If there isn't then my son may well make the first entry today!
I thought tantrums were the trademark of the 'terrible twos' not once a child reached four. His capacity to scream seems to outlive his ability to remember why he started in the first place.
After an afternoon with grandad he was reluctant to leave as he wanted to see grandma. So when I picked him up at 5pm he started to scream. Protestations that grandma was at work, that she'd got the day off tomorrow to spend the whole day with him and that she wouldn't be back until after bedtime went on deaf ears as he continued to howl.
The usual tactic of tickles raised a few smiles but the howling didn't stop - though a couple of times it subsided into deep heaving sobs. Eventually he was lulled by the motion of the car to sleep. However we all know a child that falls asleep before dinner is likely to wake at 2am having had a full rest and demand breakfast. Upon waking the howling started again - even before he opened his eyes. My mum rang to check he was okay after dad's report of the tantrum upon leaving their house - he was still inconsolable, couldn't hear her on the phone over his own sobs. Traumatised my mum jumped in the car for the 20 minute drive to my house. He just about calmed down to deep sobs again when she arrived and finally settled to eat his dinner. A 2 hour long tantrum (plus a sleep in the middle) has to be a record - OH has repaired to the pub, mum has gone safely home, kiddo is still running around upstairs and I've just consumed the biggest bowl of ice cream. Let's hope he doesn't make a habit of it.
Showing posts with label mum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mum. Show all posts
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Four Birthday Parties and Five Cakes
For the few that follow me on Twitter you will be aware that I have been agonising over birthday parties for weeks. There is the added complication that my son decided to arrive 10 days late, on the day before MY birthday. Therefore we expect a lot of family involvement and toing and froing between grandparents. This year was different - my OH couldn't get out of work and when he mentioned 'helping' at the party to his mum she suddenly couldn't make the trip. Somehow we ended up with every conceivable type of party - four in all.
The first
Day of son's birthday - opened a few presents, took cake (number 1) to nursery so they had a little party. Picked him up at 11.30am (I thought to go straight out but it wasn't to be), went home because 'Auntie living in Australia' was on the phone, then spoke to Paternal Grandma, Great Auntie, Maternal Grandma, Paternal Grandad and then refused to speak to Maternal Grandad as he was too tired. Then we ended up in Toys'r'us because son refused to go to the cinema - he was then bribed with the largest Thomas toy he could find if he agreed to go to the cinema :-). We went to see Kung Fu Panda - luckily there were only 4 other people in the cinema so he wasn't too disruptive in his demands for sweets and trips to the toilet - he's quoted bits so I think he enjoyed it. Then a pizza and home to play with the expensive toy - does it surprise you that he was still awake at 10pm?
Minor catastrophe when discovered friend I was paying to do son's official party cake (number 2) couldn't finish it because her son was in hospital - so didn't cut the cake I'd made for the parties (yes 2!) the next day.
The Second
MY birthday - son was a bit put out and opened a few of my presents for me. Then he went to nursery whilst I had a short lie in and then flew around the house trying to toddler proof it for the 'yummy mummy' lunch. the phone didn't stop ringing and ended up with 9 mums and 13 children (from 8 weeks-4 years old) when I was only expecting 3 mums - I hadn't even met 2 of them before! As I opened the front door to the first car load the heavens opened so the plan to let the kids run round in the garden, quite literally, went out of the window. I ended up spending most of my time stopping the toddlers putting the educational fridge magnets in the kitchen bin, making endless cups of tea and cutting up healthy fruit. My OH had dashed out for an emergency sponge cake (cake number 3) and the friend who had been making one (a Lightning McQueen one no less) turned up with an apology and a chocolate Swiss roll. Thankfully her son is okay but he will have to have treatment for a few years so she got a hug rather than tears from me. I may have damaged my position in the yummy mummy group (or perhaps reinforced it) as when I was informed that the older children were upstairs eating toothpaste I replied 'at least their teeth will be clean'. My son has reliably informed me that it was HER daughter who started it. Needless to say I was dreading the mess but was pleasantly surprised when I finally ventured upstairs - despite toys being everywhere there were no disasters.
The Third
Had half an hour to clear away and relax before heading over to mums for MY birthday party. My Aunt and uncle, mum and dad and other aunt and her kids all had dinner together and it was a really nice evening. We were hanging around for my sister but she rang there at 8.30pm to say she'd not even left home - 190 miles away! It was nice and relaxed and mum spoilt me - even getting me a cake (number 4)!
