Day three of the birthday celebrations successfully negotiated!

I am not sure even the Queen receives this kind of extended birthday, but here we are at the end of another day celebrating Anna's birthday. As I won't be here tomorrow, Anna was allowed to open some presents including her transformer mask. (very jealous indeed!) I do hope by the time the real day arrives in the morning, it is not a disappointment to her. She finished today naked in the garden running around being bonkers with a football. The perfect end to a perfect Anna day. Happy birthday for tomorrow Wiggle. I love you with all my heart. xx

P.S. the Lego Yoda sticker I now have on my wallet is a perfect gift for me....

Let's get this party started!

The birthday weekend is finally upon us, a certain young lady will be five on Monday and Anna's celebrations are going on for days. Last night she had mates around for hotdogs and ceremonious trashing of the house! Best gift she received is by far the Spiderman Mr Potato head. Today, with family and friends we sped off to the dinosaur park for a gargantuan picnic (a fine spread and cake Mrs Hammond) and much fun in the sunshine.  I must say that Amy and I are exhausted already and we have not even made it to her birthday yet! Happy early birthday Wiggle. xx

Gymnast of the week!

Not known for her dexterity, decorum and lady like movements, I am so proud of Lucy as she has attained gymnast of the week in her class for the second time recently. She is by no means a natural and works so hard when she is in the classes and the hard work is indeed paying off. I would have to say her floor work is more solid, having witnessed her attempt the bar and the struggle to even mount it! Well done Lucy, your enthusiasm is so commendable for something  you struggle with a little and your effort second to none. This kind of attitude in anything in life will take you far. xx

The little things mean so much....

I have had a great fathers day weekend. A simple relaxed family day so far and some smashing cards and tee shirt that really sums me up! Not that I am being modest or anything! The cards and gift are great and I am really appreciative, but the memorable moments this weekend  have come from the girls just being themselves. These are the moments that make them so special to me and being their dad is an absolute joy. Watching them hurtle around together yesterday at Auntie Kate's birthday party and play for eight hours solid was a sight to sit back and make you breathless with pride. They were both so excited and the day was like they were in a 'play area sweet shop 'and somebody had given them licence to eat as much sugar as possible! There was a bouncy castle, hammocks, tug of war, French cricket, a disco, sunshine, as much chocolate cake as they could eat and a giant piece of fabric that blew around in the wind to hide under and play in. Pure child bliss. The memorable moments also come from what they say:

Anna - ' I had a lovely dream last night about a chocolate land, with chocolate men with boobies! Don't worry daddy, I did not bite their boobies, just their heads off!' Even more hilarious, but slightly worrying is that Anna has been telling her school friends and teachers that Amy is pregnant this week and Amy was wished congratulations when she took them into school! This is not the case, two children is quite enough. We do need to continue to keep an eye on Anna's ability to elaborate on the truth....

Lucy - 'I hope you enjoyed your present dad. It was only seven pounds. I thought it was a bargain!' Indeed it was Looby chick...

 

Thanks girls. You were the bargain. You came free and give endless pleasure. xx

Meanwhile....

The battle royal with Wiggle really did subside today and I have had a lovely day out, just me and the girls while Mrs Hammond stayed at home to do battle with the laptop and her assignment. So, in time honoured fashion we hit Wells for some play land fun, the farting elephant, the balls guns, the arcades and sampled a great deal of ice cream. A really great day and end to my break as I am back on the road tomorrow with my new job and not back until next weekend. Have a great week girls and I love you. Wiggle - remember to keep your promise and be well behaved at swimming, I have my spies you know! xx

Hold firm Bob, it will be worth it in the end....

As cute as she is, and she is cute and she knows it. This is not quite wearing with her daddy after the events of the other day.  Anna continues to use this as a tactic to influence the room and outcomes, but with no success at present. She is so likable and you can't help get sucked in, but I must stand firm. Anna and I are quietly getting back on track and her behaviour has dramatically improved in the last few days. It is good to see that she is learning from not having any pocket money and she has been quick to make the connection between being a good girl and being rewarded. The going to bed early section of her punishment has been difficult and after much fuss, highly skilled distraction techniques employed by Anna, I have won the day and she is staring to realise that sometimes she needs to do as she is told by her parents! I must stay strong and not be wavered by those cunning female guiles she employs!
P.S We are not destitute and Anna does have other clothes than the stripy jumper, at the moment it is her favourite, very boy like and she insists on wearing it every day!

Not a good end to the day....

All my parental frailties and weaknesses came to a head this afternoon when Amy and I took the girls for their swimming lessons late this afternoon. For the second week in a row Anna had an almighty strop with tears, hitting out and high levels of belligerence in a desperate attempt to get out of her lessons and this resulted in she and I clashing very badly. I feel desperately sad by what happened this afternoon and how I handled it, but I need to find a way to let Anna know that this is not how you behave. At the moment, if she does not want to do something, she is behaving badly to get out of it. If you are worried or anxious about something, you talk about it. I know she is not yet five, but I do think she is bright enough to understand this. Our relationship has been coming to a head over the last few days as she digs her stubborn heels in and will simply not do what she is asked to.

I just got cross with her and the worse her behaviour became, the more cross I got. This resulted in me dragging her out of the building screaming and smacking her bottom in the car park after she declared that 'she never wanted to see me again and she hoped that I died'. I punished her with the loss of a months pocket money and going to bed half an hour before her sister each night until after her birthday. I simply do not know how to handle these kind of situations with the girls and they know it. Lucy added salt to the wound by saying, 'don't worry Anna - Daddy will not follow the punishment through'. That just sums it up completely really and they know I am too soft. I should not have smacked Anna's bottom in the car park, She kept hitting me and I gave her a final chance. I have never seen her behave like this and I was so upset and disappointed with her. My strength will now be to follow this punishment through and show her there is a different way to behave when you need to talk things through. A sad and upsetting day. Being a parent can be so hard and frustrating at times and I do feel at a loss of what to do in these kind of situations. I end up feeling inexperienced, upset and simply not a good Dad. All is well now and the battle lines are no longer drawn and for Anna at the it just seems like a moment in time and already gone, for me I am afraid it leaves me feeling low, reflective and troubled. I would prefer quality time with the girls. This is, after all, my Wiggle we are talking about, but in being a parent you need take the rough with the smooth...

Roller coaster buddies!

We had a really amazing family day yesterday at Pleasurewood Hills on the rides. With Amy opting out of everything in one quick  announcement that there was no way she was going on that - 'I'll hold the bag and smile for the day!' That left me and the girls to go in search of thrills and boy did we find them! Lucy, who is not the bravest of people when it come to new things, braved the small roller coaster and the log flume and by the end of the day was whizzing around, arms in the air, giggling and constantly asking to go back on! Really proud of you Looby chick. Anna (bonkers) hit the grown up 'thrill rides' with me. If she was tall enough by a millimeter to go on them, she did. She braved the red roller coaster (TWICE!), the speedy water slide and the log flume. Sitting next to her giggling the whole way around was indeed a memory to treasure. Had she been tall enough she would have gone on the extreme rides such as the Wipeout (upside down roller coaster) the fire ball (scary spinney thing) and the jolly roger that goes from nought to sixty miles an hour in 0.8 seconds! Thank you girls for such a great day and to Mrs Hammond for carrying the bag and perfecting the art of perpetually saying 'Wow - was that good!?' x