Enforced Stopping

It's been a while...

We've been really fortunate with the absence of illness recently.  I'm hoping it's a benefit of having had every known bug known to man in the first few years of my parenthood.  Maybe, now we're not so sleep deprived, we don't have to incubate every illness we come across.  That's an encouraging thought.

It couldn't last forever though.  The night before last, I awoke to a vague whimpering sound.  As I came to - it was apparent that Nathan had also recently woken up.  Poor chap had woken up lying in his own vomit.  His main concern was being so cold.

So - saving you any more unpleasant details - the rest of the night was no fun.  Suffice to say - little sleep was had, and much laundry was created.

Nathan's school has a policy that following this sort of bug, you can't go back until you've been vomit free for 48 hours.  All fair enough.  Yesterday Nathan was not too bad, but today he's pretty much back to normal.  He's downstairs playing with some toys as I type.

And actually I'm grateful.  Here I am - having to be at home - doing enforced stopping.  (I'm also grateful that my children are now old enough to at least attempt aiming their vomit into an appropriate receptacle - although I did promise no more unpleasant details...)

Don't get me wrong, I've spent a lot of time doing housework, and other jobs.  However, I've also been building marble runs, playing dominoes, driving cars, being read stories (Nathan very rarely lets anyone read to him at the moment, but he does like an audience for his reading...) and sitting with him on the sofa.  Nathan is a very companionable chap.

So I'm not rushing off to do x, y and z today.  I'm off to chill out with the boy xx

Christmas Message

To all our friends and family both near and far

A bit of Christmas joy:

We wish you all a blessed Christmas, and a very Happy New Year

Gill, Paul, Joel and Nathan xxxx



Broadening your Education

On the way to school each morning we tend to listen to Radio 2.  One of the reasons for this is that it coincides with when Chris Evans plays his 'Super 70s Smasher'; a tune (unsurprisingly) from the 1970s.  This morning it was the Rolling Stones.  A crucial part of this feature - at least as far as my kids are concerned - is the competitive element: you have to try and name the year when the song was released.  Every day we guess - after all, these songs came out before I was born, let alone the boys - and we've been keeping a tally for weeks now of how many each of us have got right.  Joel is thrilled that he has been right more times than I have...  It's always a trauma if Chris forgets to tell us the year though; I have to go home and ask Mr Google...

It got me thinking again about how important it is to teach your children things they may well never learn about in school.  I've mentioned before how Jimi Hendrix has saved our school run.  I'm disproportionately proud when Joel can name the band he's listening to...  I mean - I know it's not going to save any lives or anything - but it pleases me that he can recognise Stevie Wonder or the Jackson Five.

I'm thinking about making the boys an album of seminal tracks.  Music that all kids everywhere should grow up with as part of their DNA.  But where to begin...  I know I could make an epically long play list - but I don't want to do that.  If you were making a CD, and had maybe 15 tracks as your limit - what would you put on it?  What song is so important that you would put it on there?

Thinking back to my own childhood music recipe; I mostly remember Eric Clapton, Abba, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles and Carole King. My Dad used to pilfer guitar riffs from all over the place though when he led worship at our church. It was only relatively recently that I discovered the opening chord sequence he used for a song called 'Rejoice, Rejoice' was actually from 'Substitute'by The Who...   I suppose it was one way of broadening our musical education!

So what would be on your list?  The Beatles?  The Rolling Stones?  U2?  Mozart??? 

I may be some time...

The Questions people ask...

When you enter the 'both children at school' phase of life, people ask you some marvellous questions... 

"What do you do all day?" (Probably the most common - I'm not going to rant - but it's safe to say; I'm not just sat on my rear watching Daytime TV...)

"When are you going back to work?"  Because combining shift work with the school run is just so much fun...

But my personal favourite:

"Are you going to have another baby?"

Seriously?

I have to get over my initial urge to just laugh maniacally.  No, I'm not.  If I was going to do that - I would have done it already; not waited until I had a bit of spare time - and then filled it with morning sickness, more stretch marks and additional sleep deprivation... 

Any of you who have ever read my blog know that I love my children a lot; after all - I talk about them enough.  They are marvellous, brilliant, funny, bright, insightful, *insert additional superlatives here* But I still don't want another one.

