Monday, 30 May 2016

Two children, slighty high maintenance for sale, going for a good price to the nearest bidder...

Mrs Hammond's wonderful smile may possibly be the only smile I have seen today as grumpy and grumpier are about as cheerful as the miserable and grey bank holiday weather. Suffering from a complete lack of tolerance for each other and at times personality, I am declaring the official stance that my children can go to bed in the hope they can wake up after a good nights sleep having found the mojo and smiley faces once again. If not I might have to call social services in the morning and adopt them out! Carry on like this and it is going to be a long day tomorrow. I have tried to stem the tide and provide them with entertainment on this most horrible of bank holidays with a trip to the cinema. However, this only served to take them to defcon five and even more hatred and antagonism towards each other as we walked home and began an three hour vendetta to simply wind each other up. Grghhh! I am not going to give them an excuse this time and allow them the comment they are very tired after a long half term at school, but it may be a mitigating factor that I can't really overlook. At this minute I am quite happy to throttle them both, so this will not be considered and I will not cast an empathetic eye towards them until the morning. Some days being a parent can be arduous and difficult. Thank heavens for that winning smile above.. xx

Sunday, 22 May 2016

Inspirational is the only word...

Today Anna and I nipped off to Carrow Road to watch 'Jamie's game' - a celebrity and city old boys fundraiser. Apart from introducing the legends that are Grant Holt and Darren Huckerby to Anna (every time he got the ball Anna swooned!), it was a day of reflection and inspiration. Before the game loads of children with disabilities played mini matches and I cannot find the words to describe what an pleasure and delight it was to watch these children play in front of thousands of people. Their spirit and tenacity was on a level I have not seen before and I found it a very emotional experience watching them. One boy in particular, suffering from cerebral palsy, never gave up as his opponents knocked him down, up he got, puffed his chest and went in harder for the next tackle. Tears rolled down my eyes. The challenges seemed to mean nothing to him as with courage and each step he just kept going and going. I think from my end of the ground he got by far the biggest cheer as he scored a goal! I have to say after that I held Anna closer and thanked my lucky stars that my girls do not face such challenges. The best thing was that Anna spotted him first and pointed him out to me, she never once mentioned his disability - just how good he was and how hard his tackles were. I was proud of that too! A great day, shed loads of cash raised for a good cause and some quality time with daughter number two...

Tuesday, 10 May 2016

First we break out the ice cream and then...

We break out the blankets! Last week was unseasonably roasting and it was lovely to get out with the girls after school, hit the park and enjoy the sunshine. The weekend got even hotter and we quickly exploited the season of eating outside as a family and hitting the slabbage! A slight spanner in the works came in the form of the weather today dipping by around ten degrees and I am sitting here with a blanket on my legs and slightly cold. The real reason for my post is not small talk about the weather. I find myself with a parental moral dilemma. Lucy has requested that she does not go to after school club next year and asked whether it can be considered if she can come home after school on her own. I am torn with this. I know she is ready and is growing up, I am struggling to let go and only keep churning around in my head reasons to not agree and not looking at why this would be good for her and allow her to take the next step on the ladder to an adult. I just don't want to let go, if I am honest. My baby girl is growing up and I cannot stop the sands of time. I wish I could. I do also have the concern that she will sit on her backside and do nothing but watch television and play on her IPod! So if I agree there will have to be strict conditions in place, jobs and homework to do and some extra reading done for me to even come close. Negotiations continue and all terms will be considered...

Sunday, 1 May 2016

A right posh walk!

The bank holiday weekend sunshine finally came out and off we popped to Holkham Hall for a walk around the lake with the dogs, the worlds most expensive cup of tea and cake and some adventure time on the playground. A lovely afternoon, but it all felt a little bit middle class as I observed the range of highly expensive cars in the car park! Needless to say we brought down the tone as I parked  up my Qashqai covered in bird poo! The girls had a fabulous time and for once stopped their arguments, running battle and goading each other enough to enjoy each others company for a short while, even squeezing in some piggy backs as well!  We wore the dogs out with Marley tagging along and I have to say my feet are a bit weary too. Anna has had a weekend of mishaps and there is barley an area on her legs that does not have scratches and grazes on, this time falling off a log into a puddle! Filthy, she skulked into the tearooms, looking like a street urchin from Victorian times, wet and muddy and then ordered some posh lemonade and a croissant! Preparation for Paris in October. I suppose we really ought to warn the citizens of Paris that my children are coming, it would only be the polite thing to do...