Of kids and being a reluctant cook

Hello, how are you?

• Child2 appears to be having a really good time at his place of observation. He’s really happy in the mornings (this could be because he gets to snuggle in bed with my parents every morning before my Dad drops him) and I collect him every afternoon at 12:30 to take him to his current school. Then I go back to work and fetch both kids when I clock out at close of business. He is EXHAUSTED when I fetch him at lunch time and sleeps all the way to his school. When we get there, he wakes up, we say hi to the bunnies and feed them and then he goes inside his class to have some lunch and take a nap. He NEVER naps so you can imagine how tired he must be.

 

• Must tell you that he (Child2) was sooooooo excited to send me a “mesish” (message) on my phone earlier. He actually figured out the keypad and typed up his name for me! Isn’t he clever?  He then brought me my phone to show me the “mesish”.  The other evening  he told me what Father Christmas could bring him. He wants an apple, a biscuit, a puppy, a dice and a grey crayon. AND a number 8. AND his Mommy! Don’t you just LOVE his wish list?

 

• Child1 is extremely chilled about his exam that takes place next week. This annoys me tremendously because this exam (that runs over one week) is making me anxious. I am seeing plenty of signs that he’s not ready.

 

• It’s my turn to cook for some people next month. I am freaking out. I am a terrible cook (actually I am a VERY reluctant AND a terrible cook) and my Mom usually does all these things for me. She even allows me to pass it off as my own. Well, she’s unavailable on this particular day which means that I am actually going to need to make something.  The people that I’m meant to cook for are very easy-going but this does not make me freak out any less. I am usually a snacks-and-savouries- from- Woollies-kind- of- girl when I need to do any form of entertaining. Do you like cooking for people? Are you a reluctant cook? Any ideas for a decent easy meal? 

How was your Thursday and how are you doing? Have just cleaned this filthy house (gosh, I seem to live with the messiest people on the planet!) and am off to bed now for some House.

Later.

x

Friendship Friday: are you friends with your kids?

My kids are not my friends.

I don’t want to be friends with them right now. That is a privilege that awaits them when they are adults.

I have friends who are great friends with their kids. I have tried that approach (well, a mild version of it), but I was forced to put a stop to it. Because I couldn’t seem to get the balance right. The boundaries kept getting crossed. It’s possible that I didn’t work at it long enough – I can accept that, but it’s fine. For now, I am the Mom and they are the kids.

This very clear boundary works for me. I make the rules. I make the decisions. I am the adult in the relationship.

I do make an effort to  maintain openness. I have always tried to do that. I don’t quite know if it’s paying off yet – I guess I will know when Child1 becomes a proper teenager. For now, he appears to like talking to me about stuff (he feels free to tell me cool and not cool stuff and even things that he did wrong that he feels bad about or things that make him feel sad or whatever)  and he seems to enjoy my company very much. This makes me happy.

I DO treat them with respect. THE WAY I WOULD TREAT MY FRIENDS.

This means that I am as kind as I could possibly be even on hard days.

It means that I don’t shout at them.

It means that I try not to judge them or their very limited choices. But I WILL nip a potential bad choice in the bud. STAT.

It means that I listen to them, give them my full attention, do fun stuff with them and make time to engage and to connect with them.

It means that our relationship MUST be based on trust and complete honesty and that this is not negotiable.

It means that I will mentor them and be a safe place for them. ALWAYS.

It means that I will accept them for who they are. Flaws and all.

I guess though that one could say that there IS a friendship between my kids and I. Our relationship HAS to be based on that in order for it to work. BUT. It is a different type of friendship. It has limits and MANY boundaries. They ain’t my BFF’s or anything.

For the moment this works well for my DH and I.

I don’t know if the current approach is going to ruin the possibility of our adult friendship. I hope not. It certainly hasn’t ruined my relationship with my parents who only became my friends when I reached adulthood. I count them as two of my very best friends.

