Today started like every other Saturday, the kids were again awake too early. I finally wrote most of my Christmas cards last night at midnight, so had no intention on getting up at 6am.  Daddy got up with them and I woke up later to their screaming and shouting. The excitement of two children causing mayhem and daddy sounding very stressed at the demands for more food.

When I ventured downstairs I found my 7 year old sat in his pants, wrapped in his spiderman duvet.  My 5 year old was dressed in her unicorn dress sat happily with the iPod in her hand. Daddy was watching television, the commotion of my family but also a sense of calm and normality.  Imagine life today without a television and computers. I wonder what we would all be doing, would we still be sat around the wireless (now Radio)?

Sitting drinking coffee and eating my Weetabix, my daughter appeared wanting toast and a cuddle. I made toast for her and then she sat on my lap and we talked about writing Christmas cards. We then called my son and asked him to bring in some paper for them to write friends names on.   My little girl complied and wrote some names, my 7 year old refused. I tried to explain that he needs a list so he can tick the names off as he writes them and then he will not miss anyone. He still would not do it. My little girl just wrote down seven different names. I’m sure she has other friends she wants to send cards to. However, it took as long as my son to write twenty cards for her to write seven.

My daughter wanted to play in the garden this morning. It was cold and windy, why oh why did she want to go outside? All I wanted to do was stay in the warm not go outside in the cold. She cried and she whined and would not take no for an answer. I knew if I had let her out it would be me having to carry her bike up to the garden and bring it back down again. After a little while of her whinging, Daddy demanded that I let her out, this is where she knows she can get around him.  Giving up as too tired for an argument. I got up, opened the door and carried her bike up the steps to the garden.  I left her outside riding around in circles.

About five minutes later she reappeared in the kitchen. She had had enough, I went outside and was grateful to see she had brought her bike back down.  I then put it away for her. I guess she had got the urge to ride her bike out of her system and as it was cold she got over it quickly. She did not ask to go out again.

My daughter bought her reading book to read to me, which she read quite well. Biff, Chip and Kipper, dad and an exercise bike. She thought it was funny when dad fell off it. We still have the rest of their homework to do tomorrow. My little boy has left his reading book at school, I have told him that he has plenty of other books that he could be reading instead.

Tonight when trying to get the children ready for bed my little girl was again watching a video on YouTube. A lady was calling to a dog, I’m sure that it was not a child’s video, it was nothing rude, just not something I would have thought to be interesting to a 5 year old.  It occurred to me again though that maybe we should attempt making a YouTube video, I’m not sure what about though. I don’t think my kids riding their bikes around the garden would really interest anyone. Video sounds a bit more nerve-wracking then hiding behind a blog, or maybe I’m just a little over cautious.

Neither child is asleep yet, they were put to bed at about 19.30pm. It is now 21.20pm and I can still hear them. We have been up numerous times and they have come down here. My 5 year old has now appeared downstairs to tell us that she has just found Barbie down the bed. We are trying to watch ‘Seal Team’ again. We just want her to go to sleep regardless of where Barbie is.

Daddy said that it is my turn to get up with them tomorrow. Getting up at 6am on a Sunday really does not strike me as good news. We have told them that we will leave the bread next to the toaster. They are both good at making toast.  Daddy has told our 7 year old that when he wakes up, he should just go to the toilet and then go back to bed with a book, not come into our room and wake us. I doubt he will do this, despite their late night I am expecting a kick from daddy to get up at 6am as our son stands there complaining that he is hungry.

I am now going to watch the end of ‘Seal Team’ and then maybe get an early night so I am prepared for an early wake-up and the stress of Sunday morning. There is also have a load of washing and ironing to do. I’m now going to try and build up some energy ready for my job tomorrow of being mum.

See also, Saturday Slumming, https://justmuddlingthroughlife.co.uk/2018/12/01/saturday-slumming-everyone-resting-morning/

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/