Monthly Archives: October 2001

Present got yesterday, but still no sending address.

The kids were awake before I left for work – but only just – so that, in a small way, is an improvement. Jack did cry as Louise left him at school yesterday… Essentially he was not sad to be there, but did not want Louise to (I think that show it was).

Eve is walking very well at the moment. She likes to be out of the pushchair. I think she likes the freedom. She apparently walked to playgroup with Louise & enjoyed walking through the park & kicking at the fallen leaves. Her language develops… She can communicate all she wants to in staccato sentences. She informed Louise that, ‘

“Water in river!” yesterday; a nice observation. She has also taken to saying, “What’s this?” & “What’s that?” … Inquisitive or conversation? At the moment it seems to be the former. Louise thinks that she is more a comedienne than Jack used to be. She certainly seems to be a bit of a performer. Both of them love attention though.

Jack was saying that his tummy was not happy this morning & he didn’t think that he could go to school. This is going to wind Louise up if he keeps it up. He is going to school – he is not ill… this is just something he says. It’s not his dissent at the thought of school, as we know darned well he quite enjoys it really (like baths – he will sometimes say he does not want a bath – but once he is in he does not want to get out) it’s the general moaning demeanor he puts on which is such a wind up. He was way too early to rise again. He will be fagged out all day. He woke up at 5:00 again, but this time, I don’t think he ever went back to sleep proper. I got my shower & breakfast in peace before he came downstairs, but this was even before ‘The Hoobs’ had started! I mean!

At least with the clocks gone back at the end of summer the night draws in sooner & he has been in the bath earlier… not that he has actually relented into sleep earlier.

With school – he may find that he is more worn out & may, just may start to sleep better… we can but hope.

I had to resort to sending my brother an ‘ecard’ for his birthday – & an email asking what his address was? He & Jessica have moved into a house in Reading & I realise I have no idea what the address is! Gah! Such a good brother, I am! Still – at least it gives me time to get something to accompany the card…

Sitting waiting for the train to take me home. Brain does not really want to communicate, but then it did not this morning. I should sleep more. I used to sleep a lot, but that was years ago… sigh.

Yeah! – At least the train has started to take me home now.

My brother’s birthday tomorrow, & despite fretting & wondering what the hell to get him, I have to conclude I’m hopeless. No ideas whatsoever – just a list of things not to get him… sigh. I have to conclude that I don’t really know where my brother’s everyday interests lie any more. I’m not even sure if he has time to read… <shrug> I don’t have time to read books any more… comics on the other hand… Hmmm… comics… Maybe there is some salvation there… There have been a few good collected indies released recently… All I have to do is find a decent comics shop (damnation – foiled again: oxymoron).

Louise’s birthday soon – but she has expressed a preference…

Eve’s birthday soon – but what cold she be wanting for? I think she might enjoy this birthday this time… she’s at the age when it is actually starting to mean something. Hopefully Jack will not be left out though…

Eve slept all the way through the night in her own bed last night. She actually fell asleep on me in yesterday evening. She seems reluctant to sleep during the day nowadays, so when she has a busy little day, she can be just plain worn out on an evening.

Jack has taken it upon himself to try to get up early… He dashed out of bed at 5:00 this morning, off down the hall – into the bedroom & came to us to announce that he wanted to get up early. We told him it was way too early, & he fortunately was able to drift off to sleep again (unlike me who worried my 5:30 alarm might wake him again). Still – it was only 6:10 that I heard him descending the steps. I’m not really sure why he want to be up & about. He said that he wanted to be awake before Eve one time, but then this darned programme called ‘The Hoobs’ is on at that hour & he does seem to like watching that as well… If it is for the TV… the TV might mysteriously stop working before a pre-defined time… Hmph – not sure how I could do that one really. I will have to look at the settings on it – there could well be something there.

Got a redelivery of an item we picked up from Ikea the other day last night… A storage box bench thing… The last one was damaged – a split along a wood grain. I eagerly set about putting the newer one together only to find that the side panels supplied were both for the same side… so it didn’t fit together at all! I sat there glaring at it resentfully for a while – moaned to Louise about it – & put it away again. Need to call Ikea again to arrange for another swap delivery… sigh.

Yesterday evening Jack & Eve created an ‘installation’ on our stairs. He begged some blue-tack & stuck up cards, letters & leaflets up the stairway walls. Oh, & pegged a book to the door handle at the bottom. All quite decorative really, so we left it.

Louise & Jack have made the house jolly tidy during the holidays. Jack likes to be cleaning & tidying. Sometimes he gets the wrong end of the stick with tidying & makes more mess… but it’s all a game to him really – one which might involve making a bridge from his to Eve’s bed with their duvets.

Jack is now less apt to complain – more relaxed & …well, happier again. We think the nits must have been driving him to distraction a bit. It’s kinda fortuitous that this was all detected during the half term hols as he would most likely have been forced to stay away anyway.

