Today was a normal Sunday apart from I had work I needed to do.  I was woken by my little girl crawling into bed for a nice warm cuddle. Once up, I had to put away the basket of washing away which the rest of my family were ignoring. Going downstairs I could feel the family stress, the kids not doing as they are told. Daddy getting upset with them and toast over the worktop. As I boiled the kettle for my coffee my 7 year old came in demanding more toast.  I put some bread in the toaster for him and got myself two Weetabix.  Sitting at the table eating my breakfast I started reading Facebook on my tablet. Then remembered the ironing, the kid’s school uniforms.  I finished eating and fetched the uniforms.

Procrastinating over the ironing, I had a look in the kid’s school book bags for their homework. My 7 year old then read to me, we learnt about caterpillars and butterflies. He then had to write about a painting,  I left him having a think about his favourite, he has decided that it is Claude Monet’s ‘Waterlillies and Japanese bridge’

http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/31852

I did suggest an ‘MC Escher’ but he likes the ‘Monet’.

My 5 year old had to do some counting, whilst doing it she started doing acrobatics, her attention span is very short. We then tried to work on her spellings, we haven’t completed them yet as she wanted to play, see featured image.

Note, we still have the child gate on the stairs because we lock it at night. We do not want the kids falling down them in the dark as they walk into our bedroom.

Once we had got as far as we could with the homework, I completed the ironing and put it all away. After dinner I got my work finished, the kids meanwhile were playing in my son’s bedroom.  Later I found that they had been playing with water. There are books that are wet. Why do kids love water?

My 5 year old asked to go outside this afternoon. I told her no because it is cold and muddy and I needed to work, so I could not watch her. Unfortunately, I had left the key in the back door. She completely ignored me and let herself outside. I soon heard her screaming and laughing as she was pedalling her bike around the garden. Sitting here now I have just remembered that I did not bring her bike down for her. So have just gone outside in wellies and pyjamas and searched for it.  I then found it lying down by the back door, so she had at least brought it off the garden for me. Just a shame I had forgotten about it.  Though better I remember it now, then 3am in the morning.

So trying to get them to go to bed tonight, my 5 year old refused to clean her teeth. She threw her brush with toothpaste on across her brother’s bedroom. Daddy has shown her scary photos of what happens to your teeth when you don’t brush them, but she is still refusing. I think part of the problem is that she does not like the toothpaste. Morrisons seem to have stopped stocking the one she had before and liked.  Does anyone else have this problem?

We finally finished reading the ‘Secret Seven’ this evening. I’m not sure how long ago it was when I last read it, but I did not imagine that the next time, I would be reading it to my kids. My 7 year old enjoyed it, my daughter was not as interested.

The children did finally go to bed tonight, a little late but earlier than last night. Everything is ready for Monday again tomorrow, another busy work day and school.

I am now going to get some rest and see what is left of ‘Seal team’. I am missing most of it because of writing.  So I am now going to go, try and build some strength to help manage the stress of Monday morning and being mum,

For more see, Sunday Graffiti

Another Saturday today, our 7 year old came in at 6.15am. I told him to go back to his own room. He curled up on the rug on our floor and picked up daddy’s iPod. We could then hear the game he was playing. Daddy had enough and got up with him whilst I fell back to sleep.

Later our daughter came in and climbed into bed with me. She had somehow got hold of my Kindle and was now banging it against my legs. It had a flat battery and she needed me to charge it. Putting it on charge, I got out of bed.  Walking past the kid’s bedrooms to the bathroom I could see that both bedrooms were a worse mess than when we went to bed last night. I asked them to please tidy up, they both groaned at me.

Once downstairs I made myself a coffee and got some Weetabix. Then sat down and entered the world of Facebook.  The world would feel so much smaller without social media. I know so many people who I have never met, most of them I will possibly never meet.    The next task was a load of washing, the washing machine goes on most days.

My 5 year old asked to play out in the garden.  The thought of going outside and carrying her bike up the garden did not appeal today. I know she would come back in, in a muddy mess and it will be me that would have to bring the bike back down.  Then have to wash the mud of her after she has walked it into the house.

I had work I needed to do this afternoon and daddy was trying to sort out a problem with the computer. Our daughter was doing something in her room quietly whilst our 7 year old started to tidy his room. Our 5 year old had refused to tidy hers and when her brother offered to help her, she still would not tidy.

His room looked a lot better then it did beforehand, but he has piled stuff at the foot of his bed and covered it in a blanket. At the top of his bed he has set up an art corner and my daughter informed me that she is sleeping there tonight. I have told her she is not, if she is asleep in there later it will be me moving her to her own room.

