Lessons Learned

There's definitely something about Mondays you know.  You'd assume the reason it's the most-hated day of the week is to do with it being the start of another working week, waking up to an alarm after two days of lazy lie ins, the rush hour traffic etc.  But if so, how can it be the case that those of us who aren't participants in the rat race, also experience utterly crappy Mondays too?

Monday was crappy.

Let us talk no more about it and move swiftly on to today.  Tuesday.  In which it feels like we did very little and yet i achieved lots.  First up, i discovered that the house must not be as much of a tip as i worry it is, as it's possible to get it looking pretty much ship-shape by neglecting my children for a few hours.  They watched Cbeebies and played made a mess with lego in Toby's room, while i zoomed around, doing all the stuff i never seem to get chance to when i'm working, like mopping upstairs.  There's something therapeutic about mopping, i've decided.  Most of the time in life i feel like i'm lost at sea, flailing my arms wildly, treading water and occasionally bobbing under and getting mouthfuls of nasty salt water but when i'm mopping, i feel calm and serene.  I have a purpose. All Is Well With The World.  Well, maybe not quite that far.  But at least the floors are clean ;)

The boys both wanted to help me with the housework, although i'm not at all certain Rudy grasps the purpose of a sweeping brush:

Later we had an indoor picnic:

It was an epic fail.  Mere seconds after i snapped that picture Toby declared he didn't like his sandwich and Rudy started clambering around on the blanket standing on everyone's food and stealing mouthfuls from everyone's drinks.  I persevered on both accounts for a short time before losing patience with it all, strapping Rudy into his highchair (whatever gave me the idea he'd sit still and eat without being forced i have no idea) and entering into toddler bargaining mode with Toby.  It's something i never thought i'd do, and that we do try to avoid on the whole, but recently the whole food thing is just bugging the crap out of me! He barely eats a thing, and there's so much waste.  I don't serve him vast swathes of food that would explain why he turns so much of it down.  He's just so damn picky at the minute and i worry he's going to get rickets or some such thing.  So we made a deal, whereby he had to eat some sandwich or else he wasn't getting a chocolate eyeball.  Yeah, you read correct.  Chocolate eyeball.

We had a house inspection, an odd affair that consisted of a guy i've never met coming round and snapping a few photos of each room (i'm guessing to compare the pics with the ones on our photographic inventory thingy?) Anyway that only took a few minutes but in the time he was here he managed to wake Rudy up 30 minutes in to his afternoon nap which was tremendous.  And he didn't even photograph the freshly mopped upstairs floors either *sigh*

Then we had a grocery delivery.  I love the first couple of hours after you've had your food shopping delivered- the fridge freezer is packed and the cupboards bursting and you can kid yourself it will last for days and days- weeks even! You're going to eat like kings.  And then you come to make dinner and don't have a clue what to have.  So you eat a snack (or two) while you're trying to decide...and then a couple more whilst actually making it...and suddenly the cupboards aren't as full as they were...

I started to unpack the fruit and veg.  It was all in one bag and had been helpfully labelled with stickers "LEEK", "PARSNIP" (just in case i wasn't sure what i was looking at maybe?!)

Toby said it was "Just like Mr Bloom's Nursery!" Although i'm not sure the following contraband appears in the show...

I'm in full-on grizzly bear hibernation mode at the minute.  To see me eat you'd certainly assume i was attempting to lay down fat stores to see me through a harsh winter anyway.  I just can't get enough junk.  There aren't enough hours in the day for me to consume the amount of treats i want to eat.  I got my comeuppance this morning though, sneakily pinching one of Toby's chocolate eyeballs and then almost choking to death on it.  It was discreet let me tell you.  Like taking candy from a baby- and then getting a swift kick in the ass from karma.  Stealing chocolate from your own children: Not Recommended.

Today Toby learned that bats sleep upside down (He has a new toy bat.  Not a new toy bat in the sense that he had an old toy bat that needed replacing.  Just a toy bat. Period.) He insisted it had to sleep "on it's tummy" but i corrected him.  He then suggested bats eat people.  I told him that i thought that actually they might eat fruit.  He served his bat a "pretend apple".  But both he and i seemed less convinced on that little fact.

Rudy learned that he likes TV.  Specifically Raa Raa The Lion:

He attempted to feed himself a yoghurt with a spoon for the first time:

And he also learned to climb on to the sofa. (I have a photo of that too but he's stark naked in it so not one for the public domain!)

And me? Well aside from learning the names of some fairly common vegetables (Thanks Sainsburys!), and that i'm not as slovenly as i think i am, i also learned that i am capable of being a "glass half full person" when i really try.  Case in point- this morning i tripped and spilled a cup of coffee everywhere.  I could have sighed and swore, and wondered "why me"but instead i thought "At least i haven't mopped the floor yet!"  See- i'm getting there! ;)