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House guest

So this evening it's us plus one. Amanda, Alex and the Boys stopped by for  a whistle-stop lunch on their way back from London and somehow Laurie and Abi managed to persuade me that he could stay and I would 'drop' him home tomorrow. You can tell I'm on holiday because in a moment of weakness I said yes. So tomorrow we have Kerrie and Ryan turning up first thing on their way to visit family, then Izzy is off to see Mia and I will take Abi to Angies and then on to Taunton to drop Laurie off before heading home. If all goes well a 5 hour round trip. Hmmm. I may have mug stamped across my forehead but they've had such a lovely day and evening together it's worth it.

It's definitely the job of a mother to be the weak spot where these things are concerned. I've spent much of the last couple of days asking Abi to use a different tone with me. It's bad enough that 'No' seems to be the first answer I get for everything, it's worse that it's not generally a 'no' but a 'Noooo!' I appreciate this isn't a bit hard to convey in writing but I'm sure any parent can understand what I'm saying! When I asked her yesterday why this, she said "But you are the only one who I can be like that to!"  I think this is good she feels this way... For now! There was a moment yesterday when I flipped slightly after a day of bickering kids, then Abi getting upset at bedtime - sobbing her heart out and saying "I hate being 10, it's so hard!".  I snapped at Glenn when he tried to be nice to me - I'd just had enough of everybody needing me. I stomped into the kitchen, counted to 10 and then went and apologised. I'm tired, it's the end of the year and we've all had this nasty cold which just doesn't want to end. At least they all, without exception, remember that a cuddle makes it all ok. Even Izzy, normal pretty easy going, was tired and rude all day Friday, but came round and gave me a cuddle at bedtime.

Izzy is not as immediately tactile as Abi (well, not since she moved out of her toddler days) - she loves to hold my hand but unlike Abi doesn't often cuddle up at every opportunity. She does love though in the morning or evening to stroke my face still, something she has done since she was a baby and I love that. She also still insists that I get her up in the morning if I'm home "GET ME UP MUMMY!!" so that she can have a few private moments before the days starts. I say day starts - obviously for Izzy during holiday time that's anywhere between 8 and 10.30am!

So apart from spending all of tomorrow in the car, the rest of the week is relatively free and I'm looking forward to some downtime. Christmas Day will be our normal family only, bookended with Christmas Eve neighbourly drinks (we are going to aim to feed people this time and not have them poured out the door at midnight!) and Nanny Di et al for Boxing Day. It will be nice in the meantime just to be on a go slow for a while.

Quick PS - Scooby still doing fine - those forever last legs still going strong!

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