Archives: jack

Type anything to start typing… Having trouble thinking this morning. Jude & Eve were awake an hour before I’m due to get up. Eve wasn’t making a fuss or anything, & Jude wasn’t being that loud, but they were awake at the perfect time to throw my sleeping pattern. I think I’d rather have my eyes closed this morning; mitigating circumstances are: I can’t think.
Eve was on the ‘Nyeurks” again yesterday. Not full on, but being a bit of a pain. One day off, one day on? Louise & Eve may be going to college today – there apparently being a spare place at the play group there. Interestingly, it seems that the college has been making it difficult for the playgroup – rising rents, poor facilities… Jack’s school has had a new porta-cabin installed & it looks as though they are going to move to that (they have close links with the school anyway as the playgroup to nursery to reception class thing has a consistency of the people involved. Really, this can only be a good thing for Eve as she will be going to that school. It’s a shame the college seems to have taken, if not a negative attitude toward the playgroup, certainly a uncaring one. One of the reasons it was initially set up there, I believe, was so that those taking classes there could have some form of facility of their young ones…
Shortsightedness & ‘market forces’ win out again. <sigh>

Jack was keen to go to the fair, so I took them. Louise had to go home with Jude as the pushchair would not have coped. Into the mud we ventured.
“Uh-uh mud
Thick oozy mud
We can’t go under it,
We can’t go over it
Oh no, we’ll have to go through it”
I still carried Eve. We made it through squelching & squertching as well as sloshing through, I hesitate to demean with what might seem an inadequate description: puddles. They enjoyed themselves they went round & round & up & down – they wanted more. We ventured further to a stall. Oddly there seemed few stalls with less people willing to wade. With limited funds we managed to get a Combine Harvester & farm set for Jack & Eve to play with. Oh, & a couple of beach balls on a string & stick – masquerading as balloons (cheap & cheerful). Unfortunately this left only enough for one more ‘ride’. Jack went into ‘the house of fun’. Enjoyed himself a good while with Eve & I looking on. We had to go in the end though. Take our muddy feet home.
Home things:
Eve is teething at the moment. A lower right molar is trying to make an appearance. This drives her a little nutty. She’s was being a right madam & miscreant yesterday; cereal on the floor & hitting Jude to name but 2 offences. Hitting Jude it the one that’s very annoying. She’s also still got a bit of impetigo on her chin but that’s thankfully healing up. It’s meant that Louise can’t take her to playgroup etc though, so they’ve had less distraction that they would usually get. Hopefully it will be deemed cleared up enough for her to go to college today.

Mmm – the weekend’s ‘Agricultural Show’.
Well, last week was pretty wet, but it seemed to be getting better toward the end of the week. The Show was getting ready on Thursday & on Friday the fair set themselves up. Unfortunately there was then a cloudburst on Friday evening – a thunderstorm – a downpour. It was quite impressive really. Jack went from front window to back window to catch the rain pelting (or “hitting” as he puts it) down. Not good for ‘The Show’ though.
We dallied on Saturday morning – there was some football on the telly to watch, but eventually we made our way down to the park to ‘The Show’. People were coming out with shoes & trousers plastered in mud; pushchairs with caked wheels – didn’t look good… Once through the gates you could see the deep furrows the horse trailers & lorries had left over the grassed areas that’re supposed to be the footy pitch… A major annoyance was that as people were reluctant to park their cars on the grass, some fool deemed it OK for them to park on the children’s playground. One suspects the decision maker did not have children of their own. I dislike cars at the best of times, & was not able to just pull back a swing & let it smash into a car because there were actually people sat in some of them… darn.
We went around the paved walkway circling the park (& the show) to survey the prospects of an easy access. Disappointed that the livestock were not here last year. Apparently latent Foot & Mouth fears persist. In a way, it’s just as well as Eve does not like animals really. She was quite scared of all the horses that were around & needed to be carried everywhere. Could not risk putting her down once the decision was made as she would have got muddy feet & thus I would be muddied. We ended up back at the playground & managed to find a little room between the impromptu car park to play. There was even nearly enough room for Eve to have a swing. Shame she had to kick a car while she did it, shame I didn’t let her get her bots muddy & shame some unsporting official asked us to move while another car moved out of the way (further onto the playground…).

Feeling better? Marginally. I conceded to feeling awful yesterday, & went to bed early, in the hope that I was just run down. Had a good nights sleep & …well, I feel better, but not great, by any means.

