Today started in the usual way. Daddy woke our son and once Alexa woke me, I helped our daughter to get dressed. You may have noticed that our mornings always follow a similar pattern. From getting the kids dressed, to getting them to clean their teeth. The argument over eating toast in the front room, daddy will let them as it is easier, I have the row. Getting out of the house on time and remembering all the bags and coats. Today we also had to de-ice the car, I hate the cold weather. I scraped whilst daddy poured warm water over it. Then strapping the kids safely in their seats and my 5 year old complaining that her harness was to tight.  Our mornings are a bit like groundhog day.  We left on time and got daddy to work for 7.45am.

Arriving at school my 5 year old climbed into the front and sat on my lap in front of the steering wheel. My son was climbing around over the back seat then scrambling over the parcel shelf. Telling him to just get down he ignored me and carried on. Sitting in the car in the morning is sometimes a gamble between standing in the cold or the kids wrecking it. It would be nice if they would just sit and listen to the radio, or just sit and talk. Tomorrow we have spellings to work on again and reading if we are early enough.

At breakfast club my daughter commented on the sneaky cheerio hiding in her shreddies. My son was happily talking with his friends. I then left them and started my journey to work. The traffic was the same as always, busy. I finally reached my destination and then logging into my laptop my work day properly started.

Once I had finished I drove home and started work again. Meanwhile my dad tried to help with listening to the children read and help them learn their spellings. My 7 year old wanted to play with grandads train set.  We told him to complete his homework first and then he could see the trains.  Reading his book on sporting legends, he was not concentrating, so despite reading well he could not tell us who Ellen McArthur or Bobby Charlton were.  This evening he would not reread it to me, so I am hoping that tomorrow morning we can go through it again before going into breakfast club.

My daughter has gone up a reading level, she read most of her book to me but then refused to read to grandad.  My son was able to do most of his spellings but stumbled on appointment, disappointment and ointment. Three words to go over again in the morning.

Putting them to bed tonight, my son was to tired to read, he also didn’t ask for a book to be read to him. He was almost asleep when I passed him his toothbrush. My daughter was playing. She had another late night, sat on her bed drawing and then coming back downstairs. It’s hard to convince a 5 year old that she really does need her sleep. She has forest school tomorrow, we had a fall out over what clothes she could take. I do not want her doing it it in her nice clothes. Old clothes are fine to be covered in mud but I do not want decent clothes ruined. She agreed in the end to take the old clothes which ended our argument.

Daddy has just called me upstairs to look at my 5 year old, aka Banksy’s bedroom wall. Yes, this time it is either felt tip pen or board marker on her bedroom wall that I have already repainted for her, see fixing a mess, https://justmuddlingthroughlife.co.uk/2018/10/19/fixing-a-mess/

I am not impressed as we have told her so many times to not draw on her walls but she just continues. Why do children do this? Do I repaint it again? Or do I leave it?

So tomorrow is my day off again, Friday. I have the kids and daddy to take to school. Then I have some shopping to do and washing. I then need to make a start at wrapping presents and maybe finish writing the Christmas cards. We then have the Christmas fayre in the afternoon, so school will finish at 2.30pm, half an hour early.

Anyway I am now going to go and get some rest. Build up my strength ready for the stress again of tomorrow morning and being mum.