Monday 30 January 2012

A Few Things About Today


  • Today, within twenty minutes of waking up, I knew it would be a day spent in the vortex of sick twins. It was tough. 
  • Within thirty minutes of waking up, I had decided that the DVD player would probably be on all day. 
  • Within forty minutes of waking up, I had decided not to battle about clothes (or, frankly nappies) and left them in their pyjamas all day. 
  • Being sick seems to make Pink bossy and demanding, and Blue very sad. To illustrate: Within an hour of waking up, Blue cried and cried because Pink wouldn't let him sit in the toybox with her. Pink seemed quite clear about the fact that Blue was not allowed to sit in the toybox, and told him so in no uncertain terms. She seemed less clear on the fact that she is not allowed to either. 
  • He also cried and cried because it was naptime, then because it was time to get up, then because he was still in his pyjamas, then because I changed him out of his pyjamas, then because I put him back in his pyjamas, then because it was time to make dinner, then because it was time to eat dinner, then because dinner was finished. 
  • During their putative nap, the doorbell rang. It was a friend from church, needing me to sign something. Defying statistics, she happened to arrive during the 45 minutes I was cramming potato chips into my mouth and watching Alias on DVD. I don't think my day looked to her like it felt to me. 
  • I got through the day without once losing my cool at them. I didn't achieve anything else, but I was proud of that.  
  • At about 6pm, I was so tired from not-yelling that I fell asleep in front of The Adventures of Spot the Puppy, even though Blue was on my lap and talking to me the entire time. 
  • For once, J got home from work at 7pm rather than 8 or 8.30 which meant that he could finish bedtime. It is possible that my frantic texts throughout the day had something to do with that. 
  • As soon as he got home, I put on my shoes for the first time, ran out the door and to the supermarket across the road. I dawdled and drew out my errand for much longer than I needed to. I found myself seriously wondering whether yes, I should really get some wok oil or hey, how about an ash removal attachment for my vacuum? In the end I just bought bread and milk. And also maybe some m&ms. 


  • I then spent the evening catatonic on the sofa, eating m&ms  with my feet in a foot spa. J gave it to me for Christmas as a joke, but it turns out I really like it. It's very soothing. The instructions say don't add bubbles, but I do it anyway because I'm a risk-taker. The challenge is to get the bubbles up to my knees without turning my lounge floor into a slippery skating rink. 
  • On a related note, I really need to get out more. 
  • They are sleeping well now, which is a relief. 
  • I went in to look at them a second ago, to give me that traditional parental night-time boost. You know, the 'awwwwwww, aren't they lovely, really?' boost that usually comes from watching sleeping children. Unfortunately, this time I just though 'sorry, kids, I still remember how much you annoyed me today'.  I love them, obviously, but.... you know. 
  • In eight hours and six minutes, I have to get up and do it all again. Give me strength. And give me calpol. 

18 comments:

  1. You are SERIOUSLY a rock star at not losing your cool.

    I love the descriptions of your day, really I do.

    And you have such self-control. Only M&Ms? I would have had apple danishes, hot cross buns, doughnuts, etc. in my basket.

    Our Pink is also VERY bossy. I have to tell her to stop bossing our Blue but she does it anyway, wagging that little finger at him.

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  2. Keeping your cool all day is a victory!

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  3. Managing this day and maintaining your calm is seriously an achievement! Congratulations! That certainly deserves M&Ms.

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  4. Argghhhh, I totally spoke too soon about not losing my cool. Now that day 2 is here, I lost my cool sometime early in the morning, sped through tepid into warm and now I'm somewhere in the red zone. I keep yelling 'STOP ASKING ME FOR MORE MEDICINE!' which is probably not the most mature way to deal with the situation.

    Also, I finished all the leftover m&ms at about 10am.

    Oh, it's SUCH a long way until bedtime.

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  5. Left over m&ms? Never heard of such a thing...

    We're sick too. How can children produce so much snot with no decline in their energy levels?

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  6. ffhfarm.wordpress.com....sorry, can't post as me for some reason..

    hi claudia, i have the talent to be stuffing my face with chips just when someone rings the doorbell too...what's up with that? ...and i think you did well to last until 10am before finishing the m&ms, they wouldn't last that long with me, even without two sick babies....

    take some deep breaths, they will get better and back to normal soon :)

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  7. I think the fact that you started the day as a family of 4 and ended the day as a family of 4 is a HUGE SUCCESS!
    Yikes, nothing is worse than sick kids unless you are sick too. Encourage lots of naps and don't steer away from medicines that say 'may cause drowsiness'.

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  8. Thank you for posting a pic of calpol because I didn't know what it was. It could have been anything and...well...I have a weird mind.

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  9. Ahhhh, those days when really, ONLY M&Ms and foot spas (or foot rubs!) will make things better. I have them too and I know how great it feels not to lose your cool all day long.

    Hoping tomorrow is a better day!

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  10. Oh, man. I don't have any advice other than M&Ms really do make bad days turn around, huh? Good luck tomorrow, hope they are feeling better!

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  11. Ohhhhhh yeah, I hear ya. Hope it was helpful to write it out because it was SURE helpful to see it written out!

    And btw, losing it on day 2 totally does not negate the fact that you kept it together on day 1. You can still hold your head high.

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  12. blurg. sick kids. blurg.

    (Alias! Eeek! Love!)

    If day 2 sucks worse then...

    DAY 3 WILL BE AMAZING!!!!

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  13. Can I just say, this is one of the funniest, most awesome things I have ever read on the internet:

    "I then spent the evening catatonic on the sofa, eating m&ms with my feet in a foot spa. J gave it to me for Christmas as a joke, but it turns out I really like it. It's very soothing. The instructions say don't add bubbles, but I do it anyway because I'm a risk-taker. "

    What a way to begin a week. I hope the rest of yours goes much, much more smoothly.

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  14. Hurrah for Calpol! Hope your day gets better and so do the kids.
    amy x

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  15. I applaud you for making it through an entire day without being outwardly impatient. By 10am on the first day I would have been sighing what has become my trademark annoyed mother sigh. I bet if you buy more m&m's, you'll have more patience. I mean, if you also purchase a bottle of wine and a nanny while you're there. Do they sell nannies at the grocery in the UK? Seems like they should.

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  16. Aaand I just sounded like I advocate the selling of human beings. To clarify, I was a nanny and would have happily found employment by selling myself at the grocery. But maybe that's more of a rental situation. I would have charged quite a lot for anything permanent.

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  17. Been there and I sympathise with you. Some virus is making it way (rather slowly) through our house. I hope your babies wake feeling much better tomorrow and that you don't catch what ever they had.

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  18. Ai, those are the days! I do hope they are better soon and that you get some rest.

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Over to you!