NotSheep

Well whaddya know…

Christmas was the usual food-and-gifts fest. We had our main Christmas meal on Christmas Eve again this year, and again it worked well. There was a disaster in the making when Barney, asked to put a pot back on the hob, moved both the pot and the cork mat it had been sitting on - a minute later, there was a burning smell but we managed to get the cork mat removed before it set anything else on fire…

Christmas morning almost started with George doing his best to wake Freddy, but given that it was 1.45 a.m., I soon put a stop to that! A few hours later, bleary-eyed children began to wander into my room. Sometimes they even noticed the stockings lined up on the sofa:

Louie’s gifts were mostly under his stocking, rather than in it, as he’s too young for small things, but he seemed to enjoy them nonetheless.

Scratchy brought some breakfast up, then went back to get some other items - foolishly leaving a plate piled high with croissants in the hands of the 14-year-old boy…

…but we managed to wrestle some of them away

It wasn’t long before my bed looked like this:

Once everyone had eaten and exclaimed over the wondrous contents of their stockings (notebooks, puzzles, socks, chocolate coins, and various other small items), we went downstairs, where a heap of gifts was stacked under the tree. Well, under and around the tree. Well, under and around the tree and on the sofa next to it… there are eight of us here, after all!

All the boys received either new pyjamas or new pyjama bottoms - the older boys in particular always seem to get through pyjama bottoms faster than the tops, so Santa clearly felt it made sense for them to get extra pj trousers. Here’s Toby modelling his:

Barney was a bit surprised to find this hat in the first package he unwrapped, but gamely wore it through all of Xmas Day…and Boxing Day…

Louie didn’t take long to figure out that when handed something wrapped in paper, the thing to do was to tear the paper off - although he did have to be convinced to play with the contents, rather than eat the wrapping-paper.

Jack had fun opening all his gifts and then, uh, trying to wear or use all of them simultaneously:

George wore his new pyjamas, his dog-tags and his hat, and showed us all how cool he was. For some reason, in this photo he reminds me of Fido Dido

Toby got the guitar he’d asked Santa for, and eventually, between them, he and Barney got it out of the packaging:

That wasn’t the most challenging bit of packaging though - that accolade belongs to a remote-controlled car that Toby received. Scratchy, trying to wrestle it out of about a hundred twist-ties, said, “I don’t know why they do this!” - to which Jack replied, “Because Santa’s really stupid” - Scratchy laid the blame on the elves, though.

And Barney and George got a much-longed-for Nintendo DS each - Freddy already has a silver one, and clever Santa brought one in black for Barney and one in red for George.

Freddy was happy to receive several games for his DS, as well as a variety of other things including a build-it-yourself Murcielago (or however you spell it).

And it wasn’t long before the living-room looked…well, pretty much the way it looks every Christmas morning:

Toby spent a lot of Xmas Day snuggled on a sofa or in someone’s arms, running a fairly high temperature and clearly not feeling well. I suspect he still hasn’t even realised half the stuff he got for Xmas. He didn’t really improve until yesterday, when he woke beside me, fell asleep again, then woke an hour later apparently cured. He’s gone to sleep on the sofa opposite me as I write though - but maybe he’s just tired.

I decided that as I was surrounded by these DS thingies, I should try to see what the appeal was. Freddy kindly gave me his DS to try, with a Pokemon Ranger game in it - one he was already playing, which I thought was very brave of him. But it turned out I was quite good at capturing wild Pokemon, and when I got one called Toxicroak under control, Freddy looked astounded, said, “Just wait there - don’t move!”, ran from the room, then rushed back in with the remains of a box of chocolate bars he’d received, emptied it onto my lap and said, “You can have the rest of my chocolate for doing that!”

Yesterday we sat around, ate more, played more, watched a couple of movies - including “Big”, which I loved when it first came out because I thought Tom Hanks did a wonderful job moving, talking, looking just like a 12-year-old boy - and now that I actually have boys of that age, I find it even funnier

Christmas Eve, illustrated by a random-snapping 11-year-old:

We had our Xmas dinner (although I think we’ll be eating leftovers well into 2009):

This one says it all, I think

Merry Christmas!