The Fourth
The official party! At a big soft play centre, with food and a disco! I'd booked 10.30am (the 11.30am eating at 12.30pm slot had already gone). My sister hadn't arrived until 2am but she was up and came along to help - it wasn't needed (in fact mum, dad, my sister and her boyfriend sat on their comfy sofas and read the papers. In all there were 15 children and it cost me £130 - they had an hour on the equipment and then were marched around the place to go to the party room, the staff dished out the food and brought in the cake (yep number 5 - which should have been number 2) and then we went into the disco room where the staff led the games before (finally) they had another 15 minutes on the equipment before it was time to give out the party bags. They held onto the presents and even provided the party bags. (know we spent much more than that on our little party at home last year.
We then headed back to mums to open the presents and i left him there with Hannah to head off for my birthday surprise which was tadadadatadadaaa ... a night on a canal boat (floating hotel) in the centre of Sheffield. My OH had a hidden agenda as he really wants to have a canal boat holiday. I knew this so spent the whole time imagining our son careering around the boat rather than enjoying it for what it was. I also have a terrible cold and a hacking cough so every time I coughed I rocked the boat. I ended up having about 2 hours sleep and spending the rest of the time knitting in the living area. Ooh and pretending I didn't need the loo as that definitely wasn't a pleasant experience.
So another year older - and probably a stone heavier with all that cake! - and I think I'll book the soft play centre again next year, that's if 5 year olds are still into brightly coloured foam and slides ...
The first
Day of son's birthday - opened a few presents, took cake (number 1) to nursery so they had a little party. Picked him up at 11.30am (I thought to go straight out but it wasn't to be), went home because 'Auntie living in Australia' was on the phone, then spoke to Paternal Grandma, Great Auntie, Maternal Grandma, Paternal Grandad and then refused to speak to Maternal Grandad as he was too tired. Then we ended up in Toys'r'us because son refused to go to the cinema - he was then bribed with the largest Thomas toy he could find if he agreed to go to the cinema :-). We went to see Kung Fu Panda - luckily there were only 4 other people in the cinema so he wasn't too disruptive in his demands for sweets and trips to the toilet - he's quoted bits so I think he enjoyed it. Then a pizza and home to play with the expensive toy - does it surprise you that he was still awake at 10pm?
Minor catastrophe when discovered friend I was paying to do son's official party cake (number 2) couldn't finish it because her son was in hospital - so didn't cut the cake I'd made for the parties (yes 2!) the next day.
The Second
MY birthday - son was a bit put out and opened a few of my presents for me. Then he went to nursery whilst I had a short lie in and then flew around the house trying to toddler proof it for the 'yummy mummy' lunch. the phone didn't stop ringing and ended up with 9 mums and 13 children (from 8 weeks-4 years old) when I was only expecting 3 mums - I hadn't even met 2 of them before! As I opened the front door to the first car load the heavens opened so the plan to let the kids run round in the garden, quite literally, went out of the window. I ended up spending most of my time stopping the toddlers putting the educational fridge magnets in the kitchen bin, making endless cups of tea and cutting up healthy fruit. My OH had dashed out for an emergency sponge cake (cake number 3) and the friend who had been making one (a Lightning McQueen one no less) turned up with an apology and a chocolate Swiss roll. Thankfully her son is okay but he will have to have treatment for a few years so she got a hug rather than tears from me. I may have damaged my position in the yummy mummy group (or perhaps reinforced it) as when I was informed that the older children were upstairs eating toothpaste I replied 'at least their teeth will be clean'. My son has reliably informed me that it was HER daughter who started it. Needless to say I was dreading the mess but was pleasantly surprised when I finally ventured upstairs - despite toys being everywhere there were no disasters.
The Third
Had half an hour to clear away and relax before heading over to mums for MY birthday party. My Aunt and uncle, mum and dad and other aunt and her kids all had dinner together and it was a really nice evening. We were hanging around for my sister but she rang there at 8.30pm to say she'd not even left home - 190 miles away! It was nice and relaxed and mum spoilt me - even getting me a cake (number 4)!
The Fourth
The official party! At a big soft play centre, with food and a disco! I'd booked 10.30am (the 11.30am eating at 12.30pm slot had already gone). My sister hadn't arrived until 2am but she was up and came along to help - it wasn't needed (in fact mum, dad, my sister and her boyfriend sat on their comfy sofas and read the papers. In all there were 15 children and it cost me £130 - they had an hour on the equipment and then were marched around the place to go to the party room, the staff dished out the food and brought in the cake (yep number 5 - which should have been number 2) and then we went into the disco room where the staff led the games before (finally) they had another 15 minutes on the equipment before it was time to give out the party bags. They held onto the presents and even provided the party bags. (know we spent much more than that on our little party at home last year.
