Situation Vacant

Job Title: Father Figure


Requirements (as per DD): Good looking, slim, rich, fun, have a dog


Applications: to DD as she will vet any potential new man in my life


Time frame: if DD had her way tomorrow, for me not until dust settled on divorce


So far she has offered me the potential of:

• a recently separated dad from her school
• "John the Plasterer" who's van we keep driving past
• the security guard who offered to buy me a beer after I gave him some sun cream
• Steve Backshall from Deadly 60 - she does sometimes have good taste ;-)

This could be a long drawn out process and hopefully once she has her Gramps in her life on a regular basis she may not be so desperate!

Wordless Wednesday: aargh

Perpetual Picnics

This is something I mentioned in a previous post about going to Legoland and I thought I would expand on it!

• So what is a perpetual picnic and when do you need one? 
  It is a picnic that lasts all day and you don't need to sit down to eat it! So ideal for trips to theme parks etc. when you don't have time to stop or you are spending 30 minutes plus in a queue for a ride.
  
• What sort of things are good for a perpetual picnic?
  
  Anything that you can eat holding in your hands without needing a plate and won't melt or make a big mess:
  
  crudities and dip
  cherry tomatoes
  bread sticks
  crisps
  small sandwiches
  mini sausage rolls
  mini pork pies
  mini egg bites (basically anything bite sized from your supermarket!)
  melon slices
  strawberries
  pre-segmented mandarins etc.
  dried fruit
  fairy cakes
  small non-chocolate biscuits
  
• what about drinks?
  
  small cartons of juice
  bottles of water
  any re-sealable soft drinks
  flask of tea / coffee
  
• anything that is no good?
  
  things that melt in your hand
  if it needs more than a couple of bites its probably too big

So pack up your cool bags and go out and enjoy days out with the kids. Taking a perpetual picnic saves time and money that you can then use on something more exciting ;-)

Swimming with or against the tide?

Having received counseling for depression this month I am now trying to stop seeing things as positive & negative and more in terms of more or less helpful. The man I spoke to was quite surprised I was even remotely positive having experienced all 5 of the worst stresses in life in less than 12 months!


I am in a much better frame of mind now than I was just after the death of my grandfather and the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be getting closer. In less than a month I will be moving closer to my family and the support they can offer. This is definitely one of the most helpful things I can do for myself and the kids. The rental agreement is signed and the moving van has been paid for.


Yes I still have a lot of work to do before I can move but I am no longer panicking about it. Surplus items are slowly being sold off or given away and the amount that I have to take with me is reducing.


The Incredible Years parenting course I am attending is providing me with tools I need to get my kids back on track after the upheavals they have suffered. They seem mostly happy about the move as they have seen their new home and schools. My daughter has tried on her new uniform and is looking forward to starting in September, she also has a place in Beavers in the same village. I just got her school report and she is at the expected level or ahead in all subjects. There are behaviour and attitude issues but these are improving.


My son has had his place in nursery confirmed. He will be eased in slowly so he can get used to it all. Unfortunately if nothing changes he will be in for afternoons only. This does makes the school runs easier as he will finish 30 minutes after his sister and there is no overlap in the morning. It does mean I won't get a whole day to myself unless my parents step in. I was hoping that he could be in for 2 whole and 1 half days a week to help him get prepared for "big" school in 2011.


Having my son away for 10 days gave me a chance to catch up on some sleep even though I didn't get as much done for the move as I hoped! I did enjoy not having the mad rush around of double school runs but filled up the "free" time with helping out other people or catching up on paperwork / meetings... My daughter loved having me to herself and we packed a lot of girlie time in (despite me giving myself food poisoning!!)

Last night's bedtime shenanigins did wear me out but I've really enjoyed spending time today with my son after his holiday. He has given me lots of cuddles and kisses and it's been lovely. Big sister will have to get used to sharing me again and hopefully if she catches up on her sleep she will be back to her cheerful self...


So let's hope I am now swimming with the tide and no longer going against it and feeling like I am drowning.

Bedtime merry-go-round

Having been spoilt for 10 days of only having 1 child to get to bed I'd forgotten how bad bedtime can be with 2...

1. Child 1 upstairs, persuade into PJs, clean teeth, story, bed
2. Go downstairs "mummy can I have a drink" (child 1)
3. Take drink to child 1
4. Child 2 "mummy I'm hungry/thirsty"
5. Make snack for child 2
6. All gone quiet upstairs so start child 2 on bedtime routine...
7. Discover child 1 still awake
8. Both children in PJs read them bedtime story into bed
9. Go downstairs "mummy can I have a drink" (child 2)
10. Take drink to child 2
11. False sense of tranquility as goes quiet for 15-20 minutes
12. Child 2 shouts at child 1 - "shut up I'm trying to sleep"
13. Tell child 2 to move to my room to escape child 1
14. Child 1 starts crying as child 2 has shut my door and he can't get in
15. Child 2 decides to comfort child 1 by letting him join her in my bed
16. False sense of tranquility as goes quiet for 15-20 minutes
17. Child 2 "mummy he won't let me sleep"
18. Evict child 1 from my bed by turning off light so he seeks bedside light in his room
19. It's all gone quiet (after 3 hours!)