Skip to main content

Mary, Mary, quite contrary...


So half term wasn't quite how we'd planned, but all told it's been OK, and it definitely ended better than it started.

Having said she wasn't going riding, Abi then decided that what she really wanted to do was head to Somerset to see Fifi and Grumps so that's what happened. I did wonder whether Izzy would want to go as well - with what's been going on at school I thought she might prefer to be at home but no, she was keen as well so off they went. Glenn took them down and I had a quiet day at home, not least I didn't really want to spend my day off in the car when I would be going down myself later in the week.

So it started well, but then Izzy decided that perhaps 2 days of being on her (almost) best behaviour was enough and 1) stayed in bed until lunchtime and 2) refused to do anything other than what she wanted. This culminated in her trying to get me to FaceTime her at lunchtime on Wednesday as I was walking back into a meeting. All I got in quick succession by text was "Mummy!"; "Mummy!"; "Mummy, FT me!"; "Mummy, now!"

Needless to say I called instead, only to find she had locked herself in the toilet because Mum and Dad were (quite reasonably) telling her she had to come for a walk! Long story short, Mum had a talk to her to explain sometimes we all have to do things we don't want to, and it equilibrium was restored. This is not a new lesson, but one we are having to repeat a number of times. When we got home we then had a talk about needing to set some goals and work towards them so she has a focus (i.e. anything other than retreating into her iPad). This seems to have taken effect - she has written them out and has been much more herself over the weekend.  I just hope going back to school tomorrow doesn't result in things regressing. Poor Izzy has gone to bed worrying about what was happening with some of the girls in her class - no matter how many times I assure her that it will all blow over, it doesn't feel like that to her at the moment.

Abi has enjoyed her more relaxing week off and loved being down in Somerset. All the kids got on brilliantly and for once there didn't appear to be anyone left out of the games. Just as we were congratulating ourselves on the fact that at least she is quite amiable at the moment, I sat her down to do her to do her Maths revision.... cue shut down, brain freeze, tears and tantrums - brilliant, good to see it doesn't take much to switch it on then! Despite being OK at Maths (it will never be her best subject) she has limited confidence and thinks she's rubbish so of course gives up and then is rubbish. When she has the right mental approach she's actually fine, but how to get her to recognise that?!  We ended up using the solitaire set that Dad made us for Christmas to work though some of the problems with marbles to show her the principles in 3D so to speak. It seemed to work but it's so frustrating trying to explain a Maths approach to a child that refuses to listen properly - arggghhh!!

This weekend has been a whirlwind of various birthday celebrations, the kids catching up on seeing their friends and back to school prep (Izzy lovingly sorting through her pencil case). They may not be looking forward to all the lessons but there's still nothing better than new pencils it seems!!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Busy, busy, busy

Full English brunch for these two! Life is VERY busy and I don't feel like we have stopped for weeks (or is that months?) It seems like the 'to-do' list is endless and while I know we don't have to do it all at once, I have taken on the unenviable task of trying to get the Muppet to finish all the work he promised / we have paid for and that has been like pushing a mountain of water up a very steep hill. We've got to the point where I think we have got all of what we are likely to get and the rest we'd rather finish ourselves anyway. The electric gates are clearly a work of his imagination based on the gates / the electric cables he spec'd and the cheapo motor mechanism - there is no way they'll work so we have decided to not bother and source proper gates that do the job and look better as well. Knowing that we are almost at a point where we sever the ties feels very liberating. Looking back this last 6 months has been incredibly stressful and just didn...

Decluttering

Girls buying baby clothes - this could get addictive! It's Easter weekend already and we still haven't completed!! However we have made some progress, most importantly with the paperwork which has not been Steve the Builder's forte throughout this process. Stags finally got their act together and got in touch with the planning office and got an update from the Planning Officer. Apparently she is broadly happy with the application, and is prepared to pass it with only a few minor modifications which we are completely comfortable with. The Building Control Officer also came and did all of what he needed to, which means the final certificate should be issued which allows the warranty to also be issued. On our side we finally tracked down the paperwork (or more correctly got the BC Officer to come out again and do a second assessment) for the outstanding BCC on our windows (which went in 6 years ago but due to an admin error were never registered) - nothing is straightforward i...

Bank Holiday sunshine

Off to meet FiFi and Grumps for a walk  (and yes, she is on the seat) Finally after weeks of rain and cold weather, the tide has turned and we have glorious sunshine for the bank holiday weekend and half term - hooray, it's about time.  Also just in time is half term as the kids were definitely ready for a break. They have both done brilliantly settling into the school, making new friends and finding their feet in an unfamiliar environment. Izzy has just had her exam week and felt it went OK given she hadn't covered all of the syllabus, and Abi's exams start as soon as she is back next week. I hope she's done some revision as she left for Devon with Claire, Adam and Mia today and isn't back until Saturday. There is talk of looking at some of her notes but who knows. My view is that a bit of R&R will probably be at least as beneficial if not more so than cramming all week so she should take the time to relax and have some fun - she deserves it. So we packed Abi o...