it seems to be no further on than the last time I looked! Do you ever get days like that? Has someone slipped a few extra hours into today when I wasn’t looking? It’s only 5.30 now (so still half an hour or more before bedtime – the kids that is, not mine, although I wouldn’t say no to getting tucked up in a warm comfy bed right now!) The day just seems to have been going on forever...... and while I’m back on the going shopping subject, why do I seem to spend so much more when the kids come with me? I always seem to get talked into getting the odd thing, and then we have to get everyone’s favourite flavours of things, too many different opinions about what we should get - agghhhh! Also the kids seem to get though so much more food in the holidays. It’s not as though the kids have been particularly hard work today or anything (well no more than usual!), it just feels like the day has gone on and on and on........ here’s looking forward to a fun filled, less dragging day tomorrow!!

shopping with four 'little helpers'

The trouble with having to go into town for the shopping during the holidays is definitely the fact that I have to take all four of my ‘little helpers’ with me!! During term time, I would always do the shopping on the morning when I have the least number of children (so school and playgroup morning). I can get more past the youngest two, if they put something in the basket, I can get it back onto the shelf again without them noticing, and the whinging about wanting to have sometime seems to pass more quickly with the little ones, when I have said ‘No’ to whatever it is they want (Abbie seems to be able to remember days later, “Mummy, I really wanted that such-and-such that you wouldn’t let me have.”)

So off we set this morning. Four helpers walking, me pushing the big pram (I need the pram to put the shopping in and to put H and G in if I need to). We head to the supermarket, where each child has to have one of the baskets on wheels to pull (it is also pretty much guaranteed that Georgia will give up pulling hers halfway round and I’ll end up with it!). So the next issue is who gets which bit of shopping in their basket, it all has to be careful managed and negotiated to avoid us ending up with four large blocks of cheese, when we actually only need one. Apparently there are certain bits of shopping that are more desirable to have in your basket than others, getting the Grapes or the Scotch Pancakes is always preferable to getting the Swede or Lettuce!! Then there is trying to avoid any of them taking out an old lady’s legs with their basket, that one’s a bit tricky as none of them actually look where they’re going (those old ladies need to move a bit quicker!!). Then there’s those really useful displays that supermarkets like to stack at the end of the isles to catch your attention – they are always just perfectly positioned to be rammed into by a basket being pulled by a two year old who has no idea that she needs to pull the basket a little past the end before starting to turn!

At one point Millie was crying (because she didn’t get the cheese, and being given butter as the alternative wasn’t going down too well) Georgia was sat on the floor crying because she didn’t want to pull her basket anymore (told you!), and Hannah was crying because she wanted to hold my hand! (which I was happy to do, but I was just in the middle of trying to get the butter down for Millie and pull Georgia’s basket!). I could see the sympathy in the other shopper’s eyes as they past (or stepped over) our little party of numerous baskets and crying children! But what they need to understand is that I deal with this on a daily basis, and I am NOT going let it get to me! Most people gave me an encouraging smile, sometimes with a ‘been there, done that’ look on their faces if the kids were playing up, or an ‘aaahhhhh’ if the kids were all pulling their shopping baskets nicely. I also thought I might have seen a few looks of disapproval from some, as they tried to get past the baskets, noisy kids and kids rolling around on the floor blocking the isle, but hey, I’m not going to make any apologies for taking the kids to the local shops! (they are part of this community too!)

On the way back from the trauma of the shopping experience in town, I always vow that I will NEVER do it again and that from now on, I will only shop in the middle of the night, in Tesco, ON MY OWN! (Until the next time I find myself heading into town, surrounding by four little helpers....how quickly I forget!!)

drowning in a sea of recycling!!

I’m all for recycling! I try to think about the packaging involved in what I buy. I do worry about what sort of a world I am sending my girls into in the future. And the amount of packaging and plastic involved with kids and their toys drives me mad! The other day the girls were given a little note book, some stickers and some pens that were packaged in such a large amount of plastic and cardboard, it was crazy! (Luckily the cardboard bit could go in recycling.) The thing is, it’s often the cheap, useful little things that will keep the kids happy for a good while that are so over packaged. We do try to be careful about the amount of plastic toys we acquire and we try to pass things on to be re-used, but even so, over the years, with the four of them, it is amazing the amount of plastic that builds up. When I think back to the toys I had as a child, I sometimes wonder if they realise how lucky they are (do you think saying that is something that automatically happens when you become a parent? Do you always think that the time when you were growing up as a kid was the best time to be growing up and also that kids today don’t realise how lucky they are??!!)

