iRant iRave

Silent Sunday

Kat — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:59:05 +0000

Silent Sunday

Kat — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 23:00:03 +0000

GRRR: Shut Up & Get Out Of The Way

Kat — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:13:01 +0000

Oooooh been a while since I felt the need for one of these little rants. But even with a teething baby and the general chaos of family life at the moment this needs to be said.

The context: This week we were meeting some other home edders at Eureka! In Halifax. Not my idea to meet in the school holidays but as good a reason as any to finally pay for an annual pass. The place was absolutely heaving with families, just as it should be. That I have no problem with.

We tried our best to get round everything Wee Man wanted to see. It wasn’t the having to stop to feed and change his brother that got in our way, nor the trying to find everyone we planned to meet. What I longed to scream into the crowds was:

Put down the bloody camera and actually enjoy this time with your kids. How about instead of asking them to pose (and for us to get out your way) try living in the moment instead of behind a lens.

Everywhere we turned there were just walls of parents, cameras in hand, blocking the way and interrupting play. That is not what a family day out is about. Yes take a few shots to remember the trip but there is no need to document every little thing. The real value of the visit is the memories you create with your children.

Silent Sunday

Kat — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:31:54 +0000

Sunshine

Kat — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 01:18:25 +0000

Lurgy status: Active
Teething status: Extra grumbly
Cabin Fever Scale: 6/10

Sometime I refer to our garden as The Pit or That Series of Holes. It’s all been done with good intentions but Moo Boy does have a bad case of ‘Grand plans that I can start but may not have time to complete for a few years’-itus.

He does try but between working a ridiculous amount of hours, spending time with family & helping around the house he gets to a point where he needs a bit of time to himself & the plans go out the window. I can’t dig up our garden for toffee (crap soil, huge slabs of clay & then all manner of crap underneath from what was demolished before our house was built) so it has to wait. It does allow D to get dressed as a pirate & go digging for treasure.

Anyway back to today. The sun was shining. The sky just hazy enough that it took us a minute to spot the planes flying overhead. I spied the first butterflies & bumblebees of the year. We were not spending the whole day inside!

I unlock the shed door with a reassuring clunk. It’s as if I’d been smacked in the face – the smell. I don’t know if it’s mustiness, dampness or if something has crawled in there, pissed all over the place & (possibly) died but the plan changed to grab what you can & run. I grab at toys and fling them out the door. The Wee Man’s face lights up. A good five or six months have passed since he’s seen them & he greets them like old friends.

Job one – set up the ‘car wash’. Funnily enough wee boys are easily pleased by a bucket full of warm soapy water & a sponge. With minimal help from me we had two slides, a rocking horse, a car & a freshly reassembled smart trike drying in the sun on a newly swept patio. Certainly kept him busy while I hung the washing. The Bod all this time was taking all this in from the comfort of his Ergo. A welcome distraction from the teething trauma.

Daddy returns from work (yes its Saturday but like I said he works a lot) & both boys perk up even more. We try to do jobs inside but fact is it’s too nice an afternoon to waste on washing up. We start to plan hopefully plausible, achievable targets for the garden. There’s even talk of getting a skip soon. This looks hopeful.

The temperature starts to drop. We retreat indoors. My iPad is high jacked.

Silent Sunday

Kat — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 00:00:26 +0000

Dancing

Kat — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:01:19 +0000

We’ve been exploring podcasts today on the iPad. We found the Barefoot Books podcast, listened to a few stories and then found this song. D wanted to dance to it all afternoon but and fully it ticks my ‘children’s music with real live instruments’ box. Just as he was starting to tire of it he found the video.

Setbacks

Kat — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:19:13 +0000

I was going to write about how we were finally getting back to normal after weeks or illness being shared between us. Instead I have a poorly 4 year old & a teething 4 month old. Three days of freedom we had before another bout of lurgy caught up with us. And turn out to be a different bug altogether. No lying about on the sofa spending the day sleeping. Instead I’m picking up the endless trails of Lego. Spring is here and we’re stuck inside. Quite frankly it sucks and I just hoe that this time it doesn’t take a month for us all to get better. Would really like to get out & enjoy Spring.

On Tuesday (before lurgy 2.0 struck in the evening) D started Ninja Tots. Understandably he was nervous (and ill) but with a little persuasion he spent most of the class sat on the mat, watching ever so carefully. A little patience will be needed over the coming weeks I think. Moo Boy starts in the adult class tomorrow. Shame they can’t go together yet.

In our short burst of freedom I did manage to treat myself to a new toy, a new iPad. Now for a long time I was convinced that the iPad was just a big unnecessary version of my iPhone. Actually I’m finding that it makes me work in a totally different way. Instead of trying to do two dozen tasks on the laptop I focus on what I really need to get done. A certain little boy does have his eye on it though and already has a screenful of apps & podcasts to choose from.

I am enjoying working my way through years of photos and having a play with various apps. I will try to remember to upload some from time to time. For now here’s some of my favourites.

So if anyone out there has any tips on how to banish these winter bugs we seem to keep picking up please leave me some hints in the comments. The rant I have for those that gave us them in the first place can wait foranother day.

Silent Sunday

Kat — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:10 +0000

#SilentSunday

Fresh from the Changing Mat

Kat — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:22:02 +0000

I write these words to remember the moments most dear. These are the Tales Of My Boys.

Do you fart your bum at us, sir?
I do fart my bum, sir.
Do you fart your bum at us, sir?
Is the law of our side, if I say ay?
No.
No, sir, I do not fart my bum at you, sir, but I fart my bum, sir.