All Change

We have been despairing in out house, Matthew doesn't sleep well, the kids have to sleep downstairs because of the layout of the house and none of them seem to have enough room. Mortgage deposits make it difficult to move and so we are stuck, so it seems! Well while we are away all five of us had to share a bedroom, we feared it would be hell on earth! It turned out to be OK!

This gave us an idea, we now after lots of heaving books, furniture and beds about have all of us sleeping upstairs. It seemed the two older children didn't really like sleeping downstairs so until we can afford to move, we now have a sleep room for the kids. Heather still has her own bedroom and we were even able to shift the sofa bed into it so she has somewhere to sit and read, she now has loads of space to do her dancing and we have a spare bedroom should we need it.

Matthews room still has all his toys but is also equipped as a study so Mr T can work from home, I can write in peace and Matthew can build train tracks and play with his road map to his hearts content. It is not an ideal solution but it is the best fir at the moment, we are hoping in a couple of years we will be able to move and then have a more conventional layout and individual bedrooms as the kids get older and less able to share.

They love it, perhaps a little too much, they each still have their own space and even in the shared bedroom the different areas have been personalised according to their preferences, Winnie the Pooh for Lucy, Thomas for Matthew and fairies for Heather. The house suddenly seems to have opened out, just as well as the children are on the school holidays for another five weeks!

The rain now seems relentless and the garden is sodden, thank goodness for libraries where the kids can while away an hour just flicking through books, often the same ones they have at home. The sibling rivalry seems as relentless as the bad weather and I am hoping that is just a phase. The games they play are now focussed around the holiday, they are taking Mickey and Minne mouse somewhere or saving them from some terrible fate.

School will be with us again soon and we seem to have a fair few sheets of homework to get through, as well as trying to encourage Matthew to get used to the idea of going to school every day wearing a uniform. Still next week we have our appointment to get said uniform, could be interesting, watch this space...

Lump in the throat

Sometimes I curse the kids, they disturb me when I'm trying to work, they fight with each other and they get up way too early but then I realise I asked for this. I chose to have them, warts and all so have to put up with all the disruption and paraphernalia that comes with them. There are times however, when I get to sit back and count my blessings. Monday evening was one of those times. Heather had come home from school, her homework was done and she was at the table, doing one of her favourite things drawing. I was getting on with the dinner when she appeared beside me, piece of paper thrust towards me. This is not unusual, she has been gradually filling my bedside table drawer with pictures of butterflies and people and cars for weeks, but this piece of paper was special.

She had drawn a lovely flower and hopscotch game but all by herself she had written;
for mummy youur m bste frenb youur byotful anb happe anb good love Heather. (for mummy you're my best friends, you're beautiful and happy and good. Love Heather.)
I was impressed that she had tried to write such big words without any help and welled up.

She has her first play date tonight, we have had friends over here but last year she missed out on a lot due to Lucy coming along in the March and me not being able to have lots of her friends over. This year we have made more of an effort and so today she is going to a friends straight from school. She is very excited, I am a little nervous, will I be able to find her friends house? will she eat her dinner? will she be polite? will she be OK without me or panic? Will she refuse to leave when she realises how much fun it is to play at other people's houses? I guess I'll find out later.

Lucy is now very mobile and caused her first breakage yesterday, I was cooking dinner and was momentarily distracted by the screams that accompany Heather and Matthew having a fight! In the time it took me to sort that out, Lucy who was in her walker had managed to grab the pestle and mortar and shatter it over the kitchen floor. One thing is for sure with these three working against me I'll never be rich, or bored!

Matthew and I are working hard together over half term, I am trying to keep him entertained and he is doing his best to outwit me! We had a lovely day on Monday and he relished the attention although yesterday he was tired and it showed as he was more interested in whinging and winding Lucy up than looking at his Peppa Pig magazine. Still we did manage a trip to the library and post office with no accidents, expensive purchases or losses of temper. I think the key to harmony with him is to keep him busy.