Our council has been undertaking recycling for a while now and they have just started taking a lot more plastic stuff, like yoghurt pots and strawberry and grape containers – great! However, we now find that we need a small extension just to store all the recycling, and cope with the number of red boxes, yellow bags and blue bags that we actually need to contain the recycling for the six of us. I also feel I could keep an extra person in part-time employment just to wash, sort, stack and load the recycling into the appropriate boxes! (ha – I wish!!) The problem this week is that we have been away and we missed the recycling week! So now we are getting towards four weeks of recycling building up – (bear in mind – four young children using milk, fruit, squash , yoghurts and other things) I fear we may drown in a sea of recycling before it gets collected next week! And I’m sure we’ll need to use most of the drive to fit everything on! Rob sometimes tells me off for leaving the recycling by the back door and not taking it out to the boxes in the porch (literally, it’s just the case of a few more steps!!) but in all honesty, sometimes I just can’t be bothered! I’m terrible for just dumping it and leaving it for Rob to sort out! (Well at least I wash it out for him!)

lost without routine!!

So I LOVE the school holidays. I love being with the girls, I love not being tied to the usual routines, I love the freedom! However, I do struggle a bit with keeping the day and week in order without the normal structure of the week. My day is usually punctuated with the school drop off, the playgroup drop off, the playgroup pick up, the school pick up, after school activities to take to and pick up from, that all help to keep me in check. Wednesday is no playgroup day and often tidying up day, cleaning, mopping, vacuuming, washing. Friday is also no playgroup day, and usually my ‘try to take it a bit easier’ day, I try to plan to have no shopping, cleaning or washing to do (although that doesn’t always work!!) Monday is a playgroup day and is for catching up after the weekend, sorting anything out that needs to be done and catching up on the washing from the weekend. Tuesday and Thursday (also playgroup days) are for shopping, sorting anything I need to do in town, sorting out the meals and washing days (you may notice that washing is a common theme throughout the week, as is cooking and clearing up) Blimey, when I put it like that, I definitely have quite a structured week – no wonder I’m a bit lost today! So, it gets to mid afternoon and I realise that I haven’t given the kids any lunch! I have got a bit carried away trying to do some tidying up and cleaning (and it’s not even Wednesday!) Admittedly, the kids had their breakfast a bit later that normal and I don’t think they’re going to waste away, but still, it made me think just how much those normal weekly routines keep my days and weeks running according to plan!

defeated by the weather!

17th July 2009

Well, we’ve admitted defeat! We’ve packed up the tent a couple of days early and are heading home. There is only so many days that you can take of sitting in a cold, wet tent, listening to the gale force wind batter it. The kids are starting to wind each other up, and who can blame them, when six of us are in such a confined space waiting for the next heavy downpour to pass. We tried to have a BBQ last night, which actually ended up with us sitting huddled in the tent, with the BBQ outside under an umbrella!! For goodness sake, there is something seriously wrong with this picture; I should be sat outside with a cool glass of sparkling wine, while the BBQ gently sizzles away!

We did manage to get out to a local place and paint some pottery yesterday, which is an activity that you can enjoy even if it is raining. Although it’s not the ideal place to take two lively two year olds, there were lots of beautiful bits of pottery everywhere, just waiting to be knocked off (bull in a china shop springs to mind). At one point Hannah held up a little pottery bunny and shouted “Look Mummy!” My heart missed a beat, as I tried to make my way over to her (carefully now, no sudden movements – all breakages must be paid for!) gently saying “Lovely darling, now put it back on the sh…wait a minute, the shelf is really full, I’ll do it, don’t move….., no, don’t swing wildly round that way……”

So Rob and I feel suitably awful about cutting the girls’ holiday short. Abbie made a new little friend, typical that she’s not spoken to another soul on the campsite until the moment we make the decision that we’re leaving! We’ve had a good time when we’ve been out and about, but the sitting relaxing at the tent part has been really missing. And the storms that batter the tent are keeping us awake at night, we’re cold and damp, it’s really not worth sticking it out just for the sake of it, but that doesn’t stop us feeling bad when Abbie and Millie are crying and saying that they don’t want to go home. However, Hannah and Georgia aren’t remotely bothered, in fact I think Hannah has been saying “Goning home now?” since the day we arrived!! (Goning is how Hannah says going)

Having packed up the tent and loaded the car, trailer and roof box we stopped at the services for some tea. The tables only seated four, so I put the kids on one table and Rob and I sat on the next table. A woman came up to us when we were outside the loos (during the usual trip to the toilet ritual that is a whole event in itself when it involves four young children) and said how well behaved she thought the girls had been eating their meal, and how impressed she was that we were even able to sit at another table to them. I was so proud of them! Having, only a few hours earlier, been reprimanding them for being nasty to each other, messing with things and generally lolling aimlessly round the tent, now I was filled with pride for the four sensible, well behaved children that had been noticed in the restaurant! That’s my girls!

rain, rain and.....yet more rain!

15th July 2009

Last night we had a massive rain storm and raging winds. The wind was buffeting the tent around, shaking it, tugging at it and the rain was lashing down with such force the noise made it hard to even hear each other speak. It was scary and exciting all at the same time! Rob actually went out to check all the ropes at one point, as it really felt as though the tent might, in fact, blow away. We thought we might actually have to spend the night all hanging onto a corner of the tent to keep it on the ground! A couple of times I actually thought the force of the rain might be enough to flatten the tent to the floor!