One of my good friends is pregnant at the moment with her second baby, and she's really struggling with her pelvis.  I had some pelvic problems; particularly in my second pregnancy; so empathy is not a problem.  Watching her struggle to move around, I can almost feel that pain again.  I know that, even amidst her pain, she is not regretting being pregnant.  I'm glad that I'm a bit more available to help; having kids at school does release you a bit to do other things - even if that is to help others with their babies...

So, dear reader - I am quitting whilst I'm ahead.
And if I ever feel the need to cuddle a baby - I'm sure I'll be able to find one...

Harvest Festivals - the Trilogy

This morning I went to my third and final Harvest Festival of the year.  Once your children get to school, you don't do these things once - oh no...  once is for wimps!

The first of these was Joel's.  Years one and two in school trek off to the local parish church; sing some songs, and listen to a chat from the vicar there.  All good fun.  I particularly enjoyed not having a squirming toddler on my knee.  In years gone by, I have been the parent chasing a wiggly and noisy toddler about whilst everyone else is trying to hear their pride and joy say their one line in the school production.  It was nice to not have to think about taking enough toys / snacks / nappies to get through thirty minutes, plus the always-longer-than-you-think waiting for something to actually happen time.  I also particularly enjoyed the kids singing 'Cauliflowers fluffy'; with additional dance moves.  Marvellous.

The second Harvest Festival was actually a harvest / thanksgiving / 1st birthday service at our church (how's that for multi-tasking?!)  Our congregation have been meeting in the local primary school for a year now.  It was a good chance to celebrate all that has happened over the last year; and to thank God for all He has given us individually and corporately.  We did this through the medium of huge ice-cream Sundaes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, singing, bacon sandwiches and prayers of thanks chalked on the playground. We have learnt a lot over the past year, and look forward to what God has for us in the years to come.  I'm sure God would have us dream big dreams for our future together; after all, as Bill Hybels would say: "The local church is the hope of the world". 

My third and final part of my Harvest Festival trilogy was this morning.  The Nursery and Reception age children aren't traipsed down to the church - they do their celebrating in the school Hall.  They all came in wearing headbands with certain vegetable pictures attached; Nathan was a cabbage...  They told us the story of Oliver's Vegetables; where a small boy searches his Grandad's vegetable patch in the hope of finding some potatoes to make some chips; in the process, he finds lots of other vegetables, which of course turn out to be very tasty...  My favourite part of the proceedings had to be the rousing rendition of 'Big Red Combine-Harvester'.  They were brilliant.

So what have I learnt from my Harvest Trilogy?  Well, I've certainly learnt that it's hard to pick songs that are perky tunes, fun for the kids and that actually thank God for the amazing things he gives us.  What's your favourite harvest song?  My personal favourite is probably 'Blackberries in the Hedges', but no-one around here seems to know that one...

Also, and I know this makes me sound old, but there is always something to be thankful for.  I think whether it's the joy on a child's face as he sings, the fact that you don't have to worry about wiggly toddlers, or something bigger like the sun and the rain that help things grow.  God has given us so many things, and I think it does our perspective and mental health endless good to be grateful.  Life might not always be easy (I know, no surprises there) and I'm not advocating pretending life is all shiny when it isn't; however, I know I'm more likely to be content if I focus on the multiple blessings from my heavenly Father than on the things that bug me, or that I don't have.

Today, try to cultivate (ooh, appropriate gardening term alert... pleasing!) an Attitude of Gratitude.  What are you thankful for?

School days

So it finally happened...

I remember, back in the haze of exhaustion of looking after a toddler and a baby, I foolishly calculated how long it would be before my boys were both at school.  It was a long time away; I must have been crazy to even think about it at the time.  I think sleep deprivation makes you go a bit bonkers.  Don't get me wrong, I love both my kids very much; but during the relentlessness that is parenthood with tiny ones, I briefly looked forward to the halcyon day when someone else would be responsible for them - if only for a portion of the time...

We're now over half way through Nathan's second week at school.  How did that happen?  The baby mentioned above is now a truly handsome four year old.  Astounding.

He's enjoying school.  I know it helps that he's been going to the school each day with Joel for longer than he can remember - in fact when Joel was in Reception, Nathan used to cry each morning because he wasn't allowed in!  Nathan also did his Pre-school year at the School's Nursery; so he's feeling pretty at home.  He knows about half of his class already; so I guess it's just like he moved room for him really.

It's going to take a while to build up the stamina for school though.  They're all a bit tired out by doing five full days.  According to their super-TA, one of them fell asleep yesterday afternoon during their story time.  Ah well, I can think of afternoons when I would happily do the same.

