For the last few mornings, I have woken both children at 6.30am. Today is a day off for all of us so I really hoped it would be more 7.30am when we were awake. 5am there was a little voice, “I’m hungry”. Trying to get our son to go back to bed was impossible. Daddy listened for a little while and told him it was 5am and he should be in bed. Meanwhile, I fell back to sleep. It was a few hours later that I woke up again, daddy had gone downstairs and our little girl had since woken up and joined them.  I could hear the kids playing.

I lay in bed for a little while, Facebook is a good way to waste an hour when you are too tired to get up.  Once out of bed I collected the washing from the kid’s bedrooms and carried the bundle downstairs. They wear something for half a day and then throw it on the floor. I lose track of what is clean and what is dirty. Loading the washing into the machine, my little girl started to moan that she was hungry. My kids seem to always want food.  I put some toast in the toaster for her and went to check if daddy wanted coffee.

Eating breakfast and drinking coffee I started to think about the things I needed to get done today. I still need to write the Christmas cards and put fleece jackets on some of the garden plants. My poor garden looks a complete mess right now. I have not been at all motivated with it this year. Last year it looked really tidy and pretty. This year the weeds seem to have taken over. Hopefully, next year will be better in the garden.

The children spent too long today again on their gadgets.  Problem is when they are on them they are quiet.  I was working on my blog and daddy has not been well. It is all about balance, but it is really hard to get anything done if the kids are left to play with their toys or the Lego.  Their bedrooms are a mess and so is the front room, they would be a lot worse without allowing the gadgets.  I tidy and they make the mess it is an ongoing battle.

This afternoon I had two loads of washing to put away. I tipped it all on our bed as I went with the basket to collect the third load from the machine. I commented to daddy that it would be nice if the children would put away their own washing.

It would be nice sometimes if things were as easy for me as they were for Snow White, not that I want a wicked witch to appear with a poisoned apple. It would be nice if I could just open the windows, let the birds fly in to put the washing away plus dust and do the housework. Maybe I should be whistling whilst I’m working.

Cooking dinner tonight, my 7 year old wanted baked beans and cheese in a bowl. I told him they are good but he could not live off them, he needs a varied diet. I made them salmon, pasta, peas, sweet corn, onion and greek yogurt. It tasted very nice, my little girl ate most of hers and then wanted more pasta. My 7 year old just kept saying he did not like the salmon. It’s so hard to get a child to eat a healthy varied diet. They would happily live on toast, fish fingers, baked beans, pizza, chips, plain pasta, crisps, biscuits and cake. My daughter got a chair and started to eat the pasta left in the colander.

After dinner it was then a challenge to get them to bed. My son followed me upstairs and into our bedroom. He was then watching as I started to separate the clothes. I told him to find his own clothes and underwear. He went through them and made his own little pile. I was pleased that he was helping me. I then proceeded to put mine and daddy’s things away and then my daughter’s.

Once done I went to find my son in his room to help him get ready for bed. As I walked in I noticed the clothes on the floor. Rather then putting them in his drawers he had thrown them on the floor, why? I was annoyed, all he had to do was open his drawers. Surely at age 7 he should be able to this.  Are your 7 year old boys as difficult as mine? I gave up on asking him and I put them away. He was happy to leave them where he had thrown them.

They did eventually go to bed after dramas with a pony that had a hairband stuck in its hair. I had to cut it out causing minimal damage to the pony. Then her slippers where she had pulled the tassels off. Then my son crying because he thinks something is in his room. I told him if there is something there, there is nothing I could do about it, this made him worse. Daddy then took over and finished putting them to bed.

Daddy has now just called down to me as somehow our daughter has fallen asleep behind her brother’s bed. I am now going to have to reach behind the bed and pick her up without waking them both. The challenge is on for mummy.

So I am now going to go, somehow rescue my daughter and put her into her own bed. Then maybe get an early night and try and build up some energy, ready for the hard work of Saturday and being mum.

See also, Friday stars. https://justmuddlingthroughlife.co.uk/2018/11/30/friday-stars/