16th July 2009

So, someone tell me, where is the fun in six people sitting in a cold wet tent for days on end? (with the four youngest members winding each other up and getting on each other’s nerves). Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for enjoying a good camping holiday, and I’m even up for being all snuggled up listening to the wind and the rain on the tent, on the odd occasion; but really – this is just taking the mick!! Nothing but rain (that’s what it feels like) since we put the tent up. I’m sure there has been the odd sunny spell, but it’s all just blurring into one great big, cold, windy, rainy experience! (You’d have thought we’d have learnt after last year, but no…here we are again…the word ‘fools’ is springing to mind! – I didn’t think we could be this unlucky two years on the trot). The kids are driving us bananas, and we’re not getting to do all the things I thought we’d do. Sitting, huddled, shivering in the tent with my glass of sparkling wine is NOT the same (in any way what-so-ever) as sitting outside enjoying the evening sunshine, aarrrrgghhhhh!

It’s not all been bad, we had a lovely day on the beach yesterday. Cloudy, but the rain held off! The girls all put their swimming costumes on and splashed at the edge of the waves. It was a stony beach, but there was a bit of sand when the tide was out. Georgia really enjoyed digging about in the sand. Hannah managed to get over her fear of the sea. On our previous visit to the beach (in the rain, of course!) the day before, Hannah got a little bit close and the wave went over her feet and up to her knees. She absolutely freaked out! After that she was a bit scared of the sea and didn’t even like it when Millie was near to the waves! She was shouting “No Millie, sea….” and then crying – a lot! But yesterday, she seemed to get a used to it a bit! Abbie and Millie had a wonderful time, playing with ‘body boards’ that belonged to friends that we met up with. We finished off the day with fish and chips – yum!

Poo...poo and......yet more poo!!

14th July 2009

So, we have the tent up. I am sitting inside listening to the rain lash down and the wind howl around, shaking and tugging at the tent. I actually like to hear the wind and rain outside when I am tucked up in my sleeping bag with Rob at night, however, I don’t find it quite so much fun when we are trying to put the tent up and sort everything out. Luckily, the kids stayed at Nanna and Grandad’s while Rob and I went to get the tent up, so we didn’t have the usual bored kids fiddling with everything while we were trying to sort stuff out! They were quite surprised when we pulled up at the campsite and ‘da dah’ there was the tent, all sorted and ready. They must have thought we’d had a visit from the tent fairies! (we told them we’d gone shopping this morning, because if we’d told them we were going to the campsite they would have all wanted to come!)

Well, our first evening we decided to go to the on-site pub for tea – great, no cooking or washing up and a playroom for the kids to play. We’ll be able to have a quiet drink and a nice meal, we’re onto a winner here, or so we thought! It’s funny how kids quite often have different ideas, and so it ended up with me spending more time in the pub toilets than anywhere else. Just so you don’t get the wrong idea, let me explain…… we’d just sat down and I took my first sip of my ‘well deserved’ half a lager, when Millie came up wanting me to take her for a poo, fine, off we go and get her sorted. Back we come, and once again I sit to enjoy my… hold on a minute, she’s back, she needs to go again, apparently there’s still some more to come out! Right, back now, sit down, relax…oh, here comes Georgia to tell me she’s done a poo in her nappy. Right, off we head again to the toilets, get Georgia sorted and back to the table. At this point, I do get some of my drink and our meal comes. After we have finished eating the kids go off to play. Less than two minutes later Abbie is back, she needs a poo and can’t possibly go on her own, so could I please go with her? Off we go and get her sorted out. We get back and I manage to sit down again….for all of two minutes…then along comes Hannah, I bet you can guess…she needs a poo! (do you notice the pattern emerging?) Off I go with Hannah, she manages a little poo (she doesn’t really like to go without her ‘special seat’ she hasn’t really mastered the art of balancing yet, and hangs onto me for dear life, which in turn makes it hard for her to relax!) Having returned to the table, I think, right, this must be it….surely…there’s no-one left to take for a poo (apart from Rob and I’m quite sure he’s perfectly capable of managing on his own!!) I course, it can’t really be the case that I am actually getting time to sit down drink my drink, relax and chat to Rob…..sure enough, back comes Hannah, she’s done more poo and it’s too late!! So off we troop, once more, for the sixth time, to the toilets, this time for me to clean Hannah up and wash out her pants. Somehow, the joy has gone out of the pub visit and I tell Rob I have had enough and I’m ready to go back to the tent! I wonder, if we’d had boys instead of girls would this duty fall to Rob more? Or is it just a ‘mummy’ thing?

holidays - the good times!

I had a fantastic day yesterday (obviously, the three glasses of wine I had at lunchtime might have helped!). We walked up to the pub with the girls and Nanna and Grandad. We met some friends for lunch. We sat in the sunshine, having a drink and a lovely meal, while the kids played nicely (most of the time) on the bouncy castle and play equipment. Then we came back to Nanna and Grandad’s for tea and cake (all very civilised!!)