So, to my lovely friends still battling the baby / toddler phase.  It really does go faster than you think.  Enjoy your little ones.  Nathan's still little really; in comparison to Joel (he's 6 going on 36) - who's coming home full of details of the scientific experiments they've been doing, and asking me ever more difficult questions such as "why can't you see gravity?"...

Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think...

Anniversaries

Last month Paul and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary.  I know - doesn't time fly...  We celebrated the day with a number of friends and family.  Here we are cutting a cake that I made:

This cake is a copy of the middle tier of our chocolate wedding cake, although the flowers are a slightly less demure colour than they were on the original... 

It's amazing to think that we've been married for a decade.  Apart from the fact that we obviously don't look old enough (well - in our heads anyway... ) it just seems like a decade would feel longer somehow.

Not that we've been idle in the last ten years.  Anything but...  In the decade we have got married, bought our first house, finished my degree, got my first proper job, got pregnant (twice!), given birth (twice!!), bought a bigger house (necessitated by previous activities in list...), given up job...  and that's just the big things.  I think it's the little things that really pass the time.  Somewhere between your first child's first tooth appearing, and it falling out you've passed through five years - but been too busy to notice really.

Still, surely the next decade can't be so eventful...  But who knows?  In my head though - I have entitled the next decade "carry on!"  By that I mean that it probably won't be filled with so many new things (or children!), but it will be carrying on with the ones I have...

Another anniversary crept by without me even noticing.  My one year blogging anniversary passed me by at the start of this month - probably as I've been a bit tardy on the old blogging front recently...  I'm grateful to all of you who have read and commented on my blog over the past year (after all - nobody likes the thought they that are just wittering on to themselves!...)  I was wondering if you had a favourite post over the last year?  Or maybe a type of post you'd like me to write more of...  more Ikea-related poetry perhaps...  I hope the blog will continue to be of interest, maybe funny at times, encouraging etc... 

Anyway...

Carry on!

Cupcakes

I know I am not the most gifted cake baker in the world.  I have friends who are far better at it than I am; especially the part that involves making them look pretty.  I guess that's the bit where it moves from cookery (where I'm not bad) to art (where I'm a bit ropey to be honest...). 

Still, there's something really great about baking things with and for your kids.  It's Nathan's 4th birthday tomorrow (I know, where does the time go? My baby starts school in September... A post for another day...). He asked if we could take some cakes into nursery, and we did it today - as he won't be there tomorrow.

So here they are:



I know they could be neater, more glamorous and generally more artistic, but I think they're great.  Behold the glorious Rainbow Buttons, marvel at the little marshmallows, but above all - salute the Dolly Mixtures.  King of sweets.  Glorious variety in one little bag.  Marvellous.

You could understandably look at these and see blobs of cholesterol... 

But I see time spent with my kids, where we weighed stuff out (their favourite bit of the process...); where they cracked eggs without me freaking out about the shells going in (this has been a learning curve for me - I did fish a couple of little bits out...); Lots of stirring - without me having to hassle them to keep it in the bowl (a minor miracle! Tip - use a BIG bowl...), Blobbing of cake mixture (into the cases - I know, another miracle...), and counting down the minutes till the cakes were ready.  Not to mention, decorating the cakes without eating all the sweets at the same time. 

Miracles really do happen every day.

Meet the veggies!

Since my last blog and strawberry related discussion, I can report that our new strawberry plants in the garden are doing well, and actually now have something resembling strawberries on them.  Nathan is, of course, very suspicious of them - as they are tiny and not even red.  Ah well, at least I know he won't try and pick them before they're ready.

In other garden related news (I know, scintilating stuff this gardening!), the great tits in the bird box definitely have some babies.  You can hear them tweeting away (yes, real tweeting - not social networking...) just by standing in the garden.  I'm hoping to catch sight of them at some point...

And finally for this little blog post, something (also garden related - I know - it's seemless isn't it?!) to hopefully make you smile.  Any of you who have to spend a certain amount of time each day with CBeebies will hopefully recognise this...

Toxic Strawberries

Before getting down to the point of this blog...  Does anyone think 'The Toxic Strawberries' would be a good band name?  I just wrote it down, and immediately thought it sounded like a rock band.  Ah well, I digress, and before I've even started...  Could be an ominous sign...

Anyway, carry on!...