For now though, our “friendship” will continue in the way that it has, although there is going to be a bit of a shift with Child1 in the coming years. I will continue to work hard to maintain a fair balance between Mommy and Friend and safe place.

Over to you:

Are you friends with your kids?

How do you maintain the balance between friend and parent?

Do you struggle with it and find it a challenge?

Do you believe that parents should be friends with their kids?

This and that

1. I gave NBL a gift yesterday. She was after something I’d gotten as a gift from a beautiful blog friend and kept on hinting and admiring it whenever it was on my desk. So I organised one for her.  I wrapped it nicely for her and even gave her a handwritten Thank You note. That must be why it stormed in CT today after we had the most divine summer weather for the past few days.  I had to dig REALLY deep for the words. She was very moved and LOVED it and I am officially the favourite child in the office.  

2. I had to cancel our camping holiday because my DH’s leave was in jeopardy and he was told that he can only get it during Winter next year because there are too many new projects on the go.  LUCKILY we got our money back.  I was extremely annoyed by it all but am over it now. Am in the process of making a booking at a farm in Citrusdal instead. We are going to be doing a long weekend – he managed to get off a Friday and a Monday which I guess is also fine. Am looking forward to getting away from it all.  Note to self: book at hot springs for next winter.

3. I went for a Vitamin B shot this evening. So far I feel odd and have a (still) burning bum. I can’t quite explain this weirdness that I’m feeling but it BETTER work! Else I’m going to insist on a refund.

4. Last week this time I had a DIVINE friend date with the lovely Sam who happened to be in Cape Town. I had a fantastic time connecting with her. If you ever get a chance to meet up with her, GO FOR IT. You’d love her. Today I had a quick coffee with another fantastic lady. My love tank is officially full for the week.

5.  I have no idea how but I seem to have injured my ankle. I can’t have injuries now because I’m planning a LOT of running from next week. Google says to put a vinegar compress on it. I’ll try tomorrow.

6. Both my kids schools are trying to squeeze in last-minute fundraisers at this time of the year. This, in addition to the endless prize givings, concerts, carol services and and and. Am trying REALLY hard not to lose it and to remain all zen-like about it.

7. I am very unhappy that the farm worker strike went out of control last week and I am absolutely NOT condoning biting the hand that feeds you but really, R50 a day? I simply cannot get past that. R50 a day?  Having a  glass of wine and eating  fruit will just never feel OK again. I will always wonder what kind of exploitation took place in order for me to be able to get it so freely. Gosh. R50 a day? I think it’s time for me to call it a day with the news for 2012. So much of pain and ugliness and despair and crime!

8. Child2’s school concert is in two weeks time. I am SUPER nervous. You know the kid who normally cries on stage and has to be removed because he’s distressed? Well, that’s usually Child2. We didn’t do concert last year because I kept him out of school due to us having car problems. Deep down I think he’ll be OK. He is singing all these songs all the time and he has grown A LOT this year. We even had no-crying school pics. But, of course I can’t help but wonder what will happen on the day.

9. Child1 has market day on Friday. He usually ends up doing it alone because, as I mentioned two Fridays ago, he struggles with friends. This year (I am VERY excited to say) he is doing it WITH 2 other kids – I only found this out last week btw.  Anyway, I am meant to provide a portable TV because they will be charging other kids to play PS games. Another boy is bringing his PS. Rather ambitious don’t you think? Anyway, my DH went a bit nuts (because really, how can he just go and volunteer our TV!) and I felt really bad for my poor boy. Obviously I couldn’t let my kid lose face like that. So I arranged to have our broken portable TV fixed. Luckily it didn’t cost the earth and we are getting it back tomorrow.  My DH is making a market day poster as I type this. I need to blog about this some more. While I LOVE that my kid has soooo much faith in me and KNOWS that he can come to me with ANY problems that he may have,  I don’t quite like that he just assumes that I CAN and WILL come up with a solution. Especially when he makes people promises without talking to me first! Do your kids also think that the entire world revolves around them? 