Jack slept a bit better last night. He woke at 3:00 & 3:30. I think dreaming is disturbing him at the moment, but he’s not specific about it. He certainly would like me to sleep in his bed, but I tell him I’d be too noisy at the moment (I would – coughing & snorting). I think he settled off OK again, but he must have stirred again as when I got up this morning he was sleeping against his bed like he had been sitting on the floor next to it to watch down the corridor; this was what he was doing when I first went to see him at 3:00. Oh, I put Eve back in bed properly then as well, as she looked to be straying to the point where she might fall out of bed. Unlike Jack, her bed is off the floor.

Eve has a spot of Impetigo at the moment, poor girl. She cannot go to playgroup or college. She is mixing with the kids on the street, much to my general concern, but you can’t stop that. She’s started saying to Louise, when she is told that she can’t do something that she will be able to, “when me chin gets better” (accompanied by vigererous head nod). She still uses ‘me’ for ‘I’, but on the whole she’s very acute with her language nowadays. You take such things for granted. She’s full of life is Eve, running, jumping & all that. She does not like animals so much though; anything larger than a medium sized dog or a cat freaks her out a bit. In a way, it was a good thing that there were not hoardes of animals at the Agricultural show this weekend.

We got to my parents at about 1 or 2 in the morning (I forget). We’ve never been to this house before as they moved last year. When we went in, dad said that our bedroom was to the back. It’s one of these houses that keep going back, & so it gave a good impression of space going to the back bedroom. We got the kids into bed OK. Jack was on the top bunk of a bunk bed. He was up the latest, so he was hardly disturbed by being transported in. Eve woke up & was quite pleased to be put into bed. She had been laying sideways on the back seat & thus pushing into Jack & kicking at Louise. She lay there for quite a while, probably wondering what the heck was gong on, & seemingly quite pleased to have the top bunk above her for some reason.

Up early the next day as usual. Jack claimed he got up in the night to go to the toilet – which is most likely true. He did well; in that case, as he would not have been aware he was in a “bunker bed” (as he called it) or where on earth the toilet might be in a strange new house. He did know that he would be at grandma & grandpa’s tho – so he could not have been unduly worried. Heck he would have let us know if he was worried.

UM… I will continue in less detailed mode about the holiday. Two reasons really; it would take too long, & my brain gets blury about such things anyway.

Been on holiday since Monday, but not really had a chance to do much typing. I’m supposed to be relaxing, but as usual, where’s the time for that? Still, I am enjoying myself.
I’m typing at the moment as I’ve got up too early. Jack & I are off to Bristol this morning with my dad. He’s off to the Veg market in Bristol & we’ve decided to hitch a ride with him. He sets off early, but I’m up too early; I kinda set the alarm a bit too soon. Hey ho. Off to Bristol as we’re off to the Comics convention there, today. This is one of the reasons we decided to actually take a holiday at this time; so that I could go. I’m going to be talking on the small press comics panel discussion – but I doubt that means I’ll be getting in gratis.
Have quite a sun burnt neck & arms today. We spent some time down at the beach yesterday as it was the 1st day of unadulterated sunshine (it’s been showery). Jack & I made quite a magnificent sand castle. Well, a big pile of sand with moat around it. It also had a bridge, as there was a flat bit of stone/concrete that I could place over the moat. Jack was decorating it with stones when he lost interest. There were some other boys playing in the water nearby & that was more fun. We then peeled off to get some ice cream & said boys started the demolition. Sandcastles are transient, so I don’t worry. I was tempted to have a rave at the older boy (7 years?) as he was the one who started it, but I could not be sure who the parents were. Turned out to be the ones who were sleeping nearby, so perhaps I should have & it would have lasted longer. Still – It was a large edifice & there was still evidence of it sometime later. Some other kids were playing with it then & looked to be trying to reinstate the moat.

Holiday starts today! I’m still going to work; mind. It was supposed to start tomorrow (& I would still have been working) but my dad, who is giving us a lift down to Somerset (for it is with my parents we are staying) opted for today. Uh, OK then.
Had a good ‘clear out’ day yesterday. I gave the council a big list of the junk with which time has encumbered us & they are going to come & collect it. I guess if we had a car I would have been rid of most of it already – but we don’t – so we have to get them to come & collect it occasionally. Has to be strictly ‘household’ though – so the 2 bit of chipboard & a bag of plaster that got left behind when they did the attic will have to stay… I don’t quite get the ‘chipboard’ denial… hey – we used it as… um… why the hell did we have that chipboard anyway?!
I got all the lugging of junk done while Jack was off playing with Hamish. They were apparently drawing animals together; I got as a passing report from Hamish’s dad – Andy. He had taken Jack off that morning to a big aquarium shop quite a few miles away. I think they’ve bought a new fish tank. I was junking a couple of very redundant PCs & mentioned that I’d whipped the hard drive out. Andy had recently replaced a wonky hard drive for someone, so he had the faulty model. He came over, & like a couple of wee kids we opened it up. Nice shiny platter therein. One of the computers I was junking had a very old hard drive in, so we whipped that out & pried that one open too. It was a full bay size hard drive with an inspection date from 1989. Cor antique! Nicely brutish in it’s internal mechanics compared to a modern day one

