All in a day's work.

Ahhhh, the day is all but over! The great thing about dreadeing something is that actually it is rarely as bad as you have imagined and for the most part that is how the day went today.
Seth woke up ( having had the eyedrops put in while he slept) and said " Hey! THIS eye is the lazy one...how did that happen?" When he was told that he had had drops while he slept and that this meant he didn't have to even think about a patch on his good eye he thought the day had started pretty darn well!
Isaac was cheerful and dressed without fuss ( hooray for favourite clothes being out and ready when he wakes up) and did say a few times that he thought he would stay at home and not go to nursery but not too much panic in his voice...til we got to nursery!
Seth was thrilled to get to school and ran into his new classroom without a backward glance, what a star!
Isaac beheld the new nursery as as if he were a sweet baby calf being led to the abatoir....he dug in his heels and stiffened his legs and began with that heartbreaking and feeble weeping sound that pleads for mercy and is enough to melt the hardest of hearts, by the time we were actually INSIDE the building he was up to full pelt and then in absolute desperation he held his breath, in the most impressive way that he has perfected and calls his own, this is a sight to behold and has the biggest and strongest of humans running in panic with fingers on the 999 button. He screams and then stops, face still in scream mode but no sound, no air coming out, none going in and as we watch the colour in his face goes pale, then grey, then grey with blackish blue lips, eyes roll up into head, arms go into spasm as do legs and he fits, twitch and twitch, his hands grab and pinch ( HARD) whatever is in the way, OW OW OW if it's my face or my boob, then he passes out and makes a sound akin to the death rattle, bubbling throaty noise and then a moan, floppy body and if his bladder is full, he pees......ARGH!
Thankfully, no pee today. Just the full on breath hold. I had to hand him to his helper, Nicky and walk away...hearing the plaintive wails follow me through the door.
Why does life throw us these things? I suppose it's so we gain the true glory of the great moments, like when I went to collect him to see his huge grin and to hear that although it took a while, he stopped crying and relaxed with Nicky enough to hear a story, then he played and..he SPOKE!!! He also ATE the SNACK!! Would that news have been so welcome, so fantastic so glorious if he hadn't been so bereft when I left him? HE said that 'damowwow, me duss cry a lidda bit" I can handle a little bit of crying as long as today was a one off!
Both boys had a really good day, a happy day and so did I..Elijah went to living coasts with gramma and Papa and saw the penguins jumping into the sea.
It was SO quiet here, I managed to sort through ALL the boys clothes , bag up the ones no-one wears, put away the ones they love, sort out which ones Eli can use .
I also swapped mattresses on the boys beds, made them up fresh and cleaned their room. H worked in the garden and all without having to stop, no juice calls, no snack breaks. Heaven.
I have enjoyed the summer break and we had such fun but the bliss of actually getting some work done while knowing all 3 boys were safe and well looked after ( and now we know they were happy too!)


I am beyond thrilled to report a touching and unexpected development and that is the friendship that is blossoming between Sophie and Jordan, it is quite splendid and all the more appreciated because it is so out of the blue. When either of them comes home, they ask where the other one is and wait up for each other. If Sophie isn't home, J will call her and ask when she is coming home and how she is getting here, they watch TV together and Lawks a mercy they haven't fought for....well I can't remember, J pays Sophie to clean his room and make him breakfast! ( what a life!!) Jordan has even been out with her and the friends a few times and they all seem to get on. Could this be the beginning of growing up? Oh sweet joy!
I remember when Sophie was born, having a sweet imagination of how the 2 boys would look after her and be her protectors, never would I imagine that she would need protecting FROM them because she has driven them almost insane with her taunting and teasing! How fantastic then that at last they all 3 seem to genuinely get on and are beginning to bring some of my dreams to fruition.

Before I go I was tagged to write 5 of my favourite childhood memories, so here I go.

1/ Christmas was always SO exciting at our house, we would open stockings from Santa as soon as we woke and then the big presents in the front room would be out of bounds until we had had a full English breakfast and were washed and dressed.
Every year, just as we thought we were actually going to get IN to the front room, mum would say she needed the bathroom, then dad would disappear...I remember that agonising anticipation vividly, even though I can't remember any of the gifts we waited so patiently for!

2/ When I was 7 I was chosen to go on an overnight delivery trip to Wales with my dad. That feeling of being 'the chosen one' the special treats we ate, the fact that we broke down and had to wait for the recovery van, all of it is such an adventure in my mind. Feeling so close to my lovely dad. A special memory indeed.

3/ Going away on holiday to Somerset ( the very same campsite I have taken all of my children) and being able to stay up really late and sit in the garden of the club, having hot dogs and coca cola for the very first time.

4/ Buying my first pair of platform shoes..oh my goodness, my sister and I bought a pair of white platform clogs and walked through the street...hanging onto walls and railings because we just couldn't walk any other way! I think we wore them that one day and never again!

5/ The most vivid memory is that no matter how little we had, my mum always managed to give to other people, she never actually told us what she was doing but there was always someone coming to the house, who needed something, food, clothes, an ear to listen. She never turned anyone away and we often saw her making beautiful clothes for babies we knew nothing about. She fostered over a hundred babies and children while we grew up and yet never made us feel left out or needing anything.
She would make parcels up at christmas and we never knew who they were for. Pretty good memories for me of growing up, I hope my children will be able to say the same.