People here are getting ready for Christmas - whether they want to or not!








Barney is under the weather today - feverish and a bit dopey, in that I-can’t-be-bothered-to-think way. I’m hoping it will pass quickly though, as Toby’s illness on Friday did. He woke up miserable (not like him), refused breakfast (not like him), hung onto me (not like him) and fell asleep leaning against me on the sofa less than half an hour after waking (not like him). But by lunchtime, he’d brightened up, and when I was ready for bed, he was wide awake and bouncy - and on Saturday he was back to normal, ready for a visit from Granda (who is, he says, “my favourite people!”) and Granny, who he likes because she comes with Granda…

When I pointed the camera at him, he decided to be a donkey

We made cookies before the arrival of the grandparents: sugar cookies, and these, which I think look very festive:

And the rest of this post consists of just-because photos of my very vocally and facially expressive five-month-old

That’s if they ever go to sleep, of course. Jack and Toby were using delaying tactics this evening. After they were tucked in, read a story, all the usual routine, Jack came running out of the bedroom. “I have to ask you a question!” he said in an urgent tone. “It’s important! It’s about Darth Vader!”

There have been lots of amusing conversations around here in the last few days. One of my favourites was an argument between Jack and Toby. Jack was wailing, “Toby’s in my bed!” Toby’s reply? “No! I’m a dragon in your bed!” Jack: “No, you’re a human!” Toby: “No, I’m a dragon!” Another - again involving Toby, but this time talking to Barney. “I’m getting bigger,” said Toby, “I’m getting giant!” Barney replied, “Am I getting giant too?” Toby gave him a withering look and said, “No, you’re already giant.” And today, George accused me of being “age-ist” because he wasn’t allowed to do something that I was.

All the boys’ activities have finally finished for the Christmas break. Last to go was St John Ambulance Cadets for Barney, on Tuesday evening. He also had the Air Cadets Christmas party this week, when he ate so much that he came home and was sick George and Freddy came home from jujitsu with selection boxes - George was kind enough to give me a Curly-Wurly out of his, but I don’t think anyone else got a look-in when it came to Freddy’s.

Toby likes chocolate too - he’s polished off all the bits in his advent calendar, and has been telling me I need to buy him another one. I have not succumbed. And while Jack likes chocolate, it doesn’t get him nearly as excited as coleslaw does. Yes, coleslaw. His eyes light up when he sees it in the refrigerator. It is his “favourite thing in the world”. A six-year-old whose favourite food involves cabbage? Surely something wrong there. Somewhere he acquired the information that you can draw a picture before bed and put it under your pillow, and you’ll dream about whatever you drew - so he drew one of these “dream pictures”. Of coleslaw.

We didn’t have coleslaw today - we had spaghetti and meatballs. We were going to make it for lunch, as we’d friends coming, but they all got sick, so we made it for dinner instead. Well, George made the meatballs. Freddy is the carnivore here - that boy does enjoy his meat as well as his chocolate - but he didn’t want to touch the raw meat: “It’s gross.” But George, who isn’t at all a meaty type of person, was quite happy to play with it. “It’s disgusting,” he said, “but it’s good fun!”

We had plans with a different lot of friends yesterday, and that did work out, although Jack got car-sick en route. He was fine once we arrived though, and, as usual when we visit them, didn’t want to come home again.

Speaking of friends, this week I’ve had not one, but two, Christmas cards from friends in Canada who I’d lost touch with. It was entirely my own fault that we lost contact - I’d moved house, but neither of them had! I just haven’t been organised enough in the last couple of years to gather people’s addresses together and write Christmas cards to all of them and get them all sent - but this year, I managed to do all that and do it early - and I’m now very glad I did, because it was lovely to hear from both A and L Both of them asked if I had any more children. Hmph. Anyone would think I had a reputation…

Who haven’t I mentioned? Oh, Louie - how could I not mention him, when he’s essentially an appendage? Stuck to me like glue. He’s been practising sitting up alone though - he’s managed to do it for a couple of minutes at a time - but he’s still unreliable enough that you have to sit with him and be ready to catch And have I mentioned how he points? He points to tell us what he wants, or where he wants to go, and very adamant about it he is too.