Later on, we headed down to the steam, with the girls in their swimming costumes, crocs and raincoats (see I’m learning!) and we spent a brilliant hour in the evening sunshine, listening to the water bubbling, surrounded by beautiful countryside, watching the girls play (and not even having to worry about them getting wet!) Abbie and Millie were playing a fab game which involved them going under the bridge and coming out the other side, while talking about their ‘mission’ on pretend walkie talkies! This is what holidays are all about. I had to nip back for the camera and I saw my mobile phone on the side, I was about to put it in my pocket, when I thought “No, actually I don’t need my phone, or my laptop or any other technical gadget.” There are some moments when beautiful surroundings, a bit of water, sunshine, a few stones and your family are all you need! It’s nice, once in a while, to not be in touch with the rest of the world, to leave the emails, texts, facebook, Wi-Fi connections for another time and just enjoy being together – it was fab! I really feel like I’m on holiday now!

When I was putting Hannah and Georgia to bed tonight, it was so nice just watching them fall asleep, they are so beautiful (I’m sure everyone feels that way about their own children). Georgia was chatting away to herself, waving her arms at odd intervals, slowly getting sleepier and sleepier. Hannah was doing her usual shuffling about. Precious moments like that definitely need to be treasured!

scraped knees and stinging nettles!!

So, yesterday, we set off on our first little trip out, a walk round the village, a play in the stream and a walk up to the play park (I love the laid back speed of being on holiday, time to just wander around the village leisurely, not rushing to be anywhere at any certain time – bliss). So everyone is ready for the off, bikes ready, helmets on, trike and tractor with pulling ropes attached, wellies on, great, off we go. We get a hundred yards from the front door when the rain starts, we all shelter under a tree while raincoats are duly fetched and everyone is ‘coated up’, with a break in the rain, we press on, down to the stream. I think the kids managed all of five seconds before all their wellies were full of water and everyone’s clothes were wet! Numerous tipping water out of wellies later, I went back home for their crocs and began to wish we’d taken them down to the stream in crocs and swimsuits in the first place, never mind, you live and learn!

After our steam play we decide to head up to the play park. Despite numerous kids in dripping wet clothes, we make good progress, until Millie decides she wants to pull Hannah on her tractor. So I push Millie’s bike for her, Millie pulls the tractor, then disaster strikes, Hannah tips off the tractor and scrapes her knee, Millie then trips over the pulling rope and also scraps her knee, so now we have two crying children with blood running down their legs! Millie says she can no longer ride her bike or walk, so having managed to calm Hannah down, we bravely decided to press onto the park, with me pushing Millie’s bike with her sat on it with her leg rested up of the handle bars! The next disaster strikes in the park when Abbie gets stung by stinging nettles (let me tell you, that is a MAJOR incident where Abbie is concerned). So by the time we come to leave the park, Abbie can’t possibly walk (sting still too bad) Millie can’t possibly ride her bike (she doesn’t want to bend her poorly knee) Georgia is crying because she doesn’t want to leave the park and only Mummy can pull her!! Off we set, a wet, injured, stung little party, limping home, Abbie is having a piggy back on my back & I am pulling Georgia on her trike. Rob is pulling Hannah and helping Millie on her bike. Sometimes when you have four kids, you just don’t have enough pairs of hands!

The joy of kids and car journeys!

So once again the car is packed, roof box on, trailer attached, with bikes on, and kids loaded into car. Off we go for a week in (hopefully sunny) Devon. Last year we went down for my sister’s wedding, we went onto a campsite a few days afterwards, and spent one of the wettest and windiest weeks in a tent that I have ever known! The kids didn’t seem to mind, Abbie and Millie would ride up and down in the rain outside the tent. Hannah and Georgia seemed magnetically drawn to every puddle on the entire site and they got so many clothes wet that we found ourselves having to go into Exeter to buy new shorts and t-shirts in an effort to find them something dry to put on. Camping is definitely a warm, dry weather activity!

Long journeys in a car with kids, let’s see, first you pack loads of bags, equipment, footwear (boots, trainers and sandals for six people fill a large box on their own, before you’ve even started on the raincoats, caps, fleeces…..etc) in to the car until it’s stuffed full and bursting at the seams. Then you attach a trailer, strap a couple of bikes to that (then find that the bike rack is mounted a little too far forward to actually shut the boot!), put a roof box on top, filled with more important bits and pieces (then, luckily, notice at last minute that the keys to unlock the top box when you get there are still hung up in the house!). Finally, load four children into their car seats and strap them in to the seats that they have to sit relatively still in for the next few hours. Then you’re ready to get underway. Enjoy the first hour or so of the journey, as the novelty of setting off on holiday and the things you’ve brought to keep the kids occupied will only last for a short amount of time. Once the whinging, moaning and “are we nearly there yet?” “I’m fed up!” “I want to get out now!” starts, try to relax and remember that this is your holiday. You may be struggling in the rain, through heavy traffic with a car loaded with stuff and four crying, whingy kids, but hey, you’re on holiday!! Enjoy!!!