Yesterday, Nathan and I bought some new strawberry plants, along with a few others, and planted them out in our garden.  We've been attempting to grow our own fruit and vegetables with limited success over the last few years.  Last year we managed lots of potatoes, a heap of green (should have been red) tomatoes which ended up as chutney, a few dodgy looking carrots and parsnips, and three baby corn-on-the-cob...  We did also grow some impressive looking courgette plants, without courgettes on... Oh well, never mind.

My motivation for trying again, was Nathan's appalled reaction to the shop bought strawberries we had recently.  Although Nathan happily eats other strawberry (OK...  jam) based products, he obviously hadn't eaten an actual strawberry for a while; and thus had decided that they were not just unpleasant, but down right dangerous.

Of course, the fact that the rest of the family were happily tucking into the strawberries didn't seem to help.  You would have thought I was trying to make him eat a raw oyster, or some sort of creepy-crawly from a bush-tucker trial.  The strawberries were, in fact, toxic - and no amount of cajoling was going to convince him otherwise.

In the end, I did what a lot of parents do.  I told him he couldn't get down until he'd eaten the strawberry; and in the end he did eat it.  I think, despite all the angst, he did actually like it in the end. 

Thinking back on Strawberry-gate; I am thankful that we have incidents like that relatively rarely now.  Nathan had a very difficult food phase (by phase, I mean year...) after being ill for a month with a bug, and then an ear infection when he was 18 months old...  He hardly ate any normal food for a month, and afterwards, he seemed to have forgotten how.  Out of nowhere, almost all foods had moved from the 'OK' category in his head to the 'probably toxic - avoid at all costs' area.  We spent the next year slowly re-introducing foods, until he was finally eating something resembling a normal diet.  It was a very difficult and stressful time, and I'm so thankful that we are basically over that now.

And so, we will grow our own strawberries.  Water them.  Talk to them.  Give them straw beds to sleep on, etc. etc.  And hope that by the time they are ready to eat, a certain person will have decided they are not toxic after-all...

In the mean time, I might buy some more from the supermarket.  Let the desensitization commence!

Always look on the bright side of life?

This morning, my children got up - and having had a brief cuddle in bed with us - went downstairs to find something more interesting to do.  Halfway down the stairs, they paused, and looked out of the window.  This is the interchange I heard...:

Nathan: "Look Joel, it's a lovely day."
Joel: "But there's grey clouds, and it's been raining."
Nathan: "Look, it's a lovely day; it's not snowing!"
Joel: "Ahh. It doesn't look lovely to me; but you're right - it's not snowing..."

I love it when you get to overhear a bit of what goes on in your children's heads.  Especially when they don't know you're listening...

As I lay in bed, I mused about their differing perspectives on the same view. 

Nathan does seem to be a die-hard optimist.  I guess this is partially just down to being three, but not entirely.  His outlook on life does tend to be sunny.  He has a gift of being able to see the positive in things, as evidenced by the above conversation.  He's also very encouraging; last week at church, I was playing the guitar and leading the worship; we sang one of Nathan's favourite songs.  In the brief pause at the end, Nathan exclaimed (at classic 3 year-old volume - ie loud): "That was great Mummy, Well done!"

There's something great about receiving encouragement from someone too young to have learnt how to be economical with the truth... You know it must be genuine.

I think Nathan has probably got his positive and optimistic outlook on life from me.  All that celebrating small victories has rubbed off on him I guess.  I know I've said this many times before, but when you're parenting small children, you never know when the next big victory is going to come - it might be ages; so celebrating the little ones is vital for the mental health I think... "You put your socks on yourself!...HIGH FIVE!"

Joel is very much a realist.  He lives in the real world at all times; and at five - going on thirty-five - you can already trust his assessment of a situation to be reliable.  Joel lives in a very black and white world, and not just because he's colour blind...  He doesn't like uncertainty, or maybe, or possibly, or in a bit... He likes empirical, yes/no, and today we'll be leaving at 16:38  which means we'll be staying here for another 98 minutes.

This doesn't mean that he can't be encouraging; it just means that he'll do it in his own way - and entirely in line with his view of the world.  No exaggeration allowed...  This does mean that any positive comment from him carries even more weight.  On the day when I score 9.3 out of 10 for the evening meal that I cooked (you see - empirical!) like I did yesterday, I know that I really did do well...

I think there's a balance to be struck... Can you be an optimistic realist?  I think so.  I hope that I am...

