Life is a cabaret.

I’ve finally got to grips with TextPattern, which means i’m now transferring MP over to a new and slicker system at some speed. If i can keep it up i reckon all the worthwhile of the old will be done within a month and then i can get on with making it better and adding new content. I’m feeling really motivated about that, i’ve missed doing stuff to it.

I’ve also managed to make BM briefly seasonal, albeit with last years stuff. Might manage a quick bit of halloween new stuff for its last few days if i go mad. I’ve come up with a couple of competitions for November that i’m going to launch and properly do something with too; i’m mildly frustrated till i hear back from Flickr though, or find something that i can load photos from easily. The Dreamweaver photo albuming is very clunky.

Todays been one of those odd high-and-low days. Mostly it has been extremely nice, the company of my children has reached its best ever level of enjoyableness just lately. They’ve had the Happy Street down and played amicably with that, they’ve played on the computer a lot (all of them are irrationally amused by building a tube loop that you set the Flowerpot men into and they can’t escape! :lol:) and done an enormous amount of Hama-ing. Fran is attempting to fill the house with multicoloured rabbits i think. I made real macaroni cheese and they all enjoyed that, which was gratifying as Maddy’s food comfort zones are pretty low when it comes to new stuff.

The low point of the day came when i got the post from the front step and brought it in, including a parcel of books (with which i am delighted, thank you Joyce.) i was working my way thorugh the pile and Fran was pestering me to open the parcel, which i didn’t want to do until i’d read the rather more important bits. i said “in a minute” and “please stop pulling at that, it’s heavy and you can’t open it yourself” and she just kept plucking away at it. Which eventually led to her getting it and knocking over a completely full glass of Pepsi, all over everything.

I was REALLY furious. It’s the second time recently where she has completely ignored a very specific instruction and caused havoc (and last time she also put all of them in considerable danger) and i completely lost it with her. She got the worst bawling out she has ever had, lost her book parcel for the day and lost all of them the trip out to get Halloween Costumes with Nectar points. But really. I don’t say no a lot, but when i do and when i say it specifically and with an attached reason, is it too much to ask that a 7 1/2 year old actually just listens?

Maybe it is, i dunno.

We’ve recovered since then. Fran and i have done more HTU addition, which she is now doing flawlessly and seems to be really enjoying being able to manipulate numbers. I’m doing the writing for her, as trying to concentrate enough to get figures in the right order and not backewards seems to undo her but all the actual working is her’s. She also read me more Titchy-Witch; she’s been reading those little Pooh bear books, that came with the Nature Trails series, in bed and it has improved her abilities quite a bit. Gradually, gradually, the guesses are receeding.

Maddy and i did more teen addition and added a new manipulation skill into her mix, one i’ll show Fran tomorrow as it will definitely help her. (Did i mention i like Singapore Maths?) Maddy added another sentence to her collection, i’m amused that she is now asking me for new words to add to her wall, based purely on the fact that she thinks of very SHORT sentences now (less writing, hahaha mummy i beat you). But (hahahahah Maddy i don’t mind!) because of course she is actually leading her own learning. ROFL – horns locked without either of us acknowledging it 😉

Then, reminded by a thread on the eo list, i got out a Critical Thining book and independently worked with the big two on some of the warm up exercises. Predictably, Maddy flew through it. She has absolutely got Max’s brain when it comes to stuff like that. Fran found it harder, she is a bitm ore like me, she finds it hard to throw off the reasoning behind the last question as she moves on to the next. But both seemed to enjoy the challenge and they are skills i am keen to encourage in them as i’d like them to grow up confident and skillful at puzzles/logic/maths stuff. I used to love “verbal reasoning” but we never did it beyond 11+ entrance exams. I wish i was like Max, who can sit down with Suduko/crosswords and so on and lose himself in them. i do try but i don’t have the thinknig skills or the confdence for it.

So anyway, that was a pleasant interlude. Now they are watching fairytopia, rented from Amazon and a bit scratched 🙁 I’ll have to complain. But i daresay it will keep them quiet while i do some parcels.