Is camping with kids really a holiday?!!

So we are all getting excited about going on holiday. We are off down to Devon to stay with Nanna and Grandad for a few days, before heading down to South Devon to put up the tent. I wonder why it is called a holiday when you go away with small children? You do everything you normally do, change nappies, get children dressed, tidy up after them, sort their clothes, put things away, make their meals, wash up, you just do it all in a different location. We still have to sort and pack everything before we go, sort it all out and do a mountain of washing when we get back. Perhaps we should just call it a ‘change of location’ rather than a ‘holiday’, at least until they get a bit older or we decided to go for something all inclusive (now that would be a holiday). Having said all that, I do love camping, the kids get to play outside, ride their bikes, go to bed late (& hopefully sleep in for a bit??!!) I love sitting outside the tent in the evening sunshine, reading a book, listening to music with a nice glass of something cool!

bedtime....oh joy!

So what is it about kids and bedtime? Personally, if someone helped me into my PJ’s, cleaned my teeth, asked me to get into a nice warm, comfy bed and read me a story, I’d be extremely delighted. I’d be only too happy to snuggle down, shut my eyes and forget about the stresses of the day. However, not so where kids are involved! Why do they insist on arguing, crying and getting themselves all worked up? Is it some element of the bedtime routine that I am missing? Is there a secret to this task?

Once, I made Abbie and Millie a certificate (a printed certificate - laminated – I went to some trouble for this!!) that said “I went to bed by myself”, just to try to get them to get their PJ’s on, clean their teeth, go for a wee, get into bed and GO TO SLEEP by themselves! Does that make me a bad mother? So desperate for a night off from the monotony of the bedtime regime and the whining, moaning and crying that seems to go with the ‘actually going to sleep’ faze! The amount of nights I used to sit at the top of the stairs waiting to go back in and calm Abbie down or put her back in bed. Just for information, the certificate only worked for one night…after that the novelty wore off! So, onto the next incentive to go to bed nicely……..!

End of Term - teacher thank you!

As another school year, draws to a close,
We say a big ‘thank you’ to teachers & those
Who look after our children & teach them to write,
& sort out their troubles, if they get in a fight!
*
Thank you for caring & showing them the way,
To work out the answer & to tidy away!
To use a computer & use a full-stop,
& how to add money, when they go to the shop.
*
A big thank you to you, for taking the time,
To teach them to spell & write down a rhyme,
For teaching them all about things from the past,
And how to take part in a Science task.
*
Thank you for teaching them skills in P.E.
& to work out their answers, independently,
Thank you for giving them skills that they’ll need,
To further their learning & strive to succeed.
*
Time to move on now; new names on the trays,
Packing away for the summer holidays,
We really do appreciate, all that you’ve done.
Now go and relax; have a break & some fun!

*

by Sue Shaw July 2009

how constant are kids?

The hardest thing about having kids is how constant it is. From the minute they wake up in the morning, there is always someone who needs something, or wants something doing, a nappy to change, a name to sew in a jumper, a reading book to do, someone to get dressed, someone to pick up or drop off, someone who wants to tell you something. Even feeding them, as soon as they’ve devoured one meal you have to start thinking about what to feed the four hungry mouths in a few hours time. Then there’s the shopping, just when you think you’ve stocked up for a few days, it’s gone, consumed by four growing girls. The washing is constant too, as soon as you think you’re up-to-date with the washing basket, you can guarantee it’s steadily getting filled again. Cleaning and tidying, well that’s like chasing your tail and never actually catching it. I could spend the day putting things away and tidying but I don’t think I’d ever manage to finish, they can get stuff out faster than I can put it away! Sometimes, I feel like I’m juggling balls in the air and if I ever stop they will all come crashing to the floor. Even when the kids have gone to bed, there is a million (well it feels like a million) things to do and sort out! Does is ever stop? It feels a bit like a rollercoaster that you can’t get off! Sometimes I think, “I’ll do that, when I’ve just got stuff sorted” but what you come to realise is, you never actually get everything sorted, you just have to get on with as much as you can, as best you can and try not to let the rest bother you. Of course, one day, they’ll all fly the nest and leave me wondering what to do with my time! I really don’t know what I did, before I had kids (apart from having a full-time job), did I manage to get things done? Get to the end of a ‘to-do’ list? Instead of being on this constant rolling program of never ending tasks, that never gets completed, but you just keep doing enough to keep the list from overflowing and spiraling out of control.

And why do kids always have to follow you everywhere you go? going to the toilet without a gang of little followers is a distant memory!! If I nip upstairs to put the washing away, very soon afterwards there will be the patter of little people coming up the stairs after me. If I get everyone ready for school, leave them by the front door and say, “Everyone stay here, I’m just going to grab a shopping bag from the back porch,” it’s almost guaranteed that at least two, if not more will follow all the way there and back (you can also guarantee that, because you’re in a hurry, you will swing around quickly, not knowing that someone has followed you, and bang straight into them, then you have to comfort and sort out the onslaught of tears that follow.) Kids also can’t ever give you a minute, if you’re doing something, or on the phone, they will expect you to stop immediately to sort out their wish. If you’re not giving them enough attention, they will sit on you, climb on you, put something in front of your face (I have just removed the balloon Millie has thrust in front of my face) or fiddle with something they know they shouldn’t to ensure you turn your attention back to them!! Okay, rant over….back to cooking tea!!

twins? really?