10. I am taking the day off on Friday and can’t wait. I plan to see Child2’s teacher and Speech Therapist. Then I’ll pop in at the Market Day. Then I am going to Merripack.  All these things are in a 5 minute radius of each other. THEN I’m going to see a movie! Any suggestions? Not Twilight OK? I’m making my Boyfriend watch that with me in the next week or so.

How was your Tuesday?

Please excuse the untidiness of this post. I am feeling too odd. Am off to bed with Rose.

Night.

x

Friendship Friday: When your Child struggles with friendship

Both my sons are not really doing well on the friendship front.

Child2 is simply not interested in other kids. He enjoys his own company very much and if it wasn’t for the ASD diagnosis then I would honestly have assumed that he’s a loner and an introvert. I guess this is not really an issue if he is comfortable and happy in his skin, but I do worry about the effects of this on his future relationships.

Will he be able to work in a group with others? Will he be able to network and sell himself and his skills if he needs to? I spoke with his teacher and apparently he has friends within the classroom environment – she mentioned names of the kids that he occasionally enjoys playing with. It took him a long, long time to get to this point and it’s only now that she can say that he has friends.  He even appears to have a thing for a girl called Hannah and is forever twirling her hair. Not sure if I’m happy with that but at this stage I can live with it. It DOES look like I will be able to have a proper birthday party for him next year – there are FINALLY some kids that I can invite.

Child1 struggles and many of the reasons for this are because of things beyond his control. For example: he is loud, he is all over the place and he gets overly excitable. Other kids can’t cope with this. He is a VERY social guy but other kids can find that overwhelming. He just really wants to have people to hang out with and he often seems desperate. This breaks my heart in sooooo many pieces because it DOES affect him.

I worry about him feeling rejected, I worry about the possibility of him being accepted by the wrong “type” of friend and I worry about what all of this is doing to his self-esteem. IT doesn’t help that he is very “child-like” and not as worldly as the average 12-year-old – this actually makes him more of an outcast.

He had two really nice friends last year – two boys who were EXACTLY like him. They were the same age and all very child-like – still wanting to play outside and with their action figurines etc but BOTH of those friends have moved away – into different provinces. Isn’t that a bummer? There  are many kids his age in our area but I don’t like them for him so I don’t allow any form of socialising there. I know I need to helicopter a bit less but I know my child and I know what he needs. I don’t helicopter when I am comfortable with who he is socialising with.

When I think back to my own “kid” friendships then I see many similarities between both kids and myself. I think I always felt “lonely” though I had friends. I think that many kids couldn’t cope with the uniqueness that was me. And I think that it didn’t help that I was very shy and battled to make my own friends. I have definitely come a long way as an adult but it hasn’t been easy – in fact, I’ve had to work REALLY hard at doing something basic like making friends. This only really came to me as an adult and to be honest, I really don’t want my kids to be “lonely” and feel “rejected”  as teenagers. I often wonder if I’ve somehow projected my friendship struggles onto them.

I am not too worried at this stage about Child2 and his friendship issues. Remember, he is only just talking and he is only NOW starting to catch up. I feel that with therapy and further development, he’s going to be OK.  Also, I have accepted that he LOVES his own company and doesn’t really seem to need people in order to be happy. I honestly feel that his friendship issues will resolve themselves at some point.

However, I am at a loss with Child1. I spoke with his school psychologist (I am going to request a new one from the school in 2013 because I REALLY don’t like her – I wrote about her over here ) and she wasn’t very helpful. I like PRACTICAL solutions eg..let’s try this approach or lets work on this or how about introducing this etc. She talks a lot of crap and goes all Freud on me  – quite frankly I am not interested.

My DH and I do a bit of role-playing with him at home – we practice things like how to approach people without overwhelming them and how to determine if you are too loud and basic things like personal space and how to “read people”.  He’s not completely there yet and there is a fair amount of repetition but I do believe that at some point we’ll get there. I’m also considering sending him for some life-skills/social skills  training for kids with ADD/ADHD.