I am going to have to make a start on getting the attic decorated soon. There’s still a lot to do, but I’ve been luxuriating in the lack of direction that I’ve allowed myself after completing the kid’s room… Oh – & playing with Ikea flat pack jigsaws. Hmmm… I still have not found my drill so that I can put the blind up in the back room…

Ah, I’ll do something this evening… honest!

My hair stinks. I rather hoped washing it this morning would cure it, but I am very aware that it still stinks. We got ‘the cure’ for the nits yesterday. A bunch of little bottles; the contents of which needed to be rubbed into dry hair – so we did. It took Louise long enough to get it as well – she went down to the health centre & then off to the pharmacist who needed proof that nits were present. No nit combs though… they gave her a leaflet though – had plenty of them. Louise had to go home to use our comb to extricate another & we all went down to the pharmacist again when I got home.

Bottles of potion collected we took a diversion to the park for half an hour or so – pushing Jack on the swings, spinning on the roundabout & watching Eve cope with climbing the slide & positioning herself to come down (she sits before she has her legs in position, so she has to pull her legs round from under her… not a trick she will be able to do as she gets older – flexibility of toddlers).

Jack is reluctant to play out at the moment. It could be that he is afraid of midges – he already associates the nit biting with midges… something we need to dispel – midges fly head lice can do nothing but crawl. Louise suspects that there is something else troubling him about playing out at the moment though – perhaps some of the bigger kids have scared him… It’s so difficult to tell, really. It’s like he wants the assurance, when he does play out, of being on home ground. It does make you think that there’s a motive that he is not wholly telling about his reluctance to play out. Parents worry.

That morning fatigue descends. I’ve got to the station with time to spare & it’s just this journey to work now before my body has to react again. It’s trying to tempt my brain to sleep… but I will persist in exercising my hands to type…

We did the expedition to Ikea on Saturday. The kids had been up foolishly early the past few days, so it was on Saturday – granting us the chance to set off early. We were at the station for the 8:19 – which arrived at 8:30 & were on our way. Got to the shop at 10:00ish. The shelves we were looking at in the catalogue proved to be a bit naff in real life – so we opted for the trusty expandable units that they do. Got the beds for the kids – well – a proper mattress for Jack for now, & a ‘storage bench’ type thing. Basically, all that we went there for. Was not too stressful, as getting there that little bit early we were just ahead of the wave of busy that hits the place. We did get caught up in that after a spell in the restaurant, which all got a bit claustrophobic, so by the time it got to the place where all the knick-nacks are at the end, we were ready to flee – thus missing a couple of sundry items we would have searched for otherwise. Ah, well. Journey home again. I had Eve on the back carrier, & was OK with it until the end of the day where it seemed to be starting to get heavier & heavier. Eve really enjoys it in there though. She’s only really been in it once before & that was as good while ago, but she remembered it when it was brought out & was stamping with excitement to get in. All in all the kids did very well. Jack fell asleep a couple of times when travelling, but Eve, who had been late off yesterday, just kept going & going. By the end of the day she was a bit manic & fragile though.

On the Sunday the furniture arrived. Have a few boxes still to do, but the main one – their beds – is sorted. Eve’s bed was the only task I was set to do, really. Jack was very interested in helping & hijacked one of the alum keys to ensure my cooperation in allowing his assistance. He can be quite helpful, but at one point I decided that the mangled phillips screwdriver I have needed replacing. This meant stopping what we were doing & popping to the Sunday market to get one from one of the stalls there. Now, Jack is still not the right way out at the moment. He is getting frustrated & annoyed at us when we tell him we & thus he is going to do something. As with us all he wants a say in how things should be done. Unfortunately for him, the options we sometimes offer are not what he wants – like the other day when we were moving the bedrooms about & he wanted Jessie to come & play – but he did not want to go out to play with him. This time we needed to go out – me to get the screwdriver & Louise needed to go for a shop – supermarket – provisions – no milk in the house! Jack was not too keen – to put it mildly & was I was stupidly determined that he should go. So, Jack & I get mad at each other. I get really mad, but you cannot take these things out on your children. I did put him outside the back door in the rain without a coat, as I was heartily sick of his going on. Was a bit spiteful & Louise soon rescued him from getting wet. I stormed off – as it was the best option. I would have only continued to rage in the house. I went to get my stupid screwdriver. Louise caught me up later when I had just finished mulling between the stalls as to which one actually looked like it might last more than 5 minutes. Had a chat with our neighbour Andy while I was there as he is staring up a new recycling business thing. Must try to find his website to put a ling here as he has some swanky stuff.

Anyway – after the weekly shop & cafe – where Jack was very good! We went home to finish off the bed. Eve fell asleep which left Jack & I to complete it in relative pace (no extra person climbing over things).

Later that day he was complaining of the itches getting in again. ‘Itches’ are the midge flies that attack you on the evening in the garden around here. Right annoying they is. Nasty thought occurred – we had a warning letter from the school the other day about head lice! As we had been given a lice comb I went & dug it out & gave him a comb… uh,oh… what’s that?

