Me & Mine in July 2017
They - the children - think of July as the wind-down to the summer holidays, one long party really, don't they? Well, there is nothing in July that resembles a wind-down, if you ask me. It's a flurry of school fayres, open afternoons, end of year leavers' plays, and sports days, and if you're really good you start planning for the next academic year lest you miss the special offers of uniform and kit.
This July, I missed all the special offers.
I didn't miss many of the other bits, if only thanks to the diligent school staff that sent reminder text messages every other day, and by the end of the month even that was no longer enough; I turned up an hour late to Cara's Leaver's Sevice at church - despite uhm-hum'ing and uh-huh'ing to the various hints she dropped that morning I didn't realise she was referring to an attendable event until it was too late.
In true manic July form, the Me&Mine was taken when we could grab hold of one of Cara's friends' dad. Three snaps in the garden (the weather was nice enough) and three snaps in the "guest room", and back out the door he flew with our eldest in tow for an end-of-year sleep-over party. Most of this year's July, I spent feeling as frazzled as my hair looks in the one shot, or in fact as headless as the second shot suggests!
The children, of course, had a fabulous time, winning prizes at their fayres, staying up to silly-o-clock at their sleep-overs (3am! Why?! HOW?!), and shining in their end-of-year leaver's plays (both are moving up to a new school in September). We had a visit from my brother and his daughters, which they also enjoyed and which brought - other than plenty of kids in the house - many sessions of badminton in the garden with it. Other than that...
Cara
Wowed us with her performance of her half of the lead role in her musical, Joseph an the Technicolour Dreamcoat. I *knew* she enjoyed singing and I *knew* she had a passable voice but she did splendidly and hit some of those notes with a kind of velvety quality that left us doing some quick maths to see if we could afford singing lessons. At the end of the month, she turned 11 - an understated affair as her mother, the family's Organiser Of Birthdays And All Other Things Celebrations, had simply run. out. of. steam. As a last minute thing, dad was persuaded to take her and some friends to the Mamma Mia The Musical and have a snack in town, and for this year that'll have to do. Happy birthday, gorgeous girl.
Theo
"The best thing about this month," he said, "is that we don't have to do any writing!" Obviously you can't do much pesky writing when you're training up for your role as Magician in your leavers' play, plenty of tricks to learn! My magician was told to LIVE his role and consequently adorned it with such great florish and so many dance moves that his tune had to be played on a loop as he hopped, skipped and twirled in his top hat with a straight face, making eggs turn into ribbons and blank books into colourful affairs. I'm looking forward to watching it again on DVD in September!
Another big adventure was his first overnight school trip - to the school hall! It was a superb event with a BBQ, fun and games, stories and films, all of his friends and his first sleep-over - all in all a superb way of celebrating the last few days at the little school that had come to feel like part of home over the last three years.
Alba
Has been starting to copy us and is clapping and putting her hands upon her knees when we wind the bobbin up. She is now a competent bum shuffler and I've given up all hope that she will ever crawl (not that I believed in it ever happening either). She has had her first proper conversation and has spoken her first word - it was in Spanish and it was... *drumroll* "Kaka"! That is, erm... shit. I blame the Spanish for using the word so ubiquitously and failing to distinguish between proper shit and mere dirt, as if a baby couldn't tell the difference!
Alba was playing with the compost bin (for which she has a bit of a 'thing'). Daddy said, "Don't touch, that's KAKA!" Alba looked him in the eyes and said: "KAKA." "That's right, that's KAKA," Jay confirmed, "We don't play with it." Alba though for a second and the said, soulfully and tenderly, "Kaka." And returned her attention to her beloved compost bin.
She hasn't said it again since, so I will give her another shot at First Word Spoken (Consistently) when the time comes, and I hope it won't be shit, again.
Me
Frazzled Mum That Can't Keep Up, that was me in this breathless FUN month. Despite bringing me to my knees and driving me nuts with endless notifications of SALES of beautiful must-have baby clothes, this was my Pride In My Children Month. One sang, one did magic, and one said shit and was generally so cute I wanted to eat her. Between the endless bargains, cute bairs and an unhealthy obsession with wanting a new pushchair, there was not much room for anything else. Or anybody else. In fact...
Jay
... I've no idea what the good man has done all month, except working, hosting family and attending all the school events he could. I do know, though, that when frazzled me tried to dish up yoghurt with strawberry jam and uncooked lentils (instead of cocoa nibs), he sucked it up, spat them out and enjoyed his pudding anyway. The best thing to do with this month. We're all looking forard to the holidays we have coming up.
This July, I missed all the special offers.
