Skip to main content

Mostly missing...

The week has been mostly quiet, too quiet. We are into that phase of the holiday where the girls are off doing various activities, and for this week (and most of next), it doesn't involve us. Abi went off to Angie's on Sunday - happy as anything - merrily wishing me goodbye and saying "you don't need to ring me too often!" With Izzy joining her on Tuesday morning, her first time away somewhere that's neither family or friends, staying 2 nights and also loving it, I feel like that's going to be a habit that's hard to break.

While I love the fact that we've produced these confident little girls who are happy to go and experience new things, I do miss them when they are gone. Not just the noise, the fighting, the mess and so on - clearly I miss all of this (!), but more then anything else I miss the contact and cuddles. I forget just how lovely it is to have small arms around me, holding me tight and whispering "I love you mummy" at bedtime. It makes me realise just how much we have to hold on to this time and appreciate these little things before it's gone and replaced by the next phase. It also made me realise why becoming a grandparent must be so special - you get to experience it again, just with less mess maybe!

The other thing that reinforced just how precious our children are is the news this week that one of Abi's classmates is seriously ill with a brain tumour. She's been unwell for sometime and undergoing tests, the unfortunate result of which last week was the confirmation that she will need immediate surgery to remove the tumour. The doctors are upbeat about the prognosis and she is apparently showing amazing positivity but it's every parent's worst nightmare. We'll be thinking about her tomorrow when she goes into hospital.

So after just a few days at home they are off again tomorrow to Somerset for a few nights before we then go to Port Lympne Safari Park for a belated anniversary treat. We also had a day at the Countryfile Live Show today which was lovely if unbelievably busy. They did make me laugh with the animals "Izzy we don't need to do sheep, we can do those at FiFi and Grumps next week" says Abi. "We should do pigs, they won't have those!" While Abi was confident and leading on the animal front, Izzy was out front with the fairground rides and public speaking. We went to the live audience with some of the Countryfile presenters and when it came to the Q&A Izzy was straight in with her question for Jon Hammand about how he knows what the weather is going to do. He was honest and admitted while they try, they still don't get it right. After this it was back to the fairground and after one refusal Abi was persuaded by Izzy onto the swing ride. True to form once she realised it wasn't as bad as she thought they pleaded for another go - daylight robbery! I was pleased for once not to be the bad parent hanging their head in shame. This time it was the mother of a little boy who was desperate to go on and then as soon as the ride started promptly burst into tears and screamed "Mummy, get me off" the whole way round!

So Somerset for the girls, work for me and another week will fly by. I'm thinking of trying to bottle some cuddles to keep me going though - nothing else quite hits the mark the same way.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome Albert James!

So this week has been full of new things - Jess and Chris have welcomed Albert James Wilkinson Rayner to the family, a tad early but all doing well apparently (and so cute!!), I started my new job, Abi has her new shed and Dad got sorted on a phone that wasn't invented before the kids were born!! I always knew this week was going to be full on and it certainly has been. The first thing I had to do was try and sort out my diary which had been filled from dawn to dusk by my predecessor with meetings. I decided to set out as I mean to go on and immediately took out those that started before 9am. While I can get into  the office for 8am , it's a pain and requires me to be on the 6:30am train which is just a bit much every day (stating the obvious). I then made it clear that we don't need to be joined at the hip for the next 4 weeks which is a sensitive process - even though he is retiring it's hard to let go and he is understandably keen that the team are looked after. ...

Diary management!

This part of the summer is definitely typified by me trying to remember who is supposed to be where and when. Abi likes to be off doing something with someone while Izzy is happier to know she's close to home and so for the last week they've gone their separate ways. Abi has been down in Somerset making the most of Ben and Laurie being about. From what I can tell she's having a lovely time. Apart from the covert phone call one evening to tell me she was 'starving'  (Mum was cooking for the hordes and so it had been delayed), I've barely heard from her. The few calls I have had have very quickly ended in "can I go now" like I'm making her speak to me! Today she switches from Mum and Dads to a night or two with Kerrie - not sure who is more excited! Izzy didn't want to be away for that long so she opted not to go. She's very conscious that Abi and Laurie are joined at the hip when together and Ben has his own things he wants to do so she ...

All about Izzy

This weekend has mainly been about Izzy, mostly because Abi has been off riding again and so we've hardly seen her. This has its pros and cons - on the one hand Izzy gets lots of attention and the choice of what to do. On the other she misses Abi and when big sister arrives home we have the inevitable few hours of resettling which seems to involve tears as a matter of course. I did have a moment of despair this evening when I looked across to the table just before Sunday dinner - normally a happy time - to see both of them, heads on arms, holding back tears. Luckily a bit of food and a game of 20 questions to share what everybody had enjoyed about their weekend and we kind of managed to get back on track by dessert. When asked what she wanted to do, Izzy immediately shouted "Jo Jo" so my task was to sort out a visit with Jo, the boys and Ellie. No matter how much time passes they still love to see each other and the first task is always the same. Edward and Izzy have t...