It looks like Jack has the dreaded blighters. A quick heck of the rest of the family looks like Louise & Eve had one or 2 & I have scalp debris & fluff, but nothing, as yet. Poor Jack – they must have been a torment… & of course it’s not over… we have to be rid of them proper – any eggs & all! Gah!

Eve’s hair is very fine – the comb teeth seem too large for her, but she gets knots in her hair from sleeping. Jack & Louise share similar hair – although Louise’s is denser & thicker. Jack needed a good ol’ combing & I did so until I could find no more. In the process he fell asleep on my lap, so we put him to bed in his new bed & he slept quite well. For the 1st time in few days he was still asleep at the time I set off to work.

Now then… have you itched your head reading that? ‘Itches’ – there’s a thing that catches psychologically…

Feel guilt about Jack being so upset & me getting mad at him for all the performance & all that yesterday… sigh…

What can you do? He wants everybody so much at the moment. He dashed back to the window when Louise’s mum went home yesterday – knelt on the windowsill to see her disappearing down the street & it upset him – just a little cry before tea. He just wants everyone to be there all the time. An ambition that he will never realise, & an emotional break he is going to have to learn to deal with.

Louise was feeling guilty as well. She thought that they were going to have to go to the dentists yesterday. Jack had an appointment, but the days got mixed up & he had already missed it. From gearing him up to going, he suddenly wasn’t – so there was no being picked up from school early to go to the dentists for Jack, & she had to tell him that. He must have taken it reasonably well, but when at school it sounds like he just mooched off to play with the jigsaws in the class on his own. Must have been quite forlorn as Louise said that it upset her that he was plainly unhappy.

It also struck how restrictive the play is at school. At the moment it’s all letters & little else. There’s none of the creative freedom of a playgroup where you had a lot more choice over what you could do & there was just painting for the sake of painting & playing (sandpit – water etc) for the joy of playing. This is how it is with school though. I guess… & will continue to be. I guess you realise how young they are all over again.

Moved the kids into their ‘new’ bedroom last night & squeezed ourselves into the old. Our bed actually fitted, which was a relief. It all got a bit fraught though as one of Jacks friends – Jessie – who lives on the adjacent street came by, & wanted to come in just as we were moving things. Jack wanted him to come in, but we said no. We said that he could go out to play if he wanted, but he didn’t want to… thus a standoff of momentous proportions began. He drove us absolutely nutty shouting through windows for Jessie & Jessie hung around quite a lot in the belief that he might actually get into the house. No chance – if we were moving furniture, we did not want the grief of ensuring someone else’s kid gets into no bother. All very fraught, & demoralising. Jack was persistent beyond belief. He made Louise cry & thus distress Eve greatly as well. He made me really mad when Louise had had to just get away from him – he still persisted. He cried until he made himself sick. I was so mad that my response was to put him in the bath – silly boy

Still – they are in the new room now…

A cat drawn before tea time (by Jack).

Weird… I actually finished our/to be the kid’s room last night. The walls are all now painted – 2 walls pistachio & 2 walls varnished lining paper. I might get a couple of days rest while I recoup & maybe sort out a few bits & bobs; reviews & alike.

We should be able to sleep back upstairs again. Louise & I have had to resort to the sofa bed, as it’s been a bit smelly. The kids have not been too put out by this – perhaps a little confused, but they liked ligging on it in the mornings before it got put away.

Do I have a sense of triumph at having finished the room? No, not really; more bemusement. The kids could be in there in a couple of weeks as we are now plotting an expedition to Ikea so that we can get them a bed each. Not sure what other furniture we might need, but we cannot plan for too much at the moment. We will move into their small room while I sort out the decorating of the attic room. A setback up there is the fact that we have leak around the chimney breast again. With all the heavy downpours we’ve had recently a seriously damp patch has appeared. The builders have been called again to have another look at things, but we worry. Louise was talking of having the pot removed & roofed over, but how would that leave us if we wanted to put a fire in? I would like that option to remain. Not that I want a ‘real’ fire – having tended some in my time their a bother in a world of convenience. I do not have the patience to fret over keeping something going & cleaned out like some flipping pet. A mechanical (pet fire) which you switch on & off with gas would be my ideal there. Time may come.

Eve has been a little manic now & then recently. Canniness are still teething. They’ve both been a little over tired of recent due to disrupted sleep – Eve through her teething & Jack as he’s woke a little earlier than he should. They’ve coped well with it though – not really grumpy or anything & still playing together quite well. Jack did get a bit frustrated with his trains last night though, as they would not stay together in a, …uh, train. They are a set not designed for uneven carpets – so they keep coming apart – which makes him howl with frustration.

Eve’s language continues to develop & amuse. Not a good example of her language skills, but; as she woke from her afternoon nap yesterday, she pleaded, “Tooaaasssttt” – to which Louise asked if she would like her to do some toast? “No, crisps!”. Sigh.