Why is it that people don’t always seem to want to take my word for it when they ask if Hannah and Georgia are twins? The amount of times that people (especially older people!!) say “are they twins?” and when I say “yes!” they “Really? They don’t look anything like each other” Do they not believe me or something? I was there at the time, when they were both inside me, I was also there when they were born, I can confidently say I am 100% sure they are twins. Sometimes they say “but ‘that one’s’ shorter and ‘that one’ has curly hair” (using ‘that one’ about them too is not my favourite way to have them described either!) Do they think I’m might say “oh you’re right, my mistake, I thought they were twins, but now you’ve pointed out those differences I’m not so sure, maybe I’ve got mixed up?” The thing is, there is no reason for them to look any more alike than sisters, they were two separate eggs, fertilised by two separate sperm, it just so happens that they were inside me at the same time! In fact, if anything, Georgia looks more like Millie than she does Hannah. Georgia is like a little mini Millie! Hannah is a bit like Abbie, but not as much as Georgia and Millie. It’s funny, because personality wise, Georgia is more like Abbie and Hannah more like Millie! Ohhh, it’s just one big mix of Rob and my genes between the four of them! The other favourite comment from people who see me out with all four of the kids is “are they all yours?” and “you’ve got your work cut out there!” If only I had a quid for everytime someone said that to me! Still, I usually come back with my usual response of “Yes, well, no-one told us it was buy one, get one free, when we tried for number three! But we wouldn’t have it any other way!”

The joys of camping!

Camping – with four young children – now there’s an experience! Firstly there is the huge amount of equipment that needs to be sorted, packed and loaded into the car (really, you wouldn’t believe the amount of stuff that you have to take for two nights away in a tent – or how Rob manages to actually fit it all in the car). We used to have a perfectly adequate tent, with one bedroom compartment for Rob and I and the other for Abbie and Millie, then along came Hannah and Georgia and we outgrew it over night! We now have a tent the size of a small bungalow, which takes over an hour to put up and sort out, but on the plus side, on a rainy evening all six of us can fit into the living space quite comfortably. When we first started camping with all six of us we found fitting everything in the car with the four kids all in their car seats a bit of a challenge. We had so much stuff stacked up in the footwells of the car the kids used to sit with their feet out horizonally! We decided that long term this was never going to work, at some point their legs would grow to a length that they would actually need the foot spaces! so we decided to get a roof box. All seemed great, sleeping bags, pillows, buggy all safely stowed away. Then the kids started wanting to take their bikes and we got a few more bits of equipment, so along came the trailer! So, off we set at the weekend, roofbox on, trailer attached, bikes strapped onto the trailer, four kids (and numerous very important teddies that HAVE to be taken, but don’t actually get given a second glance once we’re there). All is looking good, however, ten minutes into the journey we find the sky is looking extremely dark, five minutes later and we are driving through TORRENTIAL rain! We can hardly see more than two feet in front of us and Hannah is covering her ears, saying “Noisy!” At this point, my heart sinks, the thought of four tired, miserable, soaking wet kids in a wet tent on a wet campsite is not filling me with much joy. We arrive at the campsite to find it cloudy, but not raining, so there is hope! We begin the long task of putting up the tent and sorting all the equipment, we are half way through this task when the heavens open! Fortunately, we have the outer shell of the tent up and can quickly send all the kids inside. We press on and eventually get everything sorted, much to our delight the rain passes and it turns into a reasonable evening. The weather on the following two days is absolutely gorgeous and we end up having a fabulous and relaxing time! We went with our neighbours, who are new to camping (and I think they enjoyed their first experience) and it was great because the kids all played together, their kids are older than ours which was great as they helped out with the little ones. We were able to sit and relax, chat and have a few drinks!

Having taken Hannah over to the toilet block for a wee at one point, I realised that Abbie was in one of the toilets (Abbie being a ‘big’ girl had gone to the toilet with our neighbours daughter – great, a bit of independence for her). So as I am walking out of the toilet block I call “Abbie? Are you okay? Do you need any help wiping your bottom?” (this is the child that still shouts me every day at home to come and wipe her bottom after a poo!!) to which Abbie replies “No Mum, I’m a BIG girl! I can do it myself!” which got a few sniggers from the other bathroom goers! (You could almost hear the “Go away Mum, your embarrassing me” tone in her voice). So out I go with Hannah, who then decides (having just been sat on the toilet for a number of minutes without doing anything) that she needs a wee! Deep breath, fine, take her back in, sit her on the toilet (trying to keep quiet, so I don’t embarrass my other daughter) when a shout comes from Abbie, “Mum? I’ve flushed it, but it won’t flush away! Mum? can you help me?” Oh joy, I’m sent away when offering to help with the bottom wiping, but needed now for un-flushable poo!!