Would you believe that there aren’t really people or practitioners who offer this?  I don’t know if I’ll be good at this kind of thing but I am thinking that maybe I should work something out and offer this as a service?

Quite honestly, I can’t really think of anything else that I can do to help him with this but I am hoping that you can offer me some suggestions.

Do your kids struggle with friendships? If so, how do you help them?

Do you assist them with nurturing their friendships?

How do you suggest I navigate the friendship issue with Child1?

Do you think that our kids learn  HOW to be good at friendship based on how WE are as friends?

Ten on Tuesday

1.  My computer is finished. Klaar. Kaput. This makes me feel all kinds of things and it feels like I’m going through the 5 stages of grief.  I’ve been through the denial phase for the longest time. Then came bargaining. Right now I’m alternating between the VERY angry or the depressed phase. Hopefully I’ll come to acceptance soon and accept it for what it is – I should probably buy a new one. This fills me with dread – I REALLY don’t have extra money for this kind of purchase. For the moment I am using my DH’s junk computer. 

2. Child2 apparently coped really well with photo day last week and for the first time ever I am really excited to see his pics! At least I know that they are not crying pics. That right there is a HUGE milestone.

3.I informed the Sensei last week that Child1 wouldn’t be back for Judo this term. Well, he insisted that I send Child1 to chat to him. Don’t know what he said but Child1 is all fired up and excited about Judo again and so it’s back on.

4. Have you ever had an idea in your head that you can’t find on Pinterest? And then you lack the confidence to just wing it? Well, that is me at the moment. I want to make something that I’m seeing in my head but I don’t know what one would call this thing and I can’t find it.  Guess I’ll  have to close my eyes and just do it already.

5. I had a bit of a disappointment this past weekend with someone who I love dearly. Our relationship is going to be different from now on because I’ve had to put a particular boundary in place. It’s painful but if I’m to nurture my emotional well-being then it needs to happen.

6. I discovered the Little Black Dress Company this weekend. How have I never known about them before? They have styles for all shapes and go up to a size 42! I am so excited. I have a wedding happening at the end of the year – guess where I’ll be buying an outfit?

7. Child1 asked me for a kindle for his 13^th birthday which is in AUGUST next year  – I think it’s a sensible age to give that type of gift. However I am soooo excited and want to buy it for him before then.  I’ll see how the money works out and then I will MAYBE buy him a basic one for Christmas. I have seen some Groupon deals for the basic kindle – I do need to look around a bit. My DH says NO, let him wait. That one likes to be a spoilsport.

8. I’m redoing my money spreadsheet because my DH is taking on some of my stuff. Isn’t that fantastic? It means that I’ll have some cash flow! I’m totally buying more lip gloss – my latest favourite is Rimmel’s Golden Goddess. Or sunscreen? Maybe I’ll save it. Who knows.

9. You know when you see a gap to buy someone something cute and practical that you just KNOW they will like? And then you plan and budget accordingly so that you can buy it (or make it) within a week or  just as soon as you get paid next week or whatever? Then you find out that they’ve actually already bought this thing for themselves? Now THAT. I am sitting with three  gifts that I bought for people who have already bought it for themselves. I don’t quite know what to say. Just that it irritates me a bit. It’s nobody’s fault. But it does annoy me. And I know that I can give it to someone else, but when I see something then I see ONLY THAT PERSON  that I intended it for. Feels a bit wrong  to give it to someone else. So I end up keeping it and adding MORE clutter to my home.

10.I am due for an upgrade in 6 weeks time. Please tell me in the comments which phone you are currently using – ESPECIALLY if you are using an iphone or any type of android phone?  Am going to mail you some questions to help me make up my mind. OK?

 

 

Thursday Things

1. I am giving up the crochet for now. Will try again in the new year. Am moving on so long. To embroidery. In fact, I have prepared materials for a small project already and I’ve been googling stitches non-stop. Am rather excited actually!

