I think that I need to give up any notion of structure or planning for the duration of the holidays. It is just an invitation to be disappointed.
Last night Tilly went off for another sleep over with her best friend from school. She is doing this for at least two nights a week at the moment. It is good. She enjoys it. They love having her and it means only two children to corral and prod and whinge at for me. Bonus.
Oscar has nursery on Thursday mornings, which because it is private and we pay, still continues throughout the holidays, which was even better because it meant that another Thursday morning rolled around where it was just me and Tallulah. We discussed our aims in a civilised manner. She wanted to mooch round the house in her pyjamas and watch Hannah Montana. Then she wanted to do some sewing and then do some drawing. I approved. Apart from the sewing she doesn’t expect me to join in.
My plans were to finish reading the Stieg Larsson book and bomb through a book that Amazon Vine have sent me, all while sitting in the bath with a cup of coffee.
We were both very pleased with ourselves.
Oscar was happy to go to nursery and all was well with the world.
We had been back at home for an hour when the phone rang. It was nursery. They thought he might have a water infection. He had been piddling a lot all morning and it was making him cry. Because water infections are not infectious to other small individuals they were fine to keep him there, but how can I lounge about reading books and being decadent when my boy is crying and in pain? I called the doctors and booked an appointment, got Tallulah to get dressed and we flooded out to get him.
By the time we got to nursery he was looking pale but calm. We went home for half an hour in between that and the doctor’s appointment. Tallulah solemnly chewed breakfast and Oscar gained momentum and enthusiasm for life as every minute ticked by. By the time we had done the twenty minute walk to the doctors he was positively glowing with health and vitality.
Half an hour waiting in the doctors playing buses under a cheese plant, including various trips to the toilet where he piddled with aplomb and nary a squeak confirmed my opinion that we were utterly wasting our time. Still, it’s not often you get a doctor’s appointment on the day you want one and it would have been a shame to waste it.
The doctor agreed that he was hale and hearty and full of vim and vigour. He gave me drugs just in case the situation declined to the point where we needed the bed pan of death and we all boinged off to the chemist to fill the prescription.
The only thing that cheered me up about the whole affair was when Tallulah, who is practising her very advanced reading skills, practised on a leaflet about regenerating your love life by dealing with erectile dysfunction, at the top of her voice. There was only me and one other woman in the whole chemist and we were both laughing so much we had tears streaming down our faces. Excellent.
By the time we had enacted our medical emergency it was lunch time. I took them for lunch at the Co-op cafe, and as we chewed the black clouds started massing over Glenfield. On the way home it hailed and thundered all over us before the heavens opened.
What a top morning.
This afternoon the insurance claims assessor came round. All the render is falling off of our house. The new buildings insurance which we are required to have will not cover it because the company is being dodgy and has done something cretinous regarding our insurance which means we are involved with the FSA, the insurance ombudsman, an IFA and the kind man who built our house and who is helping us, despite the fact he sold us the house two years ago and doesn’t need to. He feels guilty that it is his fault the render is falling off. To be fair, it is his fault the render is falling off. The mixture is too sandy, and it wasn’t keyed to the bricks properly. He is doing everything in his power to help us though, which sort of makes me feel better.
We had thought the regular house insurance would cover it. The man from the insurance company he say ‘no way’, albeit in a very nice way. It looks like it’s going to cost us big time. Our best estimate so far is two weeks, unbelievable amounts of mess and four grand. Four grand we just don’t have. Plus it has to be done in the dry weather or it will all come off again. I cannot remember the last dry day we had here. What joy.
As for the children, I have now given up entirely. They are running round naked, smeared in chocolate and with square eyes from watching so much television and have incurred more strains from doing ridiculous death defying acrobatics on the trampoline. They are happy. I don’t care any more. I have finished my Larsson book. Twenty pages have taken all day.
It’s about now I should be reaching for the gin, but I expect it would only make me cry.
Sorry Katy, I have been reading but am brain dead from too much work so not up to commenting recently. What’s wrong with naked, chocolate smeared and happy? Just remember to retrain them a few days before school starts. And look forward to when they become teenagers and you become surplus to requirements (unless they need a lift/use of your credit card). Mine turn into little vampires in the holidays, they become nocturnal and only venture out in daylight if I will be buying them stuff. It’s great. Keep up the cookery lessons too – mine can cook basic meals so they can feed themselves too. Maybe you should start them on the highway code now; it will save them time and trouble when they are 17.
Still laughing at Tallulah’s reading prowess! One of mine left the local Health Centre happily chewing on a VD leaflet when he was about 15 months old. Some kind soul pointed this out to me 20 minutes later as we were doing the grocery shopping. Nice!!!
Oscar’s Dr’s visit – typical. And naked and chocolate covered is way better than clothed and chocolate covered.
Insurance and liability decisions are fraught. If it all goes pear-shaped maybe your mortgage provider will lend you an extra five grand to cover the costs on the grounds that the property will be at risk of damage from damp if the render isn’t replaced. Might be worth a try…
I’m waiting for the third of the Stieg Larsson books to put in an appearance Downunder. My BB tells me that a 4th is in the pipeline written by Larsson’s partner who apparently collaborated with him on the first three books. I have my fingers crossed.
Alienne
It’s true. It’s not so bad naked and happy. I am in a glass half full mode at the moment I think.
Sharon
Excellent leaflet story! Tilly went through a phase of eating leaflets when she was about the same age. Probably not enough roughage in the diet.
Good news about the fourth book. Fingers crossed indeed.
I am glad Oscar does not have problems with his water but I am sorry your plans went awry. I would kill for a day reading in the bath with only 1 reasonably self-sufficient child to care for. I can imagine it must have been a crushing blow.
That is arses about the render.
x
Ali
Arses about sums it up unfortunately.