Girls and boys

I looked after an extra four year old child today. That may sound like a mad thing to do but it was a joy. The last ten days or so I have been struggling with a few inner demons, the resurgence of old resentment at my personal situation, disappointment that a faint light I'd glimpsed at the end of the tunnel had been extinguished, etc etc... all very boring and I won't tell or dwell. But taking two 4 year olds to a local country park was just the tonic I needed.

Having two girls I love the chance to find out a little more about how boys work - clearly I didn't spend enough time doing this in my younger days or I wouldn't now be a lone parent (now, now, said I wouldn't dwell).... but I'm glad that my younger child hasn't fully renounced all contact with the opposite sex just yet.

We set off for a walk to the duck pond, fed said ducks and tramped on a little further. We hadn't gone far before little boy spotted a den-like canopy under a low tree.

"We can make our campfire there" he announced. The next half an hour was spent gathering sticks for our 'fire' (no I didn't really light one, obviously), climbing on fallen trees and taking it in turns to be monsters and dragons. All this while my own four year old proudly walked, clambered and stumbled around with a toy dog stuffed under her t-shirt: "I've got a baby in my tummy." (her, not I!).

Eventually I gave in to the boring parental urge to persuade them to walk on a little and the walk round the lake that usually takes half an hour then turned into a manic race lasting roughly three minutes.

We had a lovely time. All thanks to a different perspective for a few hours.

Yawn

Keep having great ideas for things to write about during the day but then when it gets to sit-down time I just want to crawl into bed.... three year old (four at the weekend - gulp) has been getting up nightly pretty much since I started my new job. The combination of those things is making me extremely tired.... and I'm feeling like I'm drowning in my own things to do list again... birthday Friday... party Saturday... no present yet... no time.... aaarrrggghhh!

Bedtime again I think.

Infinity and beyond

I never realised before becoming a parent how quickly the day would come when I could no longer answer my children's questions.

Having foolishly explained the concept of infinity to my six year old after a discussion about really, really big numbers, she then wanted to know whether it was even or odd.

Thanks to the power of google (no they're not sponsoring me!) I can now reveal that as infinity is a concept rather than an actual number it is neither even nor odd.

Hopefully you will sleep better for knowing that, but please don't thank me, thank the joint powers of the mind of a six year old teamed up with the dazzling infinity of this here internet.

Blah blah back sheep

Seem to have lost my momentum a little on the blogosphere. Hope to regain it so will start with a little post and work my way up.

Three year old received a box full of reading-related goodies through Bookstart recently, including a book of nursery rhymes. Always amazes me that no matter how many books with these same rhymes we have, both my girls still love to sit and read them (6 year old) or 'read' them (3 year old).

And I love their own particular take on the rhymes, from three year old's 'blah blah back sheep' to six year old's rock star version of 'Twinkle twinkle' complete with air guitar.... and of course the obligatory: "Your turn now mummy, you know, do it just like a rock star..." Erm, ok then, if you insist.

Neglect... of my blog

Not posted for a few months. Been busy navel-gazing after losing my job and trying to work out where to go next and whether I should be sharing my thoughts in this way.... Started a new job today so either it'll give me a boost with renewed energy and new thoughts to share.... or will wipe me out completely and I'll never post again.

Watch this space.

Trials and tribulations of the tooth fairy pt. 2

Another tooth gone and time for the tooth fairy to visit again.

This time it happens to be on a night when I have already been awake since 4am thanks to early morning wake-up calls from the smaller one. And also on a night when I have actually arranged to leave the house in the evening (thanks mum, again!).

The tooth came out during school time so it had been transported home in an envelope, clearly labelled just in case we forgot or something.

Returning home from my evening out I was reminded about the tooth fairy duties - you might think it would be impossible to forget such a momentous task but then you are reading the thoughts of someone who on darker days than these has been handed her front door keys by the postman after leaving them in the lock overnight. Ahem.

Anyway just as my mum left, 6 year old woke asking for a glass of water. Darn, now I needed to wait until she went back to sleep before I could put on my wings and sparkly tutu. It was already after 11pm by this point, at least two hours after my normal bedtime... eventually the breathing started to sound sleepy so I crept across the creaky floors to her bed. Hand under the pillow... of course tonight she's sleeping right across every inch of the pillow rather than just below it as usual. Gently seek out the tooth... where is it? No really, where is it?

A little voice pipes up: "Mummy?" Pause. "Mummy? What are you doing in here?"

Bearing in mind that is was midnight by this point and I am somewhat sleep-deprived at the best of times I admit that for a split second I did actually think of putting on a 'fairy' voice and taking the pretense one step further. Fortunately I thought better of this idea before actually opening my mouth.

"I just came to check you are ok, honey."

I somehow managed to slip the coin under the pillow before retreating, but the tooth was still buried under the pillow somewhere.

Now what? If I didn't get to bed soon the next day was going to be hell.

My solution was to draft a quick letter with a few fairy-type flourishes that read something along the lines of... "Dear xxx, I have decided to let you keep your tooth this time as a souvenir as you are such a lovely girl, love from the tooth fairy."

I never realised this tooth fairy business was so fraught with complications. Needless to say, Santa will be leaving his presents downstairs in the front room. As for what happens next time the tooth fairy is due I cannot say.

Now 6 year old wants to take her letter into school for 'show and tell'. I can't decide if I am touched or just embarrassed!

Parents' evening

Parents' evening. All our children's work folders were laid out on tables in the school hall for us to read while we waited for our appointments. My six year old was asked to write a message to her parents on the label for her work.

She wrote: "I am feeln Happy To Day yes I am."

And so am I now.