Thursday fun!

Sorry about the rant yesterday. I'm still tired, but at least this morning I got to have a shower!

Thankyou to everybody who commented, you have helped me feel a lot less alone. I guess though that I'll never meet like-minded parents in real life so to speak unless I speak up. And I imagine most parents like me are a little scared to speak out normally for exactly the reasons I said yesterday.

Right. Today. Painting! We did a couple of lovely pieces, started off with me holding Ben by his armpits until he had sunk so low that he was trying to eat my hands. Then he was given free reign to get messy, and had a ball :) He does love blue at the moment and enjoyed making the blue-green canvas. I'd drawn a train on it with white wax crayon before we started, as an experiment, but it definitely works better on smooth paper rather than the lining paper we use for big paintings.

Nothing in the cupboards for lunch so as it was payday today we went to the supermarket for lunch! We sat and had chips and soup, Ben made friends with a four-year-old girl who is looking forward to being a big sister in 6 months' time, and Charley just wanted to cuddle up in the wrap because there was too much going on. He fell asleep halfway round the shop.

Arrived home to find the window man waiting outside for us! So all systems go to get groceries in, toys out of the way, Charley settled again, and then Ben befriended the window man and chattered non-stop to him :)

Such a change in Ben recently. He's gone from not talking to anybody to not shutting up! If he thinks I am ok with a person he will chatter away. He used to be so so shy. He's really come out of his shell and I think it's a good thing we've waited this extra year before trying pre-school again. He seems ready now. I think he'll actually enjoy it. Charley's really going to miss him though I think! I don't think I'm going to get a great deal of "business" related stuff done while he's at school, but we'll just have to see...

Photoshoot with today's paintings on the wall was fun. I should have taken a snap of my highly technical set-up really. Maybe tomorrow ;0) These are three of the many faces of Ben!

It's crazy hour here now. Ben has gone utterly bonkers. I've no idea what's for tea. Steve and I are hungry, Ben is off his oats, Charley's probably ready to go to bed, and I've run away. Good huh! Suppose I'd better re-join the fray...

Added when blipping...

THE most horrendous bedtime in a long time. Ben WAY too tired hence the total bonkersness, didn't want pyjamas, didn't want THOSE pyjamas, wanted his Buzz Lightyear pyjamas - which he doesn't have any of and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he meant. To give you an idea, the whole "blue" thing. You can ask him what car he's looking for and he'll say the blue one. To figure out which blue one you have to ask what it does. So it lights up and has a button underneath? Ah, that'll be the black one with red bits. Yes, the blue one. Aargh! So add into that logic mix an overtired child having a breakdown because the pyjamas are the wrong ones and panicking about sleeping in his own bed and I didn't really stand much chance. He's ended up starting the night (and ending it) in our bed as he has done for a while now with a regular teeshirt on, as it's his "Buzz Lightyear" teeshirt (it's got surfboards on. I don't get it.) and blue pyjama bottoms. I so don't follow his logic. A lot! He's really unsettled though, Steve's just had to go up because he was mumbling in his sleep, cold and restless. He's totally off his food again. I can't be doing with another round of illnesses :( Not again, so soon after the last lot. It's when this happens that I'm both glad and incredibly fed up that I'm still nursing him, it drives me insane but how else would he be getting calories at all if he can't even be bribed with hot chocolate or jelly or anything else which he normally loves? I don't believe in force feeding. I thought breastfed babies were supposed to be healthy robust things but evidently Ben has inherited a rubbish immune system from somewhere - maybe things could have been a lot worse if I'd not breastfed him and wasn't still doing so.

Friday tomorrow - and the grandparents are here for the weekend! Roll on Saturday morning, if we didn't have to be up and out early we'd have a lie in and let Ben torment his grandma and grandad!!