I'm rather glad it's Sunday as it's been a helluva week so far. Kempton's still in her first season which seems to have been going on forever, and despite multiple websites suggesting that there won't be much mess: there is.
We discovered that Gilby's illness was caused by Campylobacter; I'd never heard of it before, but we will be looking at the storage and preparation of raw poultry in our kitchen from now on. A call from the doctor was quite apologetic since they had fobbed us off twice before taking a sample from him.
Gertie got in to our second-choice school, which in 1066 And All That fashion may actually be a good thing. Daddy's spin is that it was his first choice anyway, so I don't think that we will be going through the appeal procedure. And we have just calculated that I will be on maternity leave just after she begins in September, which, though unplanned will mean that I won't miss out on those precious school gate moments.
Possibly most dramatic of all is that Brenda left us on Thursday after fifteen months. She was our au pair/nanny from Australia. We are trying to adjust. She is in Las Vegas, at a Celine Dion concert in Caesar's Palace as I write this!
And Gertie presented me with a broken Gerbera plant for Mothering Sunday. Orange is my favourite colour, and it was clever of Daddy because we had these flowers at our wedding. I'm quite impressed that he knew and remembered that. It could be a lucky fluke, but he is claiming prior planning. Anyway, there were three flowers on the plant, but Gertie appears to have 'picked' one for me already, so that leaves two and a broken stem. Gilby made me a card at nursery which he carefully destroyed in the car on the way home on Friday.
Happy Mother's Day!
Showing posts with label Brenda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brenda. Show all posts
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
OMG!
I have to make a confession. I'm not really a fan of text-speak. My husband and I always text each other in 'full words', no abbreviations whatsoever, complete with careful punctuation. I know that the format requires brevity and doesn't really lend itself to this, and that I give my age as well as my profession away in doing so, but the English teacher in me won't allow those time-saving contractions.
Not so Brenda, the wonder from Down Under, who has happily settled in with us and looks after the children for three days a week now.
Oh no. Being still a teenager (for a few more days, at least) she is quite happy 'lol'ing with the best of them. In fact, AIH, I get into a right old 2n8 trying to decipher her texts. All this is a bit TNC, but I was surprised, nay distressed, to disover that my not-quite-three-year-old is now using 'OMG' in speech as a descriptive term for anything a little bit shocking or out of the ordinary.
Like, "OMG, Mum, I fell over today."
Or "OMG, have you seen what Gilby's just done with his biscuit?"
Right, Brenda, you might be brilliant with the children but we are going to have words about their linguistic development. Is this Australian, or just young?
Not so Brenda, the wonder from Down Under, who has happily settled in with us and looks after the children for three days a week now.
Oh no. Being still a teenager (for a few more days, at least) she is quite happy 'lol'ing with the best of them. In fact, AIH, I get into a right old 2n8 trying to decipher her texts. All this is a bit TNC, but I was surprised, nay distressed, to disover that my not-quite-three-year-old is now using 'OMG' in speech as a descriptive term for anything a little bit shocking or out of the ordinary.
Like, "OMG, Mum, I fell over today."
Or "OMG, have you seen what Gilby's just done with his biscuit?"
Right, Brenda, you might be brilliant with the children but we are going to have words about their linguistic development. Is this Australian, or just young?
Monday, 22 March 2010
Home Alone (For Forty Minutes)
I experienced a small and totally unexpected and ever-so-slightly-guilty pleasure today.
I have been back at work for two months now, and Brenda, the wonder from Down Under has been living with us for about the same length of time. (She is amazing, but doesn't look after the children all the time as they are still attending nursery for a couple of days a week; she has just begun another part time job at a local adventure farm park.)
Anyway, she was working at the farm this afternoon and I had to do the nursery run. I also, happily, finished work a little early today. Usually I have to pick up in a mad dash on my way home, but today I just went home first to get everything ready. I could turn lights on, have supper all prepared and then just hop into the car and get the kids.
I couldn't work out was odd as I came into the house. Everything was as it should be. Except that it felt different. And sort of smelled different. And definitely sounded a bit different. And suddenly it dawned on me: this was the first time I had been 'home alone' in nearly eight months. Ever since Gilby was born, in fact.
