Or they are in this house. (But i’ll get back to that)
First of all, mental note. I WILL NOT follow anymore links to blogs from Layla’s blog. Granted, the 2 i followed have the Disney-like gratification (for me, i love a happy ending) of being infertility blogs where pregnancy’s/babies have just been announced, granted they are undoubtedly two of the best written, bravest, funniest, most eye-opening blogs i’ve ever read. However. I’m not cut out for dealing with the utter unfairness that means if someone finally gets a chance at having a baby, they have to deal with every ounce of imaginable s*it to get it here safely and then have to deal with the fact that other people don’t think she should have more. Julie, i salute you. I read all the way back and i cried way too much over how scary it must have been, especially for your poor other half who had to sit and watch it all and stroke your head. Been there. I really must stop kicking myself in the head. Mind you, made a change to be right back crying over Fran’s birth i suppose.
Anyway. Yesterday was a day of ups and downs really. Both big girls did their boxes and both seemed to do really well and enjoy it. We made it a short one, concentrating on concentrating, as much as anything but i was pleased with them both. Maddy did more maths and then she and i sat playing with our word blocks for a while: surprisingly, given how hard letters still are for her, she did a really good job of building words – pot, hat, cot, pop etc from a limited selection of letters to choose from. Her recall is just terrible though, a real Aspergers trait i know, but hard for me to understand. Fortunately, she has a tailormade “assisted place” in life – sister assisted :~) I can see that they are going to be carrying her for some time to come really. We’re plodding on though – she has s, a, t, m down pat now and actually her sounding out is good. Slow and steady will get her there.
Fran’s tables are coming on a treat too and Maddy is taking an interest in the ones on the door, so my plan for next week is to demonstate those to her as she is currently a little confused that they aren’t + sums – she can see they don’t work out but hasn’t sussed the x is not a +. Fran read to me – no idea what a Year 2 child is supposed to be reading (tbh, if 1.2 million children are failing their KS2 SATS reading levels i’m not sure i’m too worried!) but she is now reading the Flying Boot books fairly competently – so something like “Vicky and Ricky went into town. They wanted to get a prize for Max. Vicky saw a good prize in a toy shop” would now be completely manageable for her. Its not rocketing ahead but its not too bad for 6 months effort in actually learning. She has done well.
Fran played Zoombini Island (did the clock one herself!) for ages; her puzzle skills are so much better than mine and i love the fact she is finally prepared to stretch herself, Maddy and Amelie were playing some complicated marble/word block/princess game. Josie was up all day, a bit hot i think, but the spot came to nothing and quarantine is up today i think, so i hope she escaped. I’ll be even happier tomorrow but fingers crossed.
I was congratulating myself on my well adjusted kids when i nipped off for a mid-afternoon bath; left them playing with the bead box and came down to find it scattered to the four corners :~( Despite repeated requests to tidy it, they ignored me and ended up being docked the first 15 minutes of Rainbows. Ho hum. I really am getting angry with having to ask repeatedly for ever single thing that needs doing, it just won’t do. It means everything takes forever, i get angry and we never get on to doing interesting stuff. Max and i are both fed up of it and feel we need a new strategy over it really.
Anyway, they seemed to enjoy Rainbows and when we got home Max had good news; the yearly bonus was in and was enough to pay off what remains of the car and buy an new tent :~D So now we are trying to decided between the hexagonal one we saw and really liked or a Khyam so i can have everyone in the same room when i am away with them on my own. I love all-in-one tents, which is a real plus for the Outwell and puts me off a Khyam; however, i like the fact that Alison can get everyone in one side of hers and have them all safely together and accessible. I just don’t like the idea of having to cope with groundsheets and water seeping in underfoot. Not sure what to do. Shame you can’t try before you buy really!
Its a nice feeling to be debt free again though. We may not own a house but no debts is good.
Finished off the day with a trip to the vets for Button, who hadn’t eaten her food from the night before – Max and i are now officially paranoid rabbit parents :~) She seems fine though, fingers crossed. Introduced her to Smartie, who promptly tried to hump her but got the wrong end, and consequently a rather short tempered Button! And then we sat on the sofa and enjoyed one anothers company and our rather lovely baby, so apologies for saying no to the chats :~)