And there's the thing: Hope.  Not some sort of airy fairy optimism that hasn't got any roots or substance, but hope, which can look down the barrel of the difficult thing - and hope anyway, knowing that all things are possible with God.  In a well known passage from 1 Corinthians 13 it says:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

I think God probably is an optimistic realist...  What do you think?

Curve-ball Questions and Winter Warmers

Yesterday I went on a school trip with Joel to Kenilworth Castle.  This was good fun, although it was exceedingly cold...  It was bitter, particularly in the morning when it was grey and blustery.  The sun did make a valiant attempt to break through later on though; unfortunately, by the time it had had any noticeable affect on the temperature - it was time to get back on the coach...  Oh well, that's life I suppose.

We had never been more appreciative of coats, hats, gloves, scarves and wellies. And for the flask of tea which I'd brought...  We huddled together for warmth like penguins.  Shivery doesn't cover it.

Part of the day was spent following 'English Heritage James' around different parts of the castle.  EHJ had an interesting job keeping the kids interested, but he did it well; asking the children to compare the rooms / ruins we were in, with their equivalent rooms / ruins at home.  The things that are obvious to adults aren't always the things children notice however - and this did lead to some slightly unusual questions and comments from the little darlings...:

"When is it lunch-time?" (When we'd just arrived...)
"If I was rich, I wouldn't have a picture of Samuel Pepys on my wall"
"Are you a doctor?"
Child: "Oak isn't wood" EHJ "Yes it is, it comes from oak trees" Child: "No it doesn't"
"Where are the horses now? Are they dead?"
"Did the princesses do any jousting?"
"I couldn't find any treacle balls..." (trebuchet - I think...)

EHJ coped manfully with the curve-balls he was thrown, considering the complete unpredictability of children and what they will ask...  The children left happy, having had a brilliant day.  To be honest, they were thrilled just by the coach ride there and back; so all the fun in-between was just a bonus.

Whilst looking out the window on the way home, we noticed a field of horses - also wearing their winter warmers...  They had quilted coats on.  You know it really is cold when the animals need clothes.  I was musing with a fellow mum that maybe the horses could have done with hats, gloves or maybe ear-muffs...  Oh how we laughed...

Reasons to be Thankful, 1,2,3...

I stumbled across this looking for something else...  It's genius!! :o)

I've always liked Paulo Nutini and his slightly random lyrics and accent - he's a bit difficult to understand at times, but this song is definitely worth the effort...  Particularly when you've got some words on the screen to help you.

It made me think about how often we take for granted the things that we have.  Not many of us spend time being thankful for 'food in my belly and a licence for my telly'...  But I think we would be happier if we were a bit more grateful.  Maybe it would help us to focus more on what we have, rather than the things we haven't got that we'd like...

My kids are an example to me in this.  Each evening when we have tea, we try to remember to thank God for the food He's given us, and for anything else they want to mention.  They often come out with all sorts of random, if slightly mundane things: playing on the computer (Thank you Lord for CBeebies online - you have helped me cook so many meals...), sausage sandwiches (whilst eating something else), playing with friends, favourite toys...  My friend's daughter thanked God for Asda in her prayers recently...

So today, I will mostly be being thankful. 

For funky tunes to dance to, for good friends, for cups of tea, for my fabulous children, for Jesus, for my husband (so often taken for granted, but not today - love you x), for hot meals (those I haven't had to cook, and those I have), for a licence for my telly, for the opportunity to blog, for singing, for all the bits of my body still working as they should, for the people who smile at me when I'm playing the guitar at church, for chocolate, for central heating, for my comfy bed...

Thank you xx

I have this little brother Nathan; he is small, and very funny...

If you didn't understand the reference to Charlie and Lola in the title, then you haven't got any children - certainly not any the age of mine...

Charlie and Lola are some of the more tolerable characters on CBeebies.  Actually, I quite enjoyed watching Charlie and Lola with Joel before he was even old enough to properly understand it.  (I know, sad isn't it...)  Charlie and Lola are brother and sister (or 'sisiter' as Nathan would say), and the programmes basically focus on things that happen to or affect them. Everything from trips to the hairdresser / dentist / beach on to being poorly / breaking a limb / having a picnic / learning to share...  They've covered it all.  Charlie is a very long suffering big brother, and even ends up helping to get Lola ready for bed at one point, which I would have thought was above and beyond the call of duty, but there we are.

My boys are really loving watching this at the moment.  However, it's not just on TV.  They play games on the CBeebies website, listen to audio books in the car and even read actual (made with real paper and everything!) books too.