And that only leaves Barney, whose OU on-line assessment became available on Tuesday. He did the first few questions on Tuesday, had a break from it yesterday when we were out all day, and went back to it today. He’s done 80% of the questions already (and he’s done well - the assessment gives instant feedback). The assessment is due to be completed by January 29th. Somehow I think he’ll submit on time…

It’s been a busy weekend here; I’ve been striking things off my to-do list, and it’s very nearly a manageable size. Scratchy did the big grocery-shop that should see us through most of our meals for the rest of the month - there’ll be trips for fresh fruit and veg and to replenish the supply of milk etc, but the bulk of it is done - and put up half of the outside lights - this took longer than we’d like because it involved wiring up an outdoor socket, and he ran out of time this afternoon. I wrapped the rest of the Xmas gifts - there might be a few more items to arrive in the post, but it will be a ten-minute job rather than the all-day job it would have been if I’d done them all in one go. The last of the Xmas cards have been posted (except for one which is for a friend whose new address I don’t have) and I used cheap fleece blankets to line the curtains for two of the kids’ rooms; they’re just pinned on for now, but if they work, I’ll stitch them sometime (i.e. probably about this time next year). And I flickrd and blogd and blogd and flickrd.

In the kitchen, I used the remains of a chicken we roasted earlier in the week to make stock, and have frozen batches of that in readiness for our Xmas gravy and Freddy made cookies - not the ones in the photos below, which are shop-bought Jammy Dodgers, or Yummy Dodgers, as Toby calls them. And not in the kitchen, but for it, I ordered a set of Le Creuset cookware from Amazon - I couldn’t resist the half-price sale.

And the kids and I made candy-cane reindeer. I can’t believe everyone doesn’t already know about those - we use them on the tree, in a cup or vase as a decoration, attached to a gift as a little extra - and they’re so easy to make

Barney was away all day today, with another Air Cadet from his squadron and a few from other squadrons, doing a shooting course. I have mixed feelings about him learning to shoot - on the one hand, I am very, very far from being a gun-fan, but on the other hand, the boys all seem to have been born with an interest in them, and given that, it’s probably a good thing that they learn about them in an environment which is safe and insists on a large amount of respect for them, and which doesn’t glamourise them at all. I suppose, too, that shooting is an inherent part of an organisation like Air Cadets, and he’s getting so much out Air Cadets in all sorts of ways - lots of opportunities to get involved in many different activities, and he’s doing a BTEC through them (he passed two exams towards it on Monday night). And today, he was one of three Cadets to pass the test on the first attempt today, so he is now certified to handle .22 rifles (or something like that) for the next year.

If you want a bit of easy entertainment, hand your kids a camera and tell them to take as many photos as they like, of whatever they like. The results of said experiment here started with a number of very fuzzy pictures, presumably taken before the children involved realised they needed to hold the camera still whilst taking the photograph, followed by some photos of each other, and then numerous photographs of lego creations. The boys also figured out that they could make movie clips, which led to a lengthy action scene based around a lego creation that I think is a castle and its surroundings, as well as a clip of Freddy doing ju-jitsu moves with a huge long tube made of k’nex and doing stand-up, telling Chuck Norris jokes (gah).

But that’s not all

Freddy has been busy baking cookies; he’s getting pretty good at it. The others show sporadic interest, but Freddy’s love of all things sweet keeps him going

You would think, given his baking ability, that when asked to help with dinner, he’d be more useful. You might not expect, after you had beaten a dozen eggs and were about to scramble them and asked him to throw out the bowlful of eggshells, that he would throw out the bowlful of beaten egg instead. I certainly didn’t expect it anyway. It was made worse by the fact that the refrigerator was bare - we’ve been eating our way through the contents of the freezer so that I could defrost it before the Great Christmas Grocery Shopping Spree - which Scratchy is doing this evening.