2. I booked and paid for our camping holiday today. After all that googling and phoning around and back and forth business, I ended up booking at the same place that we went to last year. My DH says that when you camp, you go to a place twice. The first time is to check it out and see what the set- up is and the next time you are meant to enjoy it more because then you know EXACTLY what to expect. He’s not wrong, but I would have liked a different place – I guess this will have to happen next year – I do need to book in June though because it seems like Capetonians are serious about December camping. In the end, it ended up being easier to just book at the same place. So I did. Now to start planning!

3. Also, I have slowly started to buy/design/make cutesy little gifts. I’ll decide later who they will go to. I should make a proper gift list, yes? Maybe tomorrow.

4. I have to say that this week has been a complete killer. In the emotional sense.  Really, I hope that it gets better because I do not want to have another December like I had last year.

5. My allergies are up the pole and it seems like nothing helps anymore. I’ve emailed our GP because a colleague told me that there is an allergy injection that one can get in the Drs rooms. Child1 and I WILL be going.

6. Child1 told me yesterday that he really doesn’t want to do Judo anymore. He has been making noises about giving it up for some weeks now but I’ve kind of ignored him. I told him that if he was serious, then it was OK (luckily I didn’t pay for this term yet) and that he needed to replace it with something else that is offered AT SCHOOL. He told me that he isn’t sure what he wants to do. So I told him that it’s fine, it is the last term and a very busy one at that so I will allow him to get away with not doing anything extramural for the next few weeks. Am a bit sad that he no longer enjoys it. He was REALLY good at it and it’s the first extramural that he didn’t get bored of after 1 week.  January 2013 would have been his 3^rd year doing it. Having said that, it DOES make the end of year business slightly less chaotic.

7. Child2’s school had their photo day today. I haven’t paid for school photographs for Child2 for the past two years. He’s the kid who used to come home with crying pics and I refused to be spending money on those. This year I contemplated leaving it once again but then I figured that he was a lot more mature, he’d come a long way AND  his beloved Sheila would be there for him.  I did a few practice shots with him at the weekend (just to see) and he even posed and smiled for me. So I sent the notice and the money to school on Monday.

Well, this morning I put out a really nice outfit for him – you know, so he doesn’t look like a street kid on the pics. Of course he wasn’t going to wear what I chose for him. So I allowed him to wear what he wanted (i.e. every day grey and white striped hoodie with pyjama pants and cars t-shirt and takkies) and I packed in his photo outfit with a note for Sheila because really, I was NOT going to start my morning with a clothing fight. Oh and when we arrived at school all the kids were sooooo nicely dressed. Even brought their teddies and things along to pose with them in their pics. Only my kid looked like he slept under a bridge in Lansdowne. I tried not to twitch. MY DH assured me that even if he looks like a street-kid on his pics it’s STILL an achievement and a proper milestone if we get proper smiley pics and not crying pics. I’ll try to remember that.

Anyway, that’s it for today and the weekly update.  Looks like I’m going to have a really busy weekend. Have to run, wash hair and do nails, attend two socials on Saturday and on Sunday I’m running in the morning followed by another thing with my DH and kids after that. What does your weekend look like? Best I clean up and do ALL the laundry by tomorrow evening.

BTW…I am really enjoying the process of writing about ADD/ADHD.  Would LOVE some comments on those posts now and again? Please?  There are going to be 5 posts  on the weekend because I need to catch up – I REALLY want to be done on 31/10.

Later.

x

It’s only Tuesday!

Goodness me but it has been such a weird day. I had a visit from my old friend Insomnia last night and so felt rather knackered. Then I managed to write up a Tuesday post earlier today. And then, I read this Wordless Wednesday post and I thought it was Wednesday, And only later this afternoon I realised that it was in fact Tuesday!

