Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

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...

So that's it. Our baby is 10 years old and I have to admit that I have a child who's into double digits. Eek. She's had a lovely weekend and today couldn't have been nicer, except for the weather which was bloody awful. Up and down the country there is flooding and Mum and Dad have been battered by the rain and storms (I know, I tried to sleep through it on Saturday night with the windows sounding like they were coming in at any moment!). As is my way on birthdays I worked from home today - the only way to protect the time. This meant I could have breakfast and watch Abi open her presents, get lots of work done and still spend time with them both this evening. Abi's main present is her riding for next year, all 5 weeks of it, so it was a few token gifts today. Other children might have expected more but she was chuffed to bits with 2 new hoodies, the 2017 Guinness Book of Records and Ripley's Believe it or Not, and a game of Uno. We've played more gam...

Mum always says to us that it only matters whether your kids are polite and sociable when out of the house. At home it's a different ball game - parents are there to be challenged, pushed against and tried to the limits of their patience. Given all of this it was nice when my lovely neighbour turned up to see if her daughter was with us (she was), and to find out if she'd been as foul to me as she'd been all day to her. Obviously not I replied, she's been sitting at the kitchen table chatting away happily, telling me all about what school she's likely to go to and why, echoes of discussions she's had with her parents so she's clearly been listening!  I know the feeling so well - doesn't every parent? At least I could tell her it's just her, hard to hear but reassuring we are all in the same boat. Today has been one of those glorious autumn days - sunny and warm for the time of year, with the trees looking amazing and the sun lying low in the sk...

Much as we might complain sometimes about their griping at each other I've just watched the girls playing together, rolling around the sitting room floor laughing while they pretend to be a certain animal of my choice, the best of friends. It's very much on / off at the moment - only an hour ago they hated each other, an hour before that they were perfectly in tune. Mostly theirs is a harmonious relationship, hence why the bickering irritates me so much I guess! This week has been lovely, with me being off and the weather being a perfect blend of autumnal sunshine and clouds. It's been dry so the leaves are in full colour, all crispy and crunchy on the ground. I love this time of year. Glenn less so as his leaf OCD is in full swing and he spends many moments picking up the leaves until not a single one is in sight. The disappointing fact is that as soon as he turns his back they are falling again. It reminds me of the Mister Men book where they ask the question ...

All together again...perfect, well almost. Abi came back from her week away from Angie's just a bit out of sorts and the first 24 hours was a bit fraught as she and we settled back into normality again. She's so much like Glenn in so many ways - he's exactly the same when he goes away, albeit he now appreciates his home comforts enough to generally be more than ready to come home. I have had to have a number of little chats with her about the fact that she's very lucky to be able to do something like this. Her initial response - "its not fair that Usma is allowed to go for 2 weeks and in the summer she's there for 6 weeks!" Hmmm - and that's why her mum is having problems with her I suspect. I think a big part of the problem was that she was tired and hungry - more so than last time. Once we'd got a hot meal into her and a good nights sleep it all started to come back into focus. Good job really as Izzy was so pleased to see her home and to sta...

So half term has arrived at break neck speed with hardly a moment since they were last on holiday - can that really have been 6 weeks? This half term we have 2 weeks so today we packed Abi off to riding down with Angie and Izzy now has a friend for a sleepover. We rarely do sleepovers - generally (much to my relief) they go to their friend's houses. This therefore is very exciting for Izzy, and a little less so for us. Actually the friend in question, Effie, is lovely and they have eaten all their tea, watched SCD, had a bath and now tucked up in bed reading to each other. The bath did include an entire can of bath foam which turned everything pink and made them itch - lesson learned - but so far so good. All evening they've been asking if they could have a midnight feast so (against all parenting instinct) I made up a bowl of grapes, blueberries and a couple of small packets of haribo. I know, I know, its hardly pushing the boat out but really - what would you give two 8 yea...

It's not often I have a rant on here but I will because I want to look back in years to come and either congratulate myself on being right, or laugh at myself for being so wrong. Yesterday I picked up the girls from school - not a normal occurrence on any day and rare for a Thursday. I got chatting to one of the Mums who I know reasonably well and she asked whether I would be going to the Year 4 drinks later. I replied no because I have to be in London this morning for a client pitch and so it's an early night for me. She then complimented me that unlike some working parents I don't have a phone permanently attached to me - I seem to be able to separate work from home. I'm clearly not perfect and there are far too many occasions where I'm juggling kids / friends / phone / emails etc but I do try and be mindful of where to draw the line. She then started to say her husband is particularly bad at this and has his phone with him even at the dinner table. I said our...