I'm back again

This morning was one of those infuriating mornings that you have when you are part of a family and people need to be places other than your house.  This is not a work-at-home vs work-out-of-home issue -- I had these mornings when I was home with my kids and I still have them now.

Today, Tommy needed to be dropped off at a park instead of at school.  He needed to have sunscreen applied.  He needed a bottle of water. All this on top of the normal morning routine which roughly consists of breakfast, teeth brushing, face washing, clothes and shoes.

Most critical to this story, he needed all of these things and he needed me to fold him a paper airplane.  After 15 minutes of pestering me about the airplane, it became a dire need.

The first thing I must say is that he has a book with 28 different paper airplanes in it but he only ever wants a Space Dart.  My point to you is this:  if he only wants one type of airplane, ever, then you would think after watching me fold 50 of them and Eli fold 50 of them and Mandy fold 50 of them that he would be able to fold them himself.

The second thing I should admit is that I was running late this morning.  I went to the gym late, the cleaning lady came (so I had to tidy the house), I didn't know what I was going to wear, and I hadn't prepared my lunch the night before.  And we had to walk farther than normal to school.

I had to get ready for work, and so the kids followed me into my bedroom still calling for the space dart.  (Lulu was mostly asking for toast because she had rejected the first breakfast I offered to her.)

So.  Mandy arrived while I am blow-drying my hair.

And thank GOD, she sat down on my bedroom floor and folded the freaking space dart.

At which point Tommy changes course.  He realized that the space dart needed tape on some part of it, and so he started whining for tape.  And unless Mandy bought some today, we do not have any.

So I lost it, and spent the whole walk to the park explaining that he is a BIG BOY and needs to help in the mornings, not come up with his own agenda.

Sigh.

Save it for the kids

Here's one for you:  Today, I've seen two adults (one on the Tube in the morning; one on a bench at lunchtime) drinking juice boxes.

The younger half of my household would be unimpressed -- perhaps even disgusted -- if they'd seen grown ups drinking juice boxes.  I mean, I think we would all agree that grown ups can drink juice (Tommy would point out that grown ups can drink as much juice as they want).  My issue is purely with the boxes.

Perhaps its a British thing?

Also, today I bought an ugly pair of sandals.  Obviously I think they are a little bit cute.  The kicker is:  this is the second pair of ugly-but-cute-to-me pair of shoes I have purchased this summer.  What is the matter with me?

Father's Day

Tonight before he finally went to bed, Tommy said:  'this is the worst end to father's day ever!'

And I'll be honest, it wasn't a great day or a great weekend.  Our kids were very badly behaved.  Very.  Whiny and tired and not at all nice to either of their parents.  

So, I'll tell you the nice parts rather than focus on the fact that I have only a two-day weekend (I know, I know) and my kids semi-ruined it:

* They are still jet lagged a bit so they slept until 7:30 each morning and it was just so nice.  

* We got really good coffee today to drink while we walked in Kensington Gardens.  (So that's two good parts, except for when Lulu got mud all over my yellow pants (trousers).)

* We each got to read a lot of the New Yorker (me, while my hair was colored on Saturday morning and Eli while he waited around for the guy working on our boiler on Saturday afternoon) and it has really interesting articles in it.

* We watched a funny 'Modern Family' in which Phil says Claire is like a Border Collie because she has to run every day, and I felt like someone finally explained me and I got excited and Eli looked at me like I was crazy.  (I am.  But we both laughed.)

* It didn't rain very much at all.

* This sweet card (he's working on his lower case letters):

I hope all of you had lovely weekends! 

This is a very random post

As a starter:  do any of you find Fox News so upsetting that you can't even watch the clips on Jon Stewart? How oh how do people actually watch it?

So I've been working some long hours the past couple of days, and they've been pretty bad days (work-wise), but here is a list of the lovely parts of the week:

* When I've left work late twice in a row, there has been a Wimbledon train awaiting me when I reach the platform (and I haven't missed it which does happen sometimes because I'm scared of getting caught in the door).

* I regularly hear people say things like this one (from this afternoon):  "Shall I just pop round?"  It still kills me.  The way these English people speak is just so charming.

