Archives: eve reading

Construct thoughts. Adhere ideas to page.

As usual I’m over tired & therefore a vacuum exists where coherence is supposed to exist. I just skitter at the periphery of my thinking teasing out something that appears to be here.

Jack suffered a little last night. He’s a stoic sort, but the travel & all the homework got to him a little yesterday. He’s under the weather & he had quite a bit of homework to do yesterday. He so wants to do it well. Still – he did pull it together & he did finish all there was to finish & he did fall asleep jolly quickly. Sleep, for him, has not been so good this week – it may be contributory.

We managed to get Jude a bike – it’s green & blue, it has gears & it has a suspension! Crikey! He’s jolly pleased with it, but he wants a stand. OK – I need to get a stand…. Louise is going to book him into the dentists with his teeth – he’s starting to get teeth growing through – but his milk teeth are still hanging in there – so that can’t be comfortable. Jude has also been good, & reasonable & less apt to lash out this week – which has been noted & appreciated. He’s making an effort again.

Esme has chicken pox – this is not a surprise because Lilly over the road had them. Just got some first spots appearing yesterday. It was doubtful in the morning, but was mote obvious by the afternoon.

I must try to remember to leave work a little early to pop into town & pick up the 9th ‘Series of Unfortunate Events’ books for Eve. She is starting to read these herself a bit, which is encouraging. Reading to herself is not something she especially wants to have time for though – she’d rather be playing. The man game they play at the moment is ‘schools’ – where they are teachers behind desks & so forth. It involves a lot of books in bags & moving things about – but – they did actually tidy up after themselves yesterday – which is nearly a first as tidying up rarely is allowed to impinge on the time that they consider to be time that they play.

Got home at school leaving time – well – a little later because the train was late – caught up with the family heading home. Broke a grump about something or other just by turning up, but then Jude regrumped as I wasn’t taking him directly to the park (want to drop off my bag at home first) . And there lies a pattern… Jude had a bit of a grumpy evening & didn’t get what he wanted because of it. Louise got the worst of it though. We have to leave the park sometime & Jude didn’t want to – sat himself atop the climbing frame & scowled. I left (Esme claiming that she wanted to go to the toilet forced us to take the action of leaving (but she then forgot this ‘need’ straight away). We left the park & he followed (calling us stupid). Once across the road Eve & Esme dash into 72 (cafe) – they were getting ahead because Jude was reluctantly trailing. When Jude & Louise trail in they are wanting something to eat & a treat is deemed OK. 3 chocolate nest cakes with smarties on top are chosen because they are sufficiently treat -worthy & there are 3 – one for each. Jude suddenly procrastinates after the choice is made & then settles on wanting a chocolate bar… But the choice has been made. He protests (the choice has been made) & he starts to kick off as we leave (the choice has been made). He starts biffing Louise & his choice & his chosen treat is lost to him & he’s in a foul mood. Louise is also somewhat unhappy because he’s been an embarrassing little brat. I eat the cake that was intended for Jude as Jack (who is at home by now) has had his treats for the day (treacle sponge & pudding for school dinner). Jude is in a proper foul mood, but stroking the rabbit a bit before coming in seems t calm him a bit. He pops off to ‘Jack down the road’s on the understanding that it is only for half an hour. Louise & I wonder what to do about his ferocious temper…. After the half hour has passed I get him & he’s somewhat perplexed that tea is not ready of The Simpsons are not on… “We said half an hour”. He refuses to read his school book, so has to sit on the sofa with me & listen to me being boring & lecturing him about what is & is not acceptable, while he punctuates things with declarations of my stupidity & reminding me that I’m an idiot. He’s also reminded that such words are not what we want. Goodness knows if he’s taking any of it in… I try to see it as a ‘sea the shore’ effect: I will keep on like this until something gets through. The rest of the evening is basically OK with Jude, I guess – he has a bath early because he can have one without fuss & with fresh water. He likes that; he’s usually the last I the bath (by his choice).. He plays rather than sitting down to a story (as usual)

Other things

Eve was reading the Lemony Snicket book on her own after coming back from the park.  She must have wanted to get out of the way & she was able to get a bit of peace & actually read. This is good because she is often reluctant to do this or she cannot concentrate because there’s too much a-doing. So – she was able to sit & read & enjoy sitting & reading – a good thing.

Jack worked on Homework for quite a bit of the evening. Design Technology was Food Technology & sorting a collage of differing food types. There was writing up lab rules, there was an online Maths thing. The collage took quite a while as he hunted online for images – printed them out & collaged them.