Anyway, thank you for your comments on my post yesterday. There is a lot of proactive happening behind the scenes wrt planning my evenings and also wrt Child1 who I’ve been neglecting because of being so caught up with Child2 and his issues. I’ll blog about it soon but it is clear that I need to find a way to clone myself. Here’s my Tuesday 10:

1.  We had a little party on Sunday for Child2. It was small and low-key and perfect for him. Come to think of it, I forgot to base it on a theme. There were yellow balloons though (he loves yellow balloons) and I served all his favourite snacks. He was just VERY cute and I realised that for the first time in a long time that I am really enjoying him so much – even though he is so bossy!

2. Our birthdays are all done and it’s downhill to Christmas. Have you started planning yet? At what point does one start planning?

3. My house is a complete MESS! I haven’t been keeping track of the organisation for quite some time (I blame the cold weather and Rose) and now everything is all over the place. I started making lists of what needs to be sorted in each room and I am doing 15 minutes EVERY evening! It’s so much easier now that Child1 is done with those school assessments.

4. I can’t make up my mind where to go and camp at the end of this year. I need to be very close to a beach but I don’t want to be on the West Coast or in Hermanus because those areas are just way too crowded at year-end. I thought about Stilbaai or even Arniston but it doesn’t seem like those places cater for hyperactive tweens who like to do very physical activities. My DH suggested that we just go to the same place as last year. There are pros and cons to this – that place was FANTASTIC but it would be lovely to experience something different? Any ideas on where to go and camp? I really need to finalise this by the end of next week latest.

5. I have a yoga session on Friday evening, a run on Saturday morning, another yoga class after my run and a 5km run on Sunday morning. Am I mad or am I mad? My body is soooo going to be in shock after this weekend. I must say I am LOVING the spring weather just so I can exercise outside again. I really can’t stand exercising when it’s cold – even though that is apparently the best time to do it.

6. And speaking of running, I briefly considered doing the Gun Run in October. I have since changed my mind. Last year I did a race on Women’s Day and I didn’t enjoy it because it was packed and I couldn’t cope with the crowds. The Gun Run will probably be worse. I do need to be challenged so will be looking around for a lesser-known races where they also run those distances.

7. Lately I have been going to different Churches. I noticed something that (I think) separates the traditional Catholic, Anglican, Apostolic Churches from your “happy” evangelical-type church. The traditional church sings hymns that refer to God in the Third Person whereas  the “happy” Church tends to sing hymns (or rather praise songs) that refer to God in the First Person.  I think that this is somewhat significant. Because the one “type” of Church i.e. the traditional Church preaches religion and tends to instill fear and the other type of Church encourages relationship.  For me it is a case of seeing the song as a prayer as opposed to a “lecture” if that is the right word. I am a musician so I DO generally get distracted by music. Not sure why I decided to blog this point. Just had to see it in black and white. Moving along swiftly.

8. Child 2 can’t say his R’s  yet and used to substitute R with L, for example, he would say something like “lolly” instead of “lorry”.  Anyway, lately I noticed that he is making progress where this is concerned. He no longer substitutes R with L. He now substitutes R with W. He says  things like “where’s the toilet “woll” instead of “where’s the toilet roll”. Or  when we are washing our hands and apply the soap then he says “wub it together” or he says to his brother “stop wunning away from me”. I think it is sooooo cute. I have to say that regular speech therapy has made SUCH a difference in his life.

9. I am taking crochet lessons with a colleague. She’s soooooo good and so fast! I am awkward and fiddly. It’s very different to knitting and I need to switch off the knitting side of my brain in order for the crochet side to work properly. So far I can do a chain. And something called a treble stitch – apparently this stitch is used to make granny squares. I guess I just need to practice more. I can totally see myself crocheting cute things like bangles and little flowers and cute purses.

10. My phone is missing. For an entire week already. I had it in my hand on Monday last week and I remember walking to the charger because the battery was flat. I don’t know what happened but I didn’t make it to the charger. I think that it may have been swallowed by the couch. I didn’t get time to look for it and quite honestly, it is a bit freeing to be without it. Only inconvenience = not being able to find peoples contact numbers. Sigh. People are complaining that they can’t reach me so I guess I should look for it.