* My kids are still jetlagged and have been sleeping late so I've have to wake them up in the morning which is just so so so sweet.  Then, because I've had enough time to get ready before they wake up, we sit down with our breakfasts and eat together and have conversations which are 85% sweet and 15% grumpy because I woke them up.  But, by and large, they're morning people and once I help them realize that it's morning, they are happy to wake up and start the day.

* We all missed each other this week because our vacation ended.  (The good part is the missing, not the vacation ending.)

* We had another week without people telling us we have to leave London.

Sorry for the post without a picture.  I'll be back later this weekend!

Oh dear god the jet lag

We landed in London on Sunday at noon, after sleeping somewhere between two (Eli) and six (me, the kids) hours en route.  We arrived home and talked all afternoon about our strategy for dealing with our children throughout the night but somehow, all the talk was wasted and we just put on a movie around six o'clock and then tossed Lulu into bed when she fell asleep shortly thereafter.

She was up and ready to go at midnight.  As Eli had to work this morning (I switched Friday for Monday this week, thank god), I carried her down to the couch, put on a 'Diego' and cut up an apple for her to eat (the only food they are technically permitted to eat in the living room).  Anyway, Tommy joined us after a while, and I just kept playing 'Diego.' (We have about ten of them and I have seen them all multiple times in the past week what with airplanes and jet lag.  I guess my only comment about that is I don't really understand what they love so much about 'Diego' but it does appear to be somewhat educational.  We have a serious TV detox coming up in this house.)

Finally at three I told them they had to go to bed and dumped Lulu in her crib without stories and fell asleep in Tommy's bed with him.  At seven Eli woke me up and I was disoriented as he was all dressed for work.  My question for the universe is this:  if one family member is going to have an easy time with jet lag (indeed, avoid it all together), why should it be the person best equipped to deal with horrible jet lag? The rest of us are far crankier when we're exhausted.

I know, this post is so interesting.

The cute part of the story (you knew I'd get there) is that I woke the kids up at 10 and around 11, Tommy looked at me and said, 'is it school today?' and I said 'well, for some kids, but not you.'  To which he replied, 'what kind of day is it? Is it sport day?' When I admitted that it was actually sport day, he ran up, put on his uniform and told me he 'must go to school, Mummy!'

So I took him.

Katherine's sister Charlotte found and gave to Tommy some sharks teeth one day at the beach -- and he marched into class holding them.  Thank goodness Miss Jo agreed to let Tommy show them all what he had brought immediately.

******

Here's a picture from the wedding.  I like how the rest of my family is looking in a different direction -- like there is one joke for everyone else (it likely included 'chicken butt', I'll be honest) but I need a special one off to the side to make me laugh.

Why I Am Depressed

This is the second post in a new series of "Why I" posts in which I shall explain myself.  Many of my readers appreciate this -- perhaps most of all my father-in-law who thinks I am charmingly crazy (Ollie, do not protest, you know it's true except maybe the 'charmingly' part).

Friends, I HATE the end of vacation.  This is especially true when I am forced to tear myself and my children away from our families and return to a place without any family (but with very lovely friends).  The worst part of this problem is that I let my distress at the end of vacation wreck the last 36-48 hours of said vacation so that I am not only not enjoying time off with good weather and junk food, I am also already focused on the end.  Living in London makes the end a bit worse as we face an eight-hour flight scheduled to depart at 10:45pm.

COME ON, I say to myself, just buck up and enjoy the fact that you saw a pelican on the dock this morning and just heard a fish jump (or was it a gator?!?) in the canal behind you...

(This photo is actually from Wakulla Springs, not the canal behind our house.  Sadly.)

Why I Don't Like My Hair

This is on the evening of the wedding about forty-five seconds after we left the house.  I spent approximately 20 minutes on my hair which for me is a very, very long time.  Despite the kissy lips I was directing to the camera, I am happy with how my hair looks in this photo.

Behold, 35 minutes later.  Curly and ridiculous looking.  I did use two products (when I complain about my hair, Eli always suggests more or different product which I think is about the least helpful idea ever).  They did not help, obviously.

(It looks like my daughter someday may have similar complaints about her own hair.)