You know something like this has really entered your family culture when you start quoting it in a spontaneous manner round the dinner table...

This week when Joel's wobbly tooth fell out, he shouted:
"It's out, it's out - my wobbly tooth is completely out!"
A direct quote from the episode where Lola loses her first wobbly tooth, which I thought was pretty impressive - given that Joel was looking at the tooth and blood in his hand with an alarmed look on his face...

Charlie and Lola's greatest achievement though must be having made milk (specifically pink milk, although I think all milk to a certain point) cool again.  The phase in life when a lot of children reject milk can now be tackled with a 'well Lola loves milk - so it must be good'...  Well done Charlie and Lola, and well done creator Lauren Child.

Normal? I'm sure I've heard of that...

This week one of the lovely ladies at nursery asked me if she could 'have a word'.  I don't know what it is about such an innocuous sentence that gives every parent the heebie-jeebies...  Maybe it harks back to memories of your own childhood discipline; or maybe something you heard once from a doctor with less than positive news.  Whatever it is, I certainly felt a bit apprehensive as I waited for all the other parents to collect their little cherubs...

It turned out that she had some concerns about Nathan's concentration, and just wanted to know how he was at home.  I told her the truth, that I wasn't wildly concerned about it, because he is quite capable of concentrating when he feels like it - provided of course that he's not exhausted, hungry, or distracted by something else...  I'm aware that he spends more time with his head in the clouds than his elder brother (Joel 'always-in-the-real-world' Taylor), but comparing any child to Joel is a recipe for disaster, so I never do.  I always assume Nathan is normal unless someone tells me otherwise.

It made me think again about how no child (and no-one actually) is 'normal', because we're all so different.  We all have things we find easy, and things we find difficult.  I find it helpful to always remember this, and it's something I've spent a fair bit of time talking to Joel about.  Joel is fabulous in a lot of ways, but one of my favourite things about him is how honestly and generously he praises others, even if they have done something that he himself could have done really easily.

Joel's reception teacher once told me about how once in class, he was trying to get one of his class mates to add 35 and 65.  Quickly realising that this was too difficult, he changed the sum to 5 + 5, then helped them to complete the sum, and then celebrated their achievement.  His teacher was almost as thrilled as me.

I think Nathan will probably always be one of those kids with a slight tendency to gaze out the window...
I always took that as a sign of a good imagination, something Nathan has in abundance.  He might not be 'average'... but who'd choose average anyway?  He's brilliant.

Hitting the target

The boys and I have been watching darts this weekend.  This equals a lot of shouting, (at the same time as jumping from Nathan - no surprises there then...) mental maths (I still can't believe that's what they call it at school... Hey kids - it's not just maths - it's craaaaazy maths!) 180s and lots of questions:

"Mummy, what's treble 18 plus double 13?"

"Mummy, why is that man walking funny?" - a reference to the strange phenomenon of the 'walk in'.  I told Joel it was 'just for fun', although he was watching Darryl Fitton at the time, and I'm not sure he was convinced...

"Mummy, why are they wearing so many gold rings?"  To which I answered honestly that I had no idea...  Surely weighing down your dart throwing hand like that is not advantageous...  If I'd had more time to think about it I would have quipped about it having something to do with the 12 days of Christmas... Something like 'well they've already got the five gold rings - the french hens will be a long in a minute'.  I know, it's probably best that we don't have the time to spend ages thinking up comedy responses to our childrens' questions. 

It also gave me the chance to spend time asking them some questions too...

"Nathan, who do you want to win?"
"That man" (pointing at Martin Adams)
"Why him Nathan?"
"He's got a beard."

Of course.

If I was feeling more philosophical I could get a whole load more deep and meaningful thoughts out of darts.  After all - when they throw a wildly off target dart, they don't go off in a sulk and give up - they just go back again and throw the next one.  I'd link it in to the idea of perseverance, and not just giving up the moment they made one mistake (like munching on the chocolate when the healthy eating had been going so well...  Ho hum).  Time to keep calm and carry on.

Well done Martin Adams.  You won again.  And probably not just because of your beard!

The best present of all?...

Apologies to those of you who are getting a bit sick of nativity related posts - I did write the last one about statistics... (purely in the interest of balance you understand!)  I have already admitted in the Christmas Decathlon that I find the run up to Christmas to be a bit of a multi-event exercise in exhaustion, but still - this weekend's episode was too good to miss.