I didn't miss many of the other bits, if only thanks to the diligent school staff that sent reminder text messages every other day, and by the end of the month even that was no longer enough; I turned up an hour late to Cara's Leaver's Sevice at church - despite uhm-hum'ing and uh-huh'ing to the various hints she dropped that morning I didn't realise she was referring to an attendable event until it was too late.
In true manic July form, the Me&Mine was taken when we could grab hold of one of Cara's friends' dad. Three snaps in the garden (the weather was nice enough) and three snaps in the "guest room", and back out the door he flew with our eldest in tow for an end-of-year sleep-over party. Most of this year's July, I spent feeling as frazzled as my hair looks in the one shot, or in fact as headless as the second shot suggests!
 |
| July 2017 (feeling frazzled) |
The children, of course, had a fabulous time, winning prizes at their fayres, staying up to silly-o-clock at their sleep-overs (3am! Why?! HOW?!), and shining in their end-of-year leaver's plays (both are moving up to a new school in September). We had a visit from my brother and his daughters, which they also enjoyed and which brought - other than plenty of kids in the house - many sessions of badminton in the garden with it. Other than that...
Cara
Wowed us with her performance of her half of the lead role in her musical, Joseph an the Technicolour Dreamcoat. I *knew* she enjoyed singing and I *knew* she had a passable voice but she did splendidly and hit some of those notes with a kind of velvety quality that left us doing some quick maths to see if we could afford singing lessons. At the end of the month, she turned 11 - an understated affair as her mother, the family's Organiser Of Birthdays And All Other Things Celebrations, had simply run. out. of. steam. As a last minute thing, dad was persuaded to take her and some friends to the Mamma Mia The Musical and have a snack in town, and for this year that'll have to do. Happy birthday, gorgeous girl.
Theo
"The best thing about this month," he said, "is that we don't have to do any writing!" Obviously you can't do much pesky writing when you're training up for your role as Magician in your leavers' play, plenty of tricks to learn! My magician was told to LIVE his role and consequently adorned it with such great florish and so many dance moves that his tune had to be played on a loop as he hopped, skipped and twirled in his top hat with a straight face, making eggs turn into ribbons and blank books into colourful affairs. I'm looking forward to watching it again on DVD in September!
Another big adventure was his first overnight school trip - to the school hall! It was a superb event with a BBQ, fun and games, stories and films, all of his friends and his first sleep-over - all in all a superb way of celebrating the last few days at the little school that had come to feel like part of home over the last three years.
Alba
Has been starting to copy us and is clapping and putting her hands upon her knees when we wind the bobbin up. She is now a competent bum shuffler and I've given up all hope that she will ever crawl (not that I believed in it ever happening either). She has had her first proper conversation and has spoken her first word - it was in Spanish and it was... *drumroll* "Kaka"! That is, erm... shit. I blame the Spanish for using the word so ubiquitously and failing to distinguish between proper shit and mere dirt, as if a baby couldn't tell the difference!
Alba was playing with the compost bin (for which she has a bit of a 'thing'). Daddy said, "Don't touch, that's KAKA!" Alba looked him in the eyes and said: "KAKA." "That's right, that's KAKA," Jay confirmed, "We don't play with it." Alba though for a second and the said, soulfully and tenderly, "Kaka." And returned her attention to her beloved compost bin.
She hasn't said it again since, so I will give her another shot at First Word Spoken (Consistently) when the time comes, and I hope it won't be shit, again.
Me
Frazzled Mum That Can't Keep Up, that was me in this breathless FUN month. Despite bringing me to my knees and driving me nuts with endless notifications of SALES of beautiful must-have baby clothes, this was my Pride In My Children Month. One sang, one did magic, and one said shit and was generally so cute I wanted to eat her. Between the endless bargains, cute bairs and an unhealthy obsession with wanting a new pushchair, there was not much room for anything else. Or anybody else. In fact...
Jay
... I've no idea what the good man has done all month, except working, hosting family and attending all the school events he could. I do know, though, that when frazzled me tried to dish up yoghurt with strawberry jam and uncooked lentils (instead of cocoa nibs), he sucked it up, spat them out and enjoyed his pudding anyway. The best thing to do with this month. We're all looking forard to the holidays we have coming up.
 |
| July 2017 (feeling headless) |
The Lovely Old Bed in the Guest Room
and, in fact, the guest room, won't be there for much longer. In August we'll eliminate the guest room so that Cara may have the kind of room she will need as a secondary school student who has lots of important homework. The bed will go to Theo who, if he sleeps on a diagonal in it, can grow into the giant that I fear he'll be one day. (Over two meters. You heard it here first.) Good-bye, guest room, we've loved having you and the people that came to stay in you, but our family has grown and our needs are changing and growing with us.
Comments
Post a Comment