 How are things going with you? How was your Tuesday?

 

Ten on Tuesday

1. Oh my goodness, it is SPRING! I have not been this happy about a change of season in my life! I usually LOVE the winter but this past winter was just too much – I honestly thought that I would be able to live in a cold place. Now I’m not so sure.  I am not sorry to see it go.

2. Child1 has been working hard with assessments. Or rather, I have been working him hard to prepare. And he read his first Famous Five book this weekend. He LOVED it and I think it’s going to be a regular feature in his life. I had never considered buying this series for him because he has such odd taste when it comes to reading genres. He also told me that he saw them in the school library but didn’t take them out. Because he thought that they might be boring or for girls or something. Imagine that!

3.  Child2 appears to be fascinated with my makeup. I do occasionally paint his toenails when he asks (I see it as him merely imitating me because he never asks for painted fingernails) but lately he wants to use MY moisturiser and MY lip gloss as well. I actually think it’s very cute and I’m sure it will pass and he’ll get bored or whatever. However, my DH is NOT IMPRESSED.

4. Running is back on. It’s me and the pavement and a clear head. My friend and I have another 7am run scheduled on Saturday. Eish. I don’t know why I agreed to it but I know that once it’s over I will feel AWESOME. She’s a very experienced runner and works me HARD! Even gave me a wake-up call at 6am this past Saturday.

5. I am fascinated with the subject of emotional intelligence and I’m always reading stuff about it. Lately I have realised that there are PLENTY of adults who lack Emotional Intelligence. It’s kind of sad. Because really, can one develop this as an adult or is there a point where it’s too late?

6. I have my first crochet lesson tomorrow. I am sooooo excited!

7. Work is same-old, same-old. The bane of my existence. Unfortunately I’m going to have to hang in there at least until the end of the year. Need bonus and ALL my leave.

8. I forgot to buy bread last night so there was obviously no lunch for Child1 this morning. I told him that I would give him some money so he could buy something at lunch club. Anyway. I forgot to give it to him and I felt HORRIBLE that I was dropping the bread and lunch ball AND that I forgot to give him some money. So at 12pm today, I went into the Spar to buy him something for lunch (I bought his favourite chicken and chips) because I figured he was probably hungry and you know how slowly the queues can move if you are starving. Anyway, I went to drop it at the school and this kid of mine actually told me…”thanks Mommy but Cara (some girl!) shared her lunch with me so I’m not hungry”.  I wasn’t sure if I should feel proud of him for being assertive and asking for help or annoyed that he snubbed my attempts to make things right. I MADE him take it for aftercare. In all fairness to him, he figured out that he had hurt my feelings and thanked me for the lunch when I collected him from aftercare earlier.

9.  Remember this story about the hoodie? Well, this morning I had to drop my DH so we all left together. I put Child2’s clothing on THE spot (you know how things must be just so with Child2) and he saw that the favourite hoodie (aka the one that he wears every single day of his life) wasn’t there. So he went nuts  – I jumped into a bath and pretended not to notice.  And then my DH lost it with him and MADE HIM put on the clean one (at this stage he was already scratching in the washing basket and he even looked under his bed!). Poor kid was very traumatised and sooooo sad – he just wanted me to hold him and I even had to carry him into school this morning. BUT, when Sheila saw that he was wearing a different one she made EVERYONE clap hands for him at school and then he felt better. Seriously. That child is just too much sometimes. I wish for a clean hoodie everyday from here on.

10. I’m getting a bit annoyed with all the 50shades FB updates and the hype. I haven’t read it (although it was gifted to me) and to be honest, I am a  little (actually VERY) put off by it. Is it really ALL THAT? Maybe I’m getting old. The old Julia loved reading e.ro.tica. The 34-year Julia absolutely couldn’t be bothered and would rather hang out with her boyfriend. And sushi and wine. Seriously. Am I missing out?