Missing a couple of days again. Easy to do – why? Trains without tables & an inclination to read, not write. What’s been going on? …I forget as usual.
My parents (my dad) has a mobile phone!! Of all things?! They are more ‘techno’ than I! It seems it might be my brother’s old one, so at least they didn’t have to fight their way through the sales fog of a shop to get one. If I were to get a mobile, it would have to be one that I cannot afford, so really – there’s very little point.
So, anyway – we’d gone to bed on Thursday night & I get up & it’s me dad on his mobile… He’s telling me that he’s coming to pick me up on the Monday, not the Tuesday… & that he’s thinking he’ll get here in the evening & we’ll set off back for Somerset at 03:00. The kids should sleep through that. Me having just been falling asleep upstairs before the call can’t really muster the thought to disagree. It seems an insane fait accompli. When I totter back to bed Louise also agrees that this is barmy. We eventually decide that we have little choice but to catch the train Tuesday evening. The expense of the train & the expense of having to buy stuff (nappies, soap powder etc) will have to be burdened. I call & leave a message at the restaurant the next day.
Louise & I talk it over again after I get home from work & well…. we conclude that barmy as it is, we will have to go by the car (we can’t really afford the train & the carrying & the etc etc etc. I call dad again in the evening, & that plan he outlined the other day was only a suggestion really. Ah. Cool. Still – Monday is the day & I need to negotiate another day off work.
Jude had his 1st ‘solids’ last night. Some ‘baby rice’. He was fine with it. Ate from the spoon without any trouble & had no trouble with the whole thing.
Jack fell off his bike yesterday. He tore his trousers really badly, but it seems he had not hurt his leg (relief) but he hit his face on the floor. Bashed his lip & grazed his chin – & that’s what was hurting him. Poor lad. We were not watching for him at the time & a couple of the older boys escorted him home. A few more minutes & we were going to collect him, as it was bath time.

Another torturous journey back home from picking Jack up. A lot of, “No, don’t do that!” & “Stop that!” He refuses to listen to instruction at the moment & the last straw was his messing about with the rock-salt/grit in the salt bin at the top of the stairs from Harley to Ryod Street. I grabbed him by the back collar & frog marched him home. He was forced to sit inside for 10 minutes. Eve pottered along behind us like there was nothing unusual about me forcing a crying older brother home.
He gets over things very quickly. Oh, & we had another run in later on. He drew on Eve’s hand with a felt tip pen & then denied it. It was plainly obvious that he had. He looked me in the eye & said that he had not, but he was lying, he smirked & leant forward as he looked me in the eye. I took the pen off him for lying, not for drawing on Eve’s hand… He burst into tears. Louise was a bit mad at me for that as she says she would have let that slip, as she thinks he knows that we know he is lying. I do not like lying at all (probably because I’ve never been any good at it). I am not completely convinced this level of complicity exists, but it is the first time he has lied to me like that, & I wanted to ensure that I make it clear that I do not accept such things. I guess I’m much more absolute than Louise. He got the pen back quite quickly as he said that he would be good. He managed to write a nice list of names of name of people to invite to his birthday party.
The kids went off to sleep at a proper time. It’s funny how when they do that you feel so much more enthusiastic about the evening. I managed to get a bit of painting done in the attic & some important clearing up. Small but useful progress.

Was going to do some attic painting last night – but it was 9:30 before I surfaced from the kids room (urg). They were not for sleeping last night. Eve ended up in Jack’s bed & Jack ended up in Eve’s bed. It might have been a coming storm that did it. As I Louise nudged me awake (I’d fallen asleep with them as usual) it was bucketing down outside. You could hear the water sloshing down the back street. It’s difficult to be really certain, but it seems like the attic wall is not getting any wetter – the leak may be cured! I just wish it would actually dry out – then we’d be sure.
Jack called just the once in the night, but I think that was more because he had kicked off the cover & needed it back. He went straight back to sleep.
A week today we’ll hopefully be headed off on holiday.