We then headed back to mums to open the presents and i left him there with Hannah to head off for my birthday surprise which was tadadadatadadaaa ... a night on a canal boat (floating hotel) in the centre of Sheffield. My OH had a hidden agenda as he really wants to have a canal boat holiday. I knew this so spent the whole time imagining our son careering around the boat rather than enjoying it for what it was. I also have a terrible cold and a hacking cough so every time I coughed I rocked the boat. I ended up having about 2 hours sleep and spending the rest of the time knitting in the living area. Ooh and pretending I didn't need the loo as that definitely wasn't a pleasant experience.
So another year older - and probably a stone heavier with all that cake! - and I think I'll book the soft play centre again next year, that's if 5 year olds are still into brightly coloured foam and slides ...
Saturday, 26 January 2008
Time to Chill
This week I finally cashed in my Mother's Day voucher and spent a day at a health spa with my lovely mum.
It was bliss. We were well and truly pampered - pedicure, massage, 3 course lunch and time to unwind in sauna and steam rooms.
But, true to form, nothing is ever perfect. Mainly the lockers - rather than the coin and key version we are all familiar with in gyms and swimming pools we were given a card with our locker number on and instructions on how to programme them. We had to press several buttons and add our own 4 digit 'personal number' into the mix. I loaded my locker and tried to put in the code, it didn't lock so I tried again, it beeped but didn't lock so I checked the card, tried again and then it emitted a loud, high pitched tone which reminded me of the bit in films before the bomb goes off. After appealing to the assistant for help she declared she'd not seen that before and I'd have to get another locker (which she locked for me).
The blissful day was punctuated with trips to our lockers - to fetch a towel, a book, to check the mobile or to change into a swimsuit - and we usually needed assistance to either unlock or lock the lockers (sometimes both) and we weren't the only ones. You couldn't even give up and leave it unlocked as they automatically locked if it was left closed and unlocked for any length of time and you needed to get an assistant to unlock it again for you. What is wrong with the old key method?
I couldn't quite get my head around wandering round in my dressing gown in front of complete strangers. The first one I was given was a Small when I am most definitely XLarge - in the end I was given an XXXXL which must have been specially made for Geoff Capes to visit and I had to roll it up at the sleeves. After lunch we wandered into a conservatory area to have our coffee and it was littered with sleeping bodies in white gowns, which reminded me of depictions of the aftermath of Roman orgies, well didn't they invent the spa?
I had imagined having a day spent without the worries of everyday life, a little 'me time', where I could be myself rather than someones mum. To an extent that was true but as the place was full of women all of the conversations seemed to revolve around childbirth stories, potty training, tantrums and the naughty step - I could have been at a toddler group really!
A few days later and I have lost the chilled out feeling I gained at the spa, I'm back to the tension headaches and the feeling of being at the end of my tether BUT I do have beautifully painted toenails and a hole in my bank account to remember the day by.
It was bliss. We were well and truly pampered - pedicure, massage, 3 course lunch and time to unwind in sauna and steam rooms.
But, true to form, nothing is ever perfect. Mainly the lockers - rather than the coin and key version we are all familiar with in gyms and swimming pools we were given a card with our locker number on and instructions on how to programme them. We had to press several buttons and add our own 4 digit 'personal number' into the mix. I loaded my locker and tried to put in the code, it didn't lock so I tried again, it beeped but didn't lock so I checked the card, tried again and then it emitted a loud, high pitched tone which reminded me of the bit in films before the bomb goes off. After appealing to the assistant for help she declared she'd not seen that before and I'd have to get another locker (which she locked for me).
The blissful day was punctuated with trips to our lockers - to fetch a towel, a book, to check the mobile or to change into a swimsuit - and we usually needed assistance to either unlock or lock the lockers (sometimes both) and we weren't the only ones. You couldn't even give up and leave it unlocked as they automatically locked if it was left closed and unlocked for any length of time and you needed to get an assistant to unlock it again for you. What is wrong with the old key method?
I couldn't quite get my head around wandering round in my dressing gown in front of complete strangers. The first one I was given was a Small when I am most definitely XLarge - in the end I was given an XXXXL which must have been specially made for Geoff Capes to visit and I had to roll it up at the sleeves. After lunch we wandered into a conservatory area to have our coffee and it was littered with sleeping bodies in white gowns, which reminded me of depictions of the aftermath of Roman orgies, well didn't they invent the spa?
I had imagined having a day spent without the worries of everyday life, a little 'me time', where I could be myself rather than someones mum. To an extent that was true but as the place was full of women all of the conversations seemed to revolve around childbirth stories, potty training, tantrums and the naughty step - I could have been at a toddler group really!
A few days later and I have lost the chilled out feeling I gained at the spa, I'm back to the tension headaches and the feeling of being at the end of my tether BUT I do have beautifully painted toenails and a hole in my bank account to remember the day by.
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