How are you on this Tuesday? What’s the most exciting thing in your life at the moment?

Thursday Things

1. Child1 is away for the week and I am really missing him A LOT! I decided to send Child2 to school so that he could get more practice with the school potty thing. I have completely underestimated how much Child1 entertains Child 2 and I am KNACKERED as I type this from having to be Child2’s entertainment and and and and. Sjoe.

2. And speaking of Child2, it would seem that we have conquered the nappy. I am soooo proud of him. He comes home in the SAME clothing (and underwear) that I put on for him in the morning i.e. there are NO ACCIDENTS during the day.  HE does seem to prefer boxers and refuses to wear underpants. Not quite sure what to make of that but if it means that he will go potty then I am absolutely giving in!

3. Apparently I am doing this Impi Challenge in October as a means to motivate me to get out of my exercise hibernation.  It would appear that I need a goal in order to NOT be a lazy bum during the winter. I am working on my eating for the next two weeks and will be going back to bootcamp at the end of July – maybe even a bit before that.  Am thinking of adding running club to that as well just to get back some base fitness but I will have to see how the timing of all of this will work out. WJ has organised advanced swimming lessons with her friend and we are going to Sunscene (Child1 attended a party there a few years ago – it is a FANTASTIC venue) to practice climbing stuff. Now that I’ve actually put this into words I am starting to freak a little. Am I bloody mad to even consider this? Eish. I wonder if I should rather enter as an individual. I would be MORTIFIED if the team came last because of me!

4. Things are a bit sucky in certain areas of my life at the moment. Am not going to let it get to me though. Onwards and upwards and all of that.

5. I REALLY am dying for a sea swim. Seriously. I NEED the beach and that smell of the ocean. I NEED those endorphins.  I think that somehow I need to make a plan to go for a proper swim.

6. I  have just arrived home from a divine dinner at my Mom’s house. It’s her birthday today. I kept staring at her throughout the evening and thinking just how beautiful she is. I really am incredibly lucky to still have her around.

So. How are you? How was your Thursday and what does your weekend look like?

Three things

1. Child2 is actually starting to speak in sentences – in bossy tones. “Julia, stop shouting” (I don’t shout but I am very firm), “Julia, put your finger on your lip”, Julia, I want to sleep now”, “Julia, fetch my blanket”. I LOVE it! He still doesn’t really converse with me but I have to admit that the sentence thing is THRILLING me to no end.  Yesterday I wondered if it was truly the Speech Therapy or if it was matter that he was finally ready. Either way, it makes me sooooo happy.

2.  I have my knitting mojo back! I taught myself last week to knit USING A LOOM! Check here if you don’t know what that is. It’s so easy and goes a lot quicker than normal knitting.  I will take pics of the finished item and post it later this week.  I am starting with fingerless gloves this weekend. FOR ME. Because I am always knitting stuff for everyone else. And now Shayne has put me in the mood for a chunky beanie. Maybe I’ll add that. I think that I need to stick to small things – like hats, toys, headbands, bracelets etc. Because I do get bored quite quickly.  I really do want to attempt a snood. Am scared though. That takes long. Maybe I could  use the loom for that? Must google.

3.  The painting thing. Sigh. I am sad. And annoyed that people actually stay out of work to march for something utterly ridiculous while others are desperately looking for work.  I am disappointed that 18 years into our democracy we STILL can’t engage and that dialogue is still something that doesn’t come naturally. There is defensiveness. And bullying. And intimidation when people express differing views. Quite frankly, that’s just childish.

How are you doing though?

How was your Tuesday? Mine was a bit odd. But, at least we are nearly at Hump Day. I am typing up this post while I’m watching Dirty Sexy Money. What is it about this series that I’m drawn to?  I need to think about that one. Am going to watch and knit some more now.

Anyway, sleep tight and have a fantastic hump day.

xx