Samhain reflections..
Generally i love it when the kids're off school, we can spend more time together and most of the flashpoints aren't in use then, you know, like getting up, washed, ready for school, kitbags, homework etc. We still get up pretty early BUT the good thing is that we don't need to be anywhere ar organised for anything (organised is NOT my middle name!) so theoretically life should run more smoothly, but no. We still find things to stress over, just different ones. R and i have gone to bed early a couple of nights (Yippee!) as i've been having a really bad week and have been practically immobile for two days. So, there we were all nicely tucked up in bed watching Pocahontas when along came..... Nell! This might not seem like much of a problem, she is a wonderful daughter who i love dearly, BUT, add Nell to a tired R and what do you get? Bedlam!! Within minutes of her arrival they were trying on fairy costumes, tutus, and heaven knows what else, all thoughts of quiet snuggles with mam forgotten. I don't know if it's some kind of chemical reaction but add Nell to almost any equation and the result is chaos! They were bouncing and squealing and laughing, in one way it was lovely, they were having loads of fun but me being in a lot of pain wasn't helped by the general mayhem and i had to ask them (whilst trying not to do so through gritted teeth!) to stop the bouncing before my spine completely gave out. I do hate having a bad back, almost as much as i'm sure that my kids hate me having a bad back! It has caused us many problems over the last four years, they've shown so much patience every time we've been unable to do something because of it.
I digress, Nell n Rowanne have a complicated relationship. They're sisters, they love each other but the age gap is a bit of a problem at the moment. Nell is 14, thankfully for me she's quite a young 14, well actually no, she's a normal 14 which means that she's not trying to be 21 and wishing her life away. I'm so grateful for that fact, i see too many girls acting like they're so grown up when they're neither physically or mentally ready for adulthood. Nell is my very own dolly dimple, we used to joke that she should've been blonde! She does in fact do a good impression of a ditzy blonde even though she is so far removed from it in reality. Sometimes she has lots of patience with R, doing lovely things for her without any prompting or suggestion, others they can't be in the same room without fur flying. Today R had a dilema 'cos her giant sized teddy had a hole and the stuffing was falling out (well, those awful little polystyrene balls that fill beanbags) so she went and got my sewing tin and stitched ted up for her, no problem. Conversely R will ask her to do a simple thing, a drink of juice or help with something on the computer and if N had her way hell would freeze over first. Complicated or what? In fairness to Nell, R doesn't think that she's any younger than N, she thinks that if N can do something then it's her right to do it as well. Right now they're playing together, it's hilarious. Nell has told R that giant ted is her boyfriend, of course Rowanne has declared that he can't possibly be her fella 'cos he's clearly HER boyfriend. R has jumped onto the couch pulling ted on top of her so Nell has jumped on top of ted, pretending that she can't hear R's cries for help. It's lovely to see them playing together but it'll end in tears. And, as if by magic, it has!
(later) So Rowanne turned the tables on Nell who was by then lay under ted with R jumping on top, however, she misjudged the jump and landed on Nells head. Not good. Nearly a disaster of titanic proportions. Fortunately i was able to persuade her that R had just been giddy and had not hurt her intentionally. Thankfully, she listened. I think the fact that the others agreed that it'd been an accident helped. As well as my kids there are 3 of Jays friends in the kitchen being all male teenager-ish, Of course they had to preen their peacock feathers around Nell and Hannah. So predictable. They were huddled in the kitchen 'cos R's having a sleepover tonight, she has Molly n Sophie here. It'll character building i reckon. Her room is quite small and three girls, plus the mountains of 'stuff' that they need, will probably mean a massive camp out in mams bedroom. Ho hum, looking forward to that then!
Tomorrow is Samhain (All Hallows Eve or Pagan New Year) as well as haalloween so R has blagged her brother Lee to take her out trick or treating then we'll be off over to Jeans house as we've all been invited to a party at another of our friends house, Mel. She has two little lads aged 3 and 6, i'm glad that everyone will have a good time but i will miss Brandon so much. I miss not having him here for family celebrations. His dad has the same beliefs as me so it's not that he wont get to celebrate. Everyone does halloween anyway. I'm jst wishing that i could have him here with me. Even with a house full of kids it doesn't make the place seem any less like there's something missing. A mothers bond to her kids never fades, it just learns to stretch further as they get older and go out into the big wide world. Kayleigh is 22 and married, living only 5 doors away, that doesn't change my concern for her, they're just different. Lee lived so far away from me for 5yrs but that didn't mean that missing him lessened in any way. Our kids're joined to us with an unbreakable bond, always and forever in our hearts.
