Today has been about survival. It took me a while to fall asleep last night and James was up twice in the night, so today I’m exhausted. Combine that with Stephen feeling worse again and needing to be in bed all day plus two fractious and difficult children and it does not make a pretty picture. But I tried.
The kids started off watching Moana so that I could get showered and sort out some paint as they had requested rainbow painting as the morning’s activity. The new paint was lovely and cheap and is fab for mixing but took a while to set up. Clearly a draw back. But despite the water being poured all over the table and floor, and Genevieve having to be constantly reminded not to spray or flick the paint, I do think they enjoyed it. And also, Auntie Daisy and Uncle Ben now have some nice rainbow pictures heading their way.
Once the paint had been tidied and cleaned we had some lunch. Thanks to Uncle Ben and Auntie Daisy, Genevieve had a croissant to enjoy and both kids got to have baby cucumbers. Thanks guys – they loved it! Pudding was on hold until later in the afternoon so that they could have popcorn whilst watching a film (that I had earned by doing loads of exercise last week thanks to Vitality and Rakuten).
Last week I ordered some markers that would draw on glass and then rub off easily. Before the film afternoon we had some drawing fun on the patio doors. Sadly it didn’t last as long as I’d hoped but it did lead them to wanting to hide and find the painted rocks again. Anything to keep them occupied and quiet so Stephen could try to sleep and I could have some mental head-space.
After the window drawing we moved on to playing tag and rock hiding but, unfortunately, this ended in complete disaster with a giant fight and tantrums. It woke Stephen up resulting in him having words with Genevieve. This meant that popcorn didn’t happen but we did get to watch Frozen II.
This led nicely into Grandma Lindsey chat time. James was first today and he had lots of fun playing pirate Guess Who, snakes and ladders, and narrating the Billy Goats Gruff with the puppets Grandma Lindsey had kindly posted to us. Listening to him narrate was very entertaining. Genevieve played pirate Guess Who several times. She is finally getting that you have to be clever with your questioning, plus she tries to sneak through two questions if she doesn’t like the first answer.
Today was the primary school results day for James. We were thoroughly relieved to find out that James will be attending the same school as his sister. I’m glad I was efficient and have already applied to the after school club.
Some of our lovely friends dropped a care package off for Stephen (including Lucozade, Fisherman’s Friend lozenges, vitamin C tablets and giant Wotsits), and also kindly included a birthday present for James (they had had it since his birthday just before lockdown). He was most excited to open it – race car Lego with a goodie and a baddie!
It was Uncle Henry’s birthday today so we had a brief FaceTime with the family before I put the kids to bed. Then I collapsed on the sofa. Another day done and survived. Today feels like a particular achievement.
The Smiths Family Blog 