Not all bad!!

I am aware that most of my writing about the kids has been about the stress and strains of being a mother. Just to set the record straight, I want you to know that I LOVE being a mother and my kids are absolutely great! In my totally biased ‘I’m their mother’ opinion – they are the best kids ever, I love them all equally, totally and unconditionally (no matter how stressful my day!). I miss them when they’re not around and I love being with them. I guess it’s easier to write about the stresses of my days, they are the things that stick in your mind. Sharing a book together is not going to be the thing you necessarily remember if the wheel of the buggy breaks on the way to school!!

So to set the record straight, I’m going to share some of the fun times, like when Hannah and Georgia give each other a kiss and cuddle if either of them is hurt and how Georgia said the other day that Hannah was her ‘best friend’! or the way they sit together on Abbie’s chair for their lunch when she’s at school. How Millie looks after Hannah and Georgia, plays with them, takes Hannah to the toilet, fetches things for them and makes them giggle. How Abbie and Millie held hands all the way to school on Millie’s visit day. How Abbie made me a new bowl out of cardboard when one of my favourite bowls got smashed or how Rob found a little picture of a heart under his pillow with ‘Dad’ written on it. How sometimes, only a cuddle from Mummy will do! How they all love to help with baking (that can be a mixed blessing!!) and how they all love to do craft. How Abbie reads stories to the others and the time that Abbie and Millie decided to sleep in the same bed. Abbie and Millie used to love feeding, changing, helping and trying to teach Hannah and Georgia words when they were younger. They all make me laugh and smile a hundred times a day, admittedly they can make enough mess to keep a full time cleaner busy for weeks and they are hard work and constant. They are my kids, they’re great, they’re 100% cute and sweet and I love them!

Netbook joy & teatime woes!

Good morning. So my blog today comes to you from the swinging seat in the garden. I have my new toy, a Netbook – courtesy of my lovely husband (thanks babe!) – who is keen to find something to help me get through these long days, during which, sometimes, I am lucky to even have a conversation with anyone over the age of six until he gets home in the evening! My main problem at the moment, with this versatile new set up, which is giving me a new found freedom, seems to be keeping two pairs of sticky fingers, one set clutching a bit of grubby apple, away from the shiny new machine! This is great, I am sat outside in the fresh air, I can hear the birds singing, Hannah and Georgia are playing nicely together on the slide... I feel chilled!

A far cry from last night’s bath and bedtime, which was an absolute nightmare. What is it about the couple of hours after school (witching hour) that turns perfectly nice kids into whinging, unreasonable horrors? I understand that everyone is tired and hungry, but really, do they have to go into melt-down? Sometimes I find myself reaching for the TV remote control in the vain hope that a bit of TV time might restore a bit of calm. However, I then go through the whole guilt thing about sticking my kids in front of the TV and so I sometimes try to get through without the assistance of the flickering screen. The other day, Abbie and Millie helped with tea, which started off working really well, great, I’m onto a winner here, I thought, until the fight broke out about whose turn it was to peel the next carrot and whether Millie had to chop hers into circles or long strips. In amongst the carrot chopping argument, Hannah didn’t get to the toilet in time and wet herself and Georgia was crying about something that Hannah had taken off her, oh well, back to the TV I think!

time to diet??

I was horrified the other day to be asked by one of the mums at school if I was pregnant again!! Ahhhh! I’m NEVER wearing that skirt again! I am the first to admit I have got a bit of ‘post baby bulge’ left – but for it too look bad enough for her to ask if I’m expecting???!!! I’m outraged! I had nearly got over the shock and convinced myself that I was looking okay (in the right outfit, of course) but then today I put on a floaty dress, that sort of hangs loosely, as it is a beautiful warm day, and I swear that ‘said mother’ was checking out my belly again! I could almost see it going through her mind – “ummm, floaty loose dress? Is that an expanding belly under there??” So I got home and thought, right, this needs some decisive action, I need to up the diet a bit (okay, get back on the diet which appears to have fallen by the wayside lately) and start doing crunches each night, I’ll show her, I thought. Then I thought, yeah, I can do this, just after I’ve eaten this bar of chocolate, THEN I’ll show her!! Ummm, this could prove to be more difficult than I first thought!

putting your life into cyber space?