I wasn't intending to get all deep and meaningful today, it just turned out that way. Nell is now organising a 'rave' in my kitchen for the younger kids 'cos Jay n his mates have gone out. I'm thinking earplugs might be a good choice at this point! They'll have a good time so i'll worry about my hearing tomorrow!Hope everyone has fun tomorrow evening, whereever and whatever they do.....
I digress, Nell n Rowanne have a complicated relationship. They're sisters, they love each other but the age gap is a bit of a problem at the moment. Nell is 14, thankfully for me she's quite a young 14, well actually no, she's a normal 14 which means that she's not trying to be 21 and wishing her life away. I'm so grateful for that fact, i see too many girls acting like they're so grown up when they're neither physically or mentally ready for adulthood. Nell is my very own dolly dimple, we used to joke that she should've been blonde! She does in fact do a good impression of a ditzy blonde even though she is so far removed from it in reality. Sometimes she has lots of patience with R, doing lovely things for her without any prompting or suggestion, others they can't be in the same room without fur flying. Today R had a dilema 'cos her giant sized teddy had a hole and the stuffing was falling out (well, those awful little polystyrene balls that fill beanbags) so she went and got my sewing tin and stitched ted up for her, no problem. Conversely R will ask her to do a simple thing, a drink of juice or help with something on the computer and if N had her way hell would freeze over first. Complicated or what? In fairness to Nell, R doesn't think that she's any younger than N, she thinks that if N can do something then it's her right to do it as well. Right now they're playing together, it's hilarious. Nell has told R that giant ted is her boyfriend, of course Rowanne has declared that he can't possibly be her fella 'cos he's clearly HER boyfriend. R has jumped onto the couch pulling ted on top of her so Nell has jumped on top of ted, pretending that she can't hear R's cries for help. It's lovely to see them playing together but it'll end in tears. And, as if by magic, it has!
(later) So Rowanne turned the tables on Nell who was by then lay under ted with R jumping on top, however, she misjudged the jump and landed on Nells head. Not good. Nearly a disaster of titanic proportions. Fortunately i was able to persuade her that R had just been giddy and had not hurt her intentionally. Thankfully, she listened. I think the fact that the others agreed that it'd been an accident helped. As well as my kids there are 3 of Jays friends in the kitchen being all male teenager-ish, Of course they had to preen their peacock feathers around Nell and Hannah. So predictable. They were huddled in the kitchen 'cos R's having a sleepover tonight, she has Molly n Sophie here. It'll character building i reckon. Her room is quite small and three girls, plus the mountains of 'stuff' that they need, will probably mean a massive camp out in mams bedroom. Ho hum, looking forward to that then!
Tomorrow is Samhain (All Hallows Eve or Pagan New Year) as well as haalloween so R has blagged her brother Lee to take her out trick or treating then we'll be off over to Jeans house as we've all been invited to a party at another of our friends house, Mel. She has two little lads aged 3 and 6, i'm glad that everyone will have a good time but i will miss Brandon so much. I miss not having him here for family celebrations. His dad has the same beliefs as me so it's not that he wont get to celebrate. Everyone does halloween anyway. I'm jst wishing that i could have him here with me. Even with a house full of kids it doesn't make the place seem any less like there's something missing. A mothers bond to her kids never fades, it just learns to stretch further as they get older and go out into the big wide world. Kayleigh is 22 and married, living only 5 doors away, that doesn't change my concern for her, they're just different. Lee lived so far away from me for 5yrs but that didn't mean that missing him lessened in any way. Our kids're joined to us with an unbreakable bond, always and forever in our hearts.
I wasn't intending to get all deep and meaningful today, it just turned out that way. Nell is now organising a 'rave' in my kitchen for the younger kids 'cos Jay n his mates have gone out. I'm thinking earplugs might be a good choice at this point! They'll have a good time so i'll worry about my hearing tomorrow!Hope everyone has fun tomorrow evening, whereever and whatever they do.....
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