So whilst my son was tidying our daughter was playing in her room. At bedtime, I found my little horse and carriage ornament that contains her first curl in her room.  There was also a jar full of water and a lovely wet mess.  I mopped up the water, then looked inside the ornament. Inside was her hair but also green hair which had been cut of a ‘My little pony’.

Not sure how she got hold of the scissors but she climbs. Once the room was dry I then read them another chapter of the ‘Secret Seven’. We are getting through it slowly, not helped by the kid’s difficult behaviour and refusal to go to sleep. They have gone to sleep now but it was late again, 9.15pm tonight.   It has taken 2 hours to get them to stop playing and settle. I’m hoping my 5 year old is in her own bed.

We are watching ‘Seal team’ again, time to rest the mind is so important. I have work still to do but I’m too tired now to finish it, it is sat on the kitchen table waiting for me tomorrow.

Tomorrow brings with it a pile of ironing and a basket full of washing to be put away. The carpets are screaming again to be vacuumed,  all expected of mum. We also have homework and reading to look at. My 7 year old has done most of his reading, it is now the writing. I am hoping that with a little help he will just do his, my 5 year old will need more support.

Anyway, I am now going to get some rest, before I am jumped on tomorrow and the never-ending job of being mum starts again.

For more see Saturday homework

The day started in the normal way with dragging myself out of bed to get the kids to school. It was a non-uniform day today to raise money for children in need. I had already decided what my 5 year old was going to wear.  However what I had chosen was not good enough as she reminded me she needed to wear spots. I then put her in jeans and a spotty top. She had forest school today as well, so I thought the jeans would be alright for that too. We were trying to leave the house when she disappeared upstairs. On her return she was wearing spotty leggings, I forgot she had spotty leggings. I then had to search for something suitable for forest school as she didn’t want the jeans. I found some jogging bottoms that were my son’s. They were fine to be got muddy.

I didn’t get to read my book today as I got stuck in the world of social media. Ebay sent me another voucher, which I used on another care bear for my daughter. I did it right this time, so no hassle with phoning eBay sellers or eBay. I did achieve yet another pile of washing.

After school, we went to town. I really wish my kids would just do as they are told, they rarely do.  We went to Tesco and bought some Knex for my little boy, my daughter saw a baby trike and started riding it. After a lot of “put it backs” she finally returned it to the shelf. The local radio station was turning on the Christmas lights today.  We had a good view of the stage to see the DJs we listen to every morning in the car.  The kids then walked off and started talking to a person in a wolfs costume, they would not come back when I called them.

The next shop was ‘Card Factory”. I hate choosing cards, I always feel a bit of a fraud as the cards are usually to gushy.  It’s hard to find cards that actually say what you feel unless you shop at ‘Moonpig’. The only person I buy ‘Moonpig’ cards for is daddy and that’s because I can write some poetry inside it, personalised rather than written by ‘Hallmark’. So at the ‘Card Factory,’ both children ran off and were playing behind the shelves, shouting and laughing with each other. They will never just help me to choose cards.

My 5 year old decided she wanted some Christmas tree earrings and put them in her pocket. I rescued them and put them back on the shelf.  She was upset with me, I told her she would need holes in her ears to wear them. She told me she would make holes, not quite sure what she was really thinking. After the stress of the card shop, we went into ‘The Works’. There they were picking stuff of the shelves, not sure what I was thinking of taking them in there.

Soon after we saw ‘Pudsey bear’ collecting money for children in need. Both kids were excited and hugged him.

Next stop was Marks and Spencer’s for my mother in laws Christmas present. Here my 7 year old started pushing the sales assistants trolley around. From there they decided they needed the toilet and wanted to see the dinosaur located in ‘Fenwicks’ toy department. Taking them to the toilet was more stressful then it needed to be. At home, they love to jump on the furniture. So in ‘Fenwicks’ my 5 year old saw a £2000 light grey settee and climbed on it. The salesman shouted out as I told her off and pulled her off it. Thankfully there was not a dirty mark on the settee but really not the place to be climbing on the settees.

In the toy department, they could have been a lot worse. Finally, we saw the dinosaur, after a bit more messing around we left and walked back to the car. The kids love shopping but they know how to really wind me up.  I turn into a shouty stressed mum and they ignore me.

After collecting daddy from work, we got home and had dinner.  My daughter did some drawing whilst sat on the table.  How can this be comfortable? She refused to sit in her chair. Bedtime was the usual stress despite their long walk this afternoon.  All is quiet now and they are asleep, I’m glad we are now back at the weekend. However, I’m sure tomorrow will be another busy day with more challenges.

I am now going to get some rest. Maybe get an early night and build up my strength for the stress and demands of being mum again tomorrow.

For more see, Friday Twits