As I was on my way to playgroup the other day, I think one of those ‘Google cars’ might have passed me. It was a car with a camera mounted on the top, they take pictures round the streets and you can view them on Google street view. At the time, I was doing the ‘buggy board walk’ which, as anyone who has ever pushed a buggy with a board attached to the back, knows, is when you walk at a slightly odd angle with your bum stuck out! Not my best look, I have to say. It got me to thinking about the uproar about privacy that the Google Cars have causes (in the news the other day). I guess, they would stay, if you’re out on the street, then you’re fair game? but I read something the other day, about a guy who opened his curtains (naked) to find the car with camera driving up the street towards him! Ummm, have we all gone a bit mad in this world of technology and internet, will our whole lives soon be played out over the web for viewing? (even now – I am posing my thoughts into cyber space for anyone to read) I also read a blog by a woman who was concerned that she named her kids in her blog – but I guess if a stranger said to you in the street “lovely children, what are their names?” or “what do you thing of ‘Google street cars?” and you answered them, then you could argue that it is no different? is it not just general conversation with people you haven’t actually met?!!

Then there’s the whole ‘photos on Facebook’ debate. I have got friends who put allsorts of pictures from their life and of their kids for anyone to see, and others who won’t put a single picture on. I put mine on, usually to let friends and family see (family in particular as both sets of grandparents live away, and Rob’s sister and her family are in USA) so I always set to the setting ‘only my friends’ can see these, apart from anything else, I’m not sure how many people would really be interested in viewing my grubby little girls planning runner beans?!!. Do we live our lives too much on the internet these days? I have got friends on Facebook who ‘status update’ numerous times a day….. it’s as thought they are ‘status updating’ their entire day! Don’t get me wrong, I like to ‘status update’ once in a while, especially if I’m out, but I do have a limit, and definitely draw the line at letting you all know my every move, as it happens!!

good enough?

I was wondering last night; what makes a good mother? How do you know if your best is good enough? It’s not as though there are any appraisals or performance indicators that you can set, at least in the work place you might have targets to reach or goals to achieve. Do you just have to wait and see how they turn out when they become young adults? Wait and see if you got it anywhere near right? Yesterday, I shouted at Millie, a really cross, angry shout (she had pushed me too far) and immediately I regretted it. I’m meant to be the adult, right? I should be able to keep my cool, right? There is no training manual for parenthood either, although of course, there are hundreds of books you can get with someone’s opinion on getting it right. There are those who believe in a strict regime from day one, with nap time, eating, dressing, set out in a day run to military precision. And then there are the ‘let your baby guide you’ lot, who think that if your baby decides to sleep all day and have you up all night, then that is obviously what you have to do. I come somewhere in the middle… baby has to fit in with your family life and your routines, but if baby sleeps for an extra half hour and ends up having breakfast a bit late then that’s not a problem. I guess the answer is to work together as a family to find what works for you.

juggling my time

So can you ever really give enough individual attention to four young children? When Hannah and Georgia were born, Abbie was three and a half years old and Millie was just two years old. Everyone used to tell me how well I was managing and how great that I got out and about with all four. But do they each get the individual attention they need? Can I really split myself four ways adequately? Or will the consequences come back to bite me when they are older and they rebel at not getting enough individual time with their parents? Is there an optimum number of kids to have? I was one of three, and growing up it always seemed to two of us against the other one. Usually, my elder brother with either my younger sister or with me. Until my sister and I grew up a bit, got wise to it, and stuck together more! I also used to work with an only child once, when she found out I was expecting, she made me promise not to have just one. She has hated being an only child that much. So does that make two the ideal number? You have the companionship of a sibling without the constant battle for attention. On the other hand, I see the four girls playing together and I think that they are lucky to have each other. Their own little ‘gang’ against the world?

the dreaded school run!

Why is it that kids choose the most inappropriate moments to do things or want things? You can guarantee that just as I am opening the door for us all to leave for school, someone needs something very important right now. Maybe a book, a toy, a picture, but almost always the response “We’re just on our way to school now darling, could we look for it later” will never do. So the frantic hunt round the house begins, I am praying the said item will be in the place I thought it was otherwise I don’t stand a chance of being at the school gates on time. Having found said item, you can be assured that another child, on seeing item that was fetched for one child, will suddenly realise that they need a similar item too. I have learnt to pre-empt this to a certain extent, if I am on a hunt for Poppy (Georgia’s talking doll) I will also try to locate Sam too (Hannah’s talking doll) as you do end up learning from experience.

Also, this morning, I thought I had everyone ready, all had their shoes on, their jumpers on, Abbie’s lunch and school bag are on the pram, great, I am making good time this morning, we shouldn’t be late, I am opening the door calling “Come on then, let’s go!” when I realise that both Hannah and Georgia have taken their trainers off and don’t know where they’ve put them. I charge round the house shouting “Has ANYONE seen their trainers?” It is at this point that Abbie pulls a note out of her bag stating that she needs to take a princess costume and junk model boxes into school today. At this point I am in a state of mild panic, frantically grabbing the bag of cereal out of the box and throwing the box into a bag, followed by the teabag box (I’ll sort the teabags out later) and instructing Abbie to run upstairs to the dressing up box. The secret here, is always aim to leave for school earlier than you actually have to, some days this will mean that you end up being early (not a problem) but it will give you the few precious minutes you need on days like today! To top the school run off this morning, Millie, Hannah and Georgia all have a tantrum when I say that we are NOT taking three balls with us to school!!