They made it to the end of term!

I am so proud of my girls this week. Despite clearly being extremely tired at the end of term they have kept going and going and always put the effort in. One of the downsides of the run in to Christmas is the constant events such as plays, parties and fundraising days at school, that put real pressure on any family at an already busy time. You have to tackle it like a military operation just to survive! Add to this the high expectations we have that they continue to go to club, swimming, brownies, Gymnastics and football - they do so with barely a whimper or complaint. Really noteworthy is Lucy's 100% attendance at school again for the whole of this term and achieving her 400 metres swimming certificate. When I was her age I could barely swim a length, but that is another story. I also had the opportunity to go and see Anna's school Christmas production and it was a privilege. I smiled my way all the way through it! It is the first time I have been able to see Anna in any of her Christmas plays or concerts since she was born. A colleague who lost her son several years ago and I were talking this week, if anybody is qualified to tell me this, it is her. She told me to 'enjoy every minute of my girls as you never know when it could end.' I will think of her this Christmas Day as I enjoy my family and give thanks for all I have.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Nothing warms my cockles than the yearly sight of the Hammond living room ready for Christmas with the tree up and a roaring fire going. We put it in the same place every year, but it never fails to have a profound emotional impact on me and really gets me in the mood for the upcoming festivities. Christmas is a family time (except on Boxing Day when the footy is on) and the arrival of the tree reinforces this. Needless to say the girls have now moved up another level on the excitement ladder. Eleven sleeps to go until the man in red makes his annual appearance! 

Coughing, spluttering and crawling our way towards Christmas...

Repeat after me - 'I am a bad dad! I am a bad dad!' Anna has been developing and homing her skills in the art of hypochondria this week - or so I thought. Having pushed, gently cajoled and nudged her to go to school every day whilst counselling her to be positive even if she is not feeling that bright. It turns out I could not have been more wrong as her face swelled today, due to an infection in her mouth. Off we go to see the bionic nurse Ruth, a prescription for antibiotics handed over and Anna politely giving me a 'I told you so'. I am feeling more than a bit guilty! There is a lesson for Anna here though, something about the 'boy who cried Wolf'? Amy has a stinking cold in her first week of her new job, Lucy has a dodgy ankle and a barking cough; so all in all the ladies of the Hammond house are not faring very well in the run up to Christmas. Amy and I were talking, I think Anna is slightly struggling with Amy teaching at her school and this has brought the need for her mothers attention through 'being unwell'. Only problem is, she became quite poorly for real.  I, on the other hand am fighting fit for a change and very excited with Christmas around the corner and a secret trip to the Harry Potter Studio's for the girls to enjoy (and me!) I am sorry Wiggle. Get well soon x

If only their mother helped them get ready every day...

Amy has skills that I can never posses such as helping Lucy with intricate and girlie hairstyles, ponytails, painting nails and all things girls love to have done to feel pampered and good about themselves. As we have slightly swapped roles in the morning and I am getting the girls ready on many occasions for school, there was a marked difference in how they looked when Amy got them ready before heading onto work this week. I am perfecting the art of the 'dishevelled' and 'hobo' look for them both, with struggles to get through the simple process of brushing tangled and thick hair, coupled with the fact I can't iron for toffee. I really hope that nobody calls social services, due to how the girls are presented on days I get them ready in thinking they come from a deprived and neglected background! Thank heavens for the simplicity of Anna's - I 'don't want to be girlie' look. It rescues me and covers up my glaring parental weaknesses! On a different note it has been a bit like Crufts in our house this week with barking coughs, ear ache and head colds, as we crawl slowly towards the finish line of the end of term and the bounty and rewards the Christmas holidays have to offer. Well done my three tired girls and keep going xx

Where did you get that hat?

Family life can often be functional and routine based as you become immersed in day-to-day life such as school, work, keeping the house and simply dealing with practical tasks in life. I wish I could always be giving readers quirky and amusing stories; but every family, including ours goes through these stages where there are not enough hours in the day and we just have to push right up to bed time to get everything done. It is safe to say that the family Hammond is having one of those weeks or so and trudging through getting up, dressed and out of the house and all converging after our day is not leaving us much time with the inclusion of clubs, homework, showers, sorting the house and occasionally trying to stick a meal in there as well! There has been one bright spot in these busy few days and that is the purchase of Anna's new Victorian, a bit chimney sweep, up the apple and pears, cockney geezer hat! As eccentric as ever, she pulls it off and it is 100% Wiggle! 

Just be yourself is all I ask...

Both my girls are so very different and I find this comforting, as well as reassuring as they grow up. No parent is the perfect parent, but I would like to think that one of the great strengths that Amy and I have as parents is that we are allowing our girls to find their own way in the world and simply be themselves. We also work very hard at getting them to develop an understanding that sometimes you have to conform as well, which I have to say is very difficult with the strong personalities we have in our house! I reflect on this, with Anna recently pictured at a friends wedding wearing a shirt, tie and jacket and the emerging Christmas wish list she has been talking about this week. Armed with her stunt scooter she loves going over to the skate park over the road and playing with the big boys (who incidentally have embraced her as one of their own and look after her really well - a fact that has not been lost on me and has impressed me greatly. They are a real credit to their parents), she has now decided that she wants to find a club that does street dancing and her main present choice for Christmas is a cool baseball cap! I don't know whether we can find a street dancing club in rural Norfolk, but we can do the baseball cap. I have in the past discussed my nagging doubts about what path this will take Anna down, but as each day goes by I become more convinced that she is comfortable in her own skin, knows her own mind and is becoming more resilient to combat the prejudice she may face due to her different outlook on life. I have to say she looked smarter than I did at the wedding! Very pleased for Wiggle this week, as the dry night issue that has rumbled on for some time, seems to be finally cracked!

Half term whizzed by!

The girls went back to school today, as did Mrs Hammond and the house was really quiet allowing me to catch up on many work bits and pieces and the endless list of jobs that I am discovering comes with running your own business. I am afraid I was a bit absent in half term as lots of work came in (which is great). I did keep abreast of all the antics the girls got up too and they seem to have had a cracking time. Brownie sleep overs with sausage and chips, viral tonsillitis, a shopping trip to spend all their hard earned pocket money, time with Auntie Kate, Jenny PJ's and her wedding, Doctor Kate and her crew, Strictly Come Dancing by the fire, Trick or Treating (way too many sweets in the house now), hot chocolate and Jenga with their dad and all finished off with a walk around Pensthorpe in the Autumn sunshine. Next stop Christmas!!