And there we have it. Another weekend (and week!) completed and as I sit here nursing a glass of wine I’m reflecting on what an overwhelmingly positive week it has been. There is a lot going on outside our little bubble of 4 (both nationally and closer to home), most of it sadly negative, but inside the bubble we are doing not too bad at all!
We are very gradually returning to a bit of normality particularly in the forthcoming week. Steph is returning to her full hours at work and so the kids are spending 3 days at Grandma’s house to allow us to both do what we need to do. One negative of this is that I’m going to miss the kids. A lot. Phone calls with clients just won’t be the same without the jeopardy of M charging in shouting “Die!” or E sneaking in and asking a bit too loudly if I can help her wipe her bum.
Anyway back to today and the top 5 which is even longer than normal, so apologies in advance!
1. For a change this morning’s alarm was after 7am and fairly uneventful. The kids were just ready to get going and so I was dragged downstairs. The usual morning routine unfolded, which always includes a change of M’s wet overnight nappy. A fairly standard and uninteresting event. Certainly not a highlight but more of a necessity. Imagine my surprise therefore when after removing the old one and giving him a quick wipe, I reached into the nappy pack to find that it was empty. No real panic at that stage as Steph always has spares in a bag somewhere so I set out to look in the usual places. Sure enough in his change bag there was a clean nappy, but only one. And so I finished the job but thought to mention to Steph that I couldn’t find any more. This is where the difficult decision making began. It turned out there wasn’t a single clean nappy left in the house and we still had more than 4 hours until our click and collect weekly shop (including nappies) would be ready. Could we wait and just hope he didn’t fill this one? Or should we start potty training immediately to get us out of this sticky situation? Or did we need to go to another shop? Or should we go to Grandmas to collect a spare or two to get us through the day? Or could we possibly use the swimming nappy we had found which might tide us over? Whilst we were still debating M arrived on the scene pointing to his backside and sure enough had forced our hand! Swim nappy it was coupled with a quick run over to Grandmas! 💩
2. Our nice lazy Sunday mornings have somehow morphed into our most active part of the week with Steph heading out first to complete her latest C25k run before we swapped and I pounded the pavements with a cheeky 8k. Tell me before lockdown that I’d be saying to my wife “I’m only going to do 8k this morning” and I’d have laughed in your face! I had a really positive run this morning after a couple of toughies earlier in the week and felt good throughout. Unfortunately Steph was caught in a rain shower but I managed to have glorious weather throughout. I even took on the big hill next to the house which I normally avoid like the plague but sneakily did it right at the start so there was lots of downhill after that! Nearly half way through my GNR virtual challenge and unbelievably ahead of schedule. Just got to keep it going! 🏃♂️
3. After my run, a shower and some lunch, I was looking forward to kicking back and having a nice chilled afternoon. Dream on Daddy! E’s new love of cycling knows no bounds and she wanted to go for a ride out along the lines. We decided to head to Grandma’s house, which we managed even though I misjudged the distance. It was over 8 miles which took a while as we had to keep stopping for E to scratch her nose! Of course she never stopped talking throughout much to the amusement of everyone we passed. A particular highlight was when she announced that she had “lots of questions” to ask me, which started with “Why do cows moo?” I knew it was going to be a long ride! Our tradition of singing “Into the Unknown” from Frozen 2 every time we cycle under a bridge so we can hear the echo has continued. I was thinking that’s the sort of thing I will never forget even when she is all grown up and with a family of her own. Lockdown has been great for memory making! 🚴🏼♀️
4. Whilst Daddy watched the end of the Grand Prix, the kids dug out a new jigsaw lent by Aunty Nic. E did most of it but M showed a lot of interest in his usual bulldozer manner. To their shock there was a piece missing and so a gaping hole was left when E finished and walked away. She wasn’t too bothered but M’s mind was completely blown. He set about searching the whole living room for the missing piece and when it didn’t turn up he started tugging at my leg and yabbering on. I think it finally sunk in that it wasn’t going to be found so he grabbed a couple of his Thomas trains and delicately placed them over the gap so you couldn’t see there was a piece missing. Even that wasn’t enough so he just pushed the whole thing off the table so it hit the floor and broke up. That’s the boy we know and love!!! 🧩
5. Tonight saw a lovely smooth bedtime routine. The kids ate all their tea and happily jumped in the bath but not before M crawled around on the kitchen floor and ate all the crumbs. Perhaps we’re not feeding him enough but at least I didn’t have to hoover. In the bath E decided she wanted to be Marie Antoinette whilst M insisted on licking the bath water. Such is life in this house. After story time they both hit the sack and fell straight to sleep, whilst I took my socks off as the sole of my left foot has been hurting ever since my run. I was worried I had developed a blister so tentatively took a look. Sure enough there was something there but it wasn’t a blister. It was a small purple gem from one of E’s many artistic projects which has been ground into my sole so hard that it was wedged in place. I dug it out but there’s a big hole there now. Yet another event that definitely would not have happened without kids. They bring us so much joy and so much pain at the same time!! 💎
LawyerLow Diaries 