And I had a whole forty minutes there - in my own house - with only my self for company. I had completely forgotten what it was like. There was just silence and everything was tidy and I was in control. It was really, truly odd. I sort of savoured it, but then it was over oh-so-quickly and once again the house was filled with noise and colour and mess and 'hecticity'. I'm sure that's not a word but it features regularly in my vocabulary.
So now I can't wait until the next time I am able to sneak home alone. Why didn't anyone tell me how great it was?
I have been back at work for two months now, and Brenda, the wonder from Down Under has been living with us for about the same length of time. (She is amazing, but doesn't look after the children all the time as they are still attending nursery for a couple of days a week; she has just begun another part time job at a local adventure farm park.)
Anyway, she was working at the farm this afternoon and I had to do the nursery run. I also, happily, finished work a little early today. Usually I have to pick up in a mad dash on my way home, but today I just went home first to get everything ready. I could turn lights on, have supper all prepared and then just hop into the car and get the kids.
I couldn't work out was odd as I came into the house. Everything was as it should be. Except that it felt different. And sort of smelled different. And definitely sounded a bit different. And suddenly it dawned on me: this was the first time I had been 'home alone' in nearly eight months. Ever since Gilby was born, in fact.
And I had a whole forty minutes there - in my own house - with only my self for company. I had completely forgotten what it was like. There was just silence and everything was tidy and I was in control. It was really, truly odd. I sort of savoured it, but then it was over oh-so-quickly and once again the house was filled with noise and colour and mess and 'hecticity'. I'm sure that's not a word but it features regularly in my vocabulary.
So now I can't wait until the next time I am able to sneak home alone. Why didn't anyone tell me how great it was?
Monday, 22 February 2010
The Wonder from Down Under
Well, it appears that somehow it has been a whole week since my last blog post.
This is I think, my longest break since I began this blogging lark. Now, in my defence, it was half term, and having only been back at work for just over a month, I wanted to spend lots of time with the little people. But a week is a long time in the blogosphere, I have discovered, and I have plenty of catching up to do.
It has been a bumpy ride, but things this end are looking up. 'Brenda' has arrived, our very own wonder from down under. In fact, she has now been here for a month and has made herself completely indispensable in that time. She is 19, an ex-student of mine from my teaching exchange to Australia in 2005, and extremely capable and hard working. She is staying with us as a kind of au pair.
Brenda spent the previous twelve months working on a cattle station in the outback, mustering 1500 head of cattle and acting as a governess to two secondary children, so looking after a toddler and a baby for two days a week and managing a little ironing in Sussex is proving well within her capabilities.
And though we have to put up with the odd Australianism - 'doona' for duvet, or 'chooks' for chickens (not to mention a bizarre penchant for Celine Dion) - it is a small price to pay. The household is slightly less hectic and more colourful for her presence, and Gertie and Gilby love her.
Everyone should have one!
This is I think, my longest break since I began this blogging lark. Now, in my defence, it was half term, and having only been back at work for just over a month, I wanted to spend lots of time with the little people. But a week is a long time in the blogosphere, I have discovered, and I have plenty of catching up to do.
It has been a bumpy ride, but things this end are looking up. 'Brenda' has arrived, our very own wonder from down under. In fact, she has now been here for a month and has made herself completely indispensable in that time. She is 19, an ex-student of mine from my teaching exchange to Australia in 2005, and extremely capable and hard working. She is staying with us as a kind of au pair.
Brenda spent the previous twelve months working on a cattle station in the outback, mustering 1500 head of cattle and acting as a governess to two secondary children, so looking after a toddler and a baby for two days a week and managing a little ironing in Sussex is proving well within her capabilities.
And though we have to put up with the odd Australianism - 'doona' for duvet, or 'chooks' for chickens (not to mention a bizarre penchant for Celine Dion) - it is a small price to pay. The household is slightly less hectic and more colourful for her presence, and Gertie and Gilby love her.
Everyone should have one!
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