On Sunday our church congregation did it's first nativity service.  We meet in a primary school on the housing estate where I live.  We're part of an established church in the local area, but have set up this congregation to take the church to where the people are.  It seems to be working - we had lots of visitors this week, which was great.

The morning hadn't started too well however.  Three very important people (not the three wise men - they came later...) were unable to be at church for various reasons.  The leader of our merry band was out of the country, unable to return due to the snow.   His wife - who happened to be doing the sermon - was stuck trying to collect their son who was also struggling with snow related air travel problems.  The third absentee was co-ordinating the whole service, including the nativity element itself; well - she was poorly to a level of not being able to leave the house...  We found out about these problems on the morning of the service...  Oh crumbs.  Time to keep calm and carry on!

I found a book with a nativity story in it (a present from my Mum recently - Thanks Mum, good timing!) and took it along, thinking that it would at least help us cover the nativity element of the service.  I'd got some carols and songs sorted already, and some help from a lovely lady to play the piano (Carols and guitars don't always mix...), so at least we had something to sing... 

We met up at the school, and pieced together what we had.  Someone else had brought a replacement craft activity for the children, and another super on-the-spot thinker set about writing a short talk.  Adrenalin + Holy Spirit = Super Efficiency!  We've spent the rest of December looking at how 'Nothing is impossible with God' (Luke 1:37), so I guess it was only right that we started putting it into practice...

The singing went well, although undoubtedly the highlight (for me at least) was when we sang a song called 'Come and join the celebration'.  Joel had been singing this one at school, and (not just because I found it difficult to play - honest...) he sang it really well, so I got him up to the front to lead the singing - microphone and all.  Marvellous.

After this, the Nativity itself was next.  I lifted the toy baby Jesus and the little manger centre stage as requested, only to notice something peaking out of Jesus' swaddling clothes...  It was a partially eaten, pink ring doughnut!  Oh, how we laughed...

The rest of the service went without a hitch...  The nativity was great, the singing was full of gusto, the talk was thought-provoking, and the cup of tea at the end was a master stroke.  All in all, it was Christmas in a nutshell; glorious, despite the circumstances (after all, the first Christmas hardly looked like a gloriously slick production...  Apart from maybe the angelic chorus - but then they'd had a chance to practice!)  The best present of all was (and is) Jesus, although it did remind me of a joke I knew (slightly altered for my own purposes of course)...

To a child at a nativity service...
'What's pink, round, and covered in sprinkles?'
Bemused child:
'I'm sure the answer should be Jesus - but it sure sounds like a doughnut to me'

Happy Christmas everyone. Gxxx

Shepherd No. 2 - The Nativity Strikes Back

This morning it was the Nursery's turn to grace the stage.  For me that meant another trip to school to see my second little shepherd in his first nativity.

To be honest - my expectations were not high.  I knew that having seen Year One's Magnum Opus last week, and the glory of Joel's singing, I knew that Nursery - bless them - weren't going to compete in skill or finesse.  In fact, I was sure that Year One's play was going to look West End worthy in comparison.

The morning didn't start well.  Nathan decided that he didn't want to go to nursery this morning - this is a common battle at the moment, despite how much he seems to enjoy it when he gets there...  We talked about him doing some singing, at which point he just looked at me blankly.  I'm not even sure he'd understood that there was a nativity to be in, or what on earth all the fuss was about.  Still, we trudged to school, costume in hand, and hoped for the best.

I handed my little charge over to the staff, and made my way to my seat.

By showtime, the hall was packed to the rafters.  As the little stars, snowflakes, trees, birds, kings, shepherds, snowmen etc. all trooped in, it must have been a daunting sight for them all, looking out on a sea of faces and recording equipment.

For a long time I didn't see Nathan.  I thought maybe he'd decided he couldn't bear it...  But then - last through the door came my littlest shepherd, holding hands with the teaching assistant.  He sat on the end of one of the benches, and the performance began.

Now - I'm not going to lie.  It wasn't Oscar winning material.  The story was held together by the glue that is the indomitable, fantasmagorical Mrs Penycate.  None of the little cherubs had any lines to learn, other that in the songs, so there were no dramas there.  They sung (or shouted, to be honest) their little hearts out.

The thing that struck me most was how the amazing nursery staff had found a place for everyone.  The shy boy, the moody girl, the boy with learning difficulties, the girl who could have sung and danced the performance all on her own... They all made it onto the stage in small groups at some point.  They waved at their parents at inappropriate moments.  They forgot to do half of the actions.  They were helped onto and off the stage.  But they were absolutely delightful.

