Tiredness and ditzy

I haven't been sleeping too well the past week which affects my level of ditziness. Yesterday I met up with some friends and their kids for a picnic in the park. As my friend told me to get rid of the water in a cup so she could pour some wine into the cup, I did exactly as she told me and threw the water over my shoulder which unfortunately landed on her rug next to the table. Whoops

I just find that if I'm tired I just don't think and do ditzy things.....

Fishing

The kids and I went down to my mums yesterday to visit after her hip op (she had it a week before the summer hols started apparently the previously 3 months they'd been too busy with social events to fit in the operation!!!). Honestly, she told me that in May had a weekend away somewhere (I don't listen half the time), June was Royal Ascot and July was Henley. How could she possibly have her hip with no cartilidge fixed when they were so busy???

My eldest brother took son 1 and son 2 fishing in the local pond (not a fan but hubbie big fan of watching fishing on tv - I found him watching fish-a-mania the other day, too sad). So was surprised that the kids caught fish but didn't bring them back, apparently they put them back - what is the point! My brother's friend looked v.shocked when I asked where they were, I don't think he realised quite how ditzy I am.

Leeds Mama friend

The whole family went up on mass to Leeds to see a close friend who is expecting in September. I took all the baby stuff up to pass onto her. This means there is no way I could possibly have another baby and I like that all the funky baby clothes have been passed on.

It was lovely seeing my friend, but son 2 had to have a wee every half an hour so we stopped at every service station on the M1. I nearly gave him a bottle to pee in as it was taking so long to get home and everytime he wanted a wee we had about 15 miles till the next service station. So had tantruming 3 year old screaming in the back. Oh the joy of driving 200 miles with 3 children.

Free childcare

Had a lovely day so far without son 2 (3 years and v.stroppy at moment) as one of his little friends has a nanny whose taken him away from me for the day. The conversation went like this "would E like to have a playdate with T" "that sounds great" "ok I'll pick him up at 9.30" "what and take him away? Do you mind looking after him". How marvelous is that!!! And for free!!!!

So me and baby son 3 did a few things of my endless to do list, went for lunch with some other mums (wine midday is too morish) and then got to lie on the sofa reading whilst baby slept. Absolute Bliss...

Poo incidents

We had another poo incident today. Potty training with 2 boys has brought some interesting incidents, we have had:

• Son 2 on first day of toilet training, weeing in a stranger's habitat children's tent (the co-ordinator for the 2nd times mums group with an immaculate house).
• Poo in our swimming pool on holiday a few weeks ago, I was swimming underwater when I noticed small brown balls sinking to the bottom (don't know why poo is called floaters). So I spent an hour diving down to the bottom of our pool to fish out tiny bits of my son's poo. The pool cleaner turned up in the middle so had to hide the evidence v.discreetly.
• Son 2 insisting that he had to go for a poo in the middle of the park, so he went behind a bush (75% of his wees are done outside - why do boys like doing that?) and I had to pick up his poo out of a bush like a little dog.
• Son 1 (who is nearly 6) forgets he needs a poo, leaves it to the last minute and can't hold his poo (he does think that walking with his legs clenched together to the toilet will stop him pooing himself).
• Next door neighbour's boy always does a poo at our house (he's 4 and long ago was toilet trained) - maybe he's so comfortable at our house he likes leaving a present!

can't wait to toilet train son 3, the baby........

Strong-willed toddler

Son 2 (aged 3.5) is the most defiant or non-compliant (if I'm being nice and following my parenting book) child in the entire world. This weekend he's had about 30 mins when he hasn't been crying, tantruming or whining. I thought we'd turned a corner when he turned 3 but the last 2 days he's grown devil horns and has been a nightmare.

After hubbie had a mini breakdown yesterday (road rage incident - doesn't work really when you're driving a people carrier) I suggested he took some time out today. So had all 3 kids today with antsy baby and a toddler with PMT. As my normal strategies for dealing with strong-willed child are not working, we've decided that ignoring him is our new tactic. Normally in my ditzy mode, I'm v.good at ignoring people (in particular hubbie - once didn't notice he'd shaved his sideburns for nearly a year) but with son 2 he knows which buttons to push to get my attention. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. As his pre-school has finished for the summer, have no respite so will probably be on the wine every night.

Non-competitive Sports Day

Well, now I've seen it all. I hobbled over the road to the park for son 1's "sports activity day" but there were no winners or losers. What!! One of the reasons it was annoying was that it was (a) a bit boring and (b) my son is really good at running and (c) I had spent 10 minutes hobbling over the road (normally takes 3 mins) to see his first sports day which I envisaged would be like the ones I had at school. The school he goes to is a bit caring and sharing which is normally nice but I wanted to scream out his name as his took part in a race.

It was nice to catch up with some other parents after being away for 2 weeks but still.....

Other gossip was that my youngest brother got engaged to his v.trendy girlfriend (omg what shall I wear to the wedding?) which I didn't think would ever happen. She's the type of person who has their photo taken for sunday supplement fashion sections to show what quirky / trendy stuff people are wearing on the streets of London. I'm breaking out in a sweat thinking about what I could wear to the wedding. Suggestions gratefully received.

Back from hols and into hospital

Back from hols at the weekend and straight into having my knee fixed today ( I hope). This involved lots of complicated childcare arrangements and last minute favours (I love other parents - I would be lost without doing the school run).

Had to be at the hospital at 7am so found myself drying my hair with the car heater in the hospital car park (classy or innovative?). In the waiting room at there was lots of other older people (60+) waiting to have their knees fixed (apparently shouldn't have so much wear and tear at my age). They all had partners accompanying but I went on my own, not sure if I looked sad or empowered. Hubbie came and picked me up when I was feeling v.sick from the aesthetic, then puked as the physio came in. My hubbie was so sweet trying to keep my hair out of my sick (and it wasn't alcohol induced).

Now at home trying to sort out lastminute childcare as apparently can't walk son 1 to school or pick up the baby until end of the week. Don't think that will last but might change once the painkillers wear off.