Barney managed to lose the screw from one side of his glasses - the tiny screw that holds the frame together. The optician we usually see is way over on the other side of the city, in a town in which parking is a horrendous job at any time of year, and I really didn’t want to have to go there, so I found a local optician willing to fix them. However Barney, being a fourteen-year-old boy, continued to wear his glasses with the lens just perched in the frame - the result of which was that the lens fell to the floor every minute or two, and ended up looking like a pane of frosted glass. So his glasses have been repaired, but he’s also had an eye-test and a new pair of glasses ordered.

He does have a spare pair of glasses - but the same thing happened to them a while ago, and he never thought to mention it

I took Louie, Jack and Toby with me when we went to get Barney’s eyes tested, and the latter two drove me nuts with questions - I think they questioned me about every pair of frames in the shop: Why are these glasses blue? Why are those glasses smaller? What kind of glasses are those? And all that was before they started spotting things in the mirrors… The optician’s assistant asked, “No school today?” and I replied that we home-educate. When we started to home-educate, the most common response to that statement was, “Oh I didn’t know you could do that”, but more often now, it’s “Oh I know someone who does that” - and that’s what she said. “Oh, my sister does that.” Turns out I know her sister.

These photos are from last weekend, while we were putting up decorations. This is how it looks when you’re decorating for Xmas and you have six children.

And finally, just because…

Those who’ve been reading a while might remember when Jack was ill back in April. He came home from the hospital with an inhaler, to be used as needed. He came off it fairly quickly - within a couple of days, he didn’t need it at all - but he has used it again periodically since, and has been using it almost every day since October. I had to get a repeat prescription for it in late October, and when he continued to use it almost daily, I made an appointment with the asthma clinic. The appointment was this morning.

I’d really been hoping we’d go in and they’d say “oh no, this isn’t asthma, it’s just an infection and it will clear up” - but I didn’t actually think they would, and I was right. His peak-flow wasn’t great, but he’s never used a peak-flow meter before, and it takes a bit of practice to get the technique - and peak flow measurement is a bit of a hit-and-miss measurement in a child anyway. But his second inhaler was empty (I’d thought it was low, but not empty), which means he’d gone through it in about six weeks. She felt he needed to be on a maintenance inhaler (which means corticosteroids) as well. I’ve now downgraded my optimism to hoping he’ll only need it for a short while to stabilise things.

(Edit - have re-upgraded optimism a little - he managed to blow 150 on the peak-flow meter this evening, which is very nearly average for his size.)

It was, believe it or not, Jack’s first medical appointment ever. He’s been to Casualty a couple of times, but has never seen a GP before (or yet, because the asthma clinic is run by a nurse). You would never have known it was his first time though. First he sat in the waiting-room examining a book on cake-decorating, exclaiming over the multi-tier wedding cake (I don’t think he’d ever seen one before) and asking if we could borrow the book (heh, can you tell we’re regulars at the library?) Then, when it was his turn, he bounced down the corridor, following the signs for Room 5, found the room, opened the door and bounced in, talked to the nurse, inspected her printer, got measured and weighed, pulled a chair over so he could stand on it to push the bar right to the top of the height-chart, peered at a stethoscope and asked what it was (he knew what it was, he was really asking permission to play with it), played with it, found and listened to his own heart, found and listened to Louie’s heart, told us it was a little bit faster than his own, found and listened to my heart, allowed the nurse to listen to his chest, read the posters on the wall, bounced back down the corridor, bounced around the waiting-room while we waited for the nurse to get the prescription signed, inspected the small model skeleton that was hanging up on the wall, made a scary-grin face and asked why skeletons always do that…

He came home this afternoon and spent some time writing numbers on a bit of paper before coming to tell me which ones were multiples of three. I didn’t even know he knew what “multiples” meant. Then he set about teaching Louie to count. At dinner, when he coughed, Barney said, “Sick boy alert! Sick boy alert!” - to which Jack replied in a reassuring voice, “It’s okay! I have a brown inhaler and a blue inhaler!” I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

Xmas preparations continue apace (whatever that means). All the cards have been written and posted, except for the few that will be hand-delivered and the one for friends whose address I can’t find. All gifts have been purchased and, apart from those which have yet to be delivered, wrapped. I’ve been ebaying for pyjamas for the boys - if I get them all some in time, they