When I went to pick Nathan up at lunchtime, the staff were thrilled with how well it had gone.  Just to make it into the hall, in a costume, on a stage, in front of a whole load of people is a massive achievement when you're small.  It made me remember (again) how important it is to celebrate small victories.  You put your socks on by yourself! Well done!!  You got cross, but you didn't swear at your children!  High Five!!

Big victories only come along as a consequence of a whole load of little ones anyway. 

The Christmas Decathlon

I like Christmas.  Don't worry - I'm not going to get all Bah Humbug-ish on you.  I'm just getting a bit fed up about the run-up - the pre-amble - the flipping multi-event nature of the thing.

Joel has been practising his Christmas play, or at least the songs therein, since half term.  This is not unexpected or problematic, (we are on our second year of school now after all).  I'm sure there's a whole lot of mileage to get out of a Christmas play if you're a teacher.  Opportunities for learning, or for letting the kids who aren't academic shine at something else...  I get it. 

Nathan is now also singing Christmas songs from his nursery Christmas play around the house.  This is impossibly cute.  I do wonder how on earth the nursery staff are going to co-ordinate the little darlings into a 'play'...  Still, I know they can work wonders.  I'm actually really looking forward to seeing the finished masterpieces.

The problem is that the kids are so hyped up about Christmas, and so tired and end of term-ish already, and there's still a long time to go.  Yes I know, for adults (especially the ones like me who aren't even close to completing the Christmas shopping - Argh...) it's not very long, but when you're small, three weeks is ages.

There are also many other carol concerts, parties, craft days, carols round the tree etc etc to be navigated...  I'll be relieved when it's the end of term to be honest.  So many days of school without their usual routine is not entirely comfortable for a small boy who likes his structure. 

I'm hoping that at some point, Christmas will actually feel like it's about Jesus.  Not about making costumes (although for those of you who read Shepherd No.1, I actually bought a Shepherd costume from Sainsbury's in the end, and now Nathan can wear it too - as he's also a Shepherd. Genius.).  Not about baking (although granted - that is very important...)  Not about finding presents for the men in your life that are really awkward to buy for.  Once we've hurdled, run, jumped and thrown ourselves through the end of term Christmas gauntlet, Jesus will still be there; the Prince of Peace, the Good Shepherd, the Light of the World.

The Generation Game

I've just got back from a weekend break with my family in Centerparcs.  Overall, we had a lovely time: we even had a chance to play in the snow, although we've come back pretty tired actually - what with all the swimming, walking, fresh air etc.

There were six of us in our merry band of adventurers:  Me, Paul, Joel, Nathan, and Paul's parent's (aka Chris and Jenifer / Mum and Dad / Grandma and Grandpa - it's a wonder that they ever know their own names actually, given that they have so many options...)

It's nice going away on holiday with extra adults; especially if those adults are fond of your children.  We've been away previously (yes, Centerparcs again - I know, very cliched) with Becca, my friend from school who is also Nathan's Godmother, and with my parents too.  It is good having some other people to play with the children; and to spend some adult time with too.  If you play your cards right - you can even end up with some free babysitting.  Marvellous.

There is something a bit stressful about mixing up the generations though; it seems to muddle up the roles some how.  When I'm with my children, I know what my job is.   I am Mummy; source of food, cuddles, medicine (only when clinically indicated obviously...), stories etc. etc.  When I am with my in-laws, I am daughter-in-law; who will listen to stories regaled at great length, laugh (OK, not cringe too much) at pun related jokes, and generally try to formulate coherent sentences.

These roles are sometimes hard to complete at the same time; for example - trying to listen to a story about an incident from a recent holiday, whilst smallest boy announces in a loud voice that he needs a wee.

Thinking about how to juggle the roles I have was one of the main motivations behind starting blogging in the first place.  It's why I'm called 'MummyLadyMe'.  I'm know I'm not the first woman to feel this way.  I've just realised that in this post I haven't even really mentioned trying to fulfill my 'lady' role (although Paul and I did make use of some free babysitting this weekend - Hoorah!), or just trying to be me.  Crumbs.  There's so much to do!

I guess all you can do is prioritise the role that seems most important at the time, and trust that everyone involved loves you enough to forgive you if they don't always rank at number one on the priority list.  I am so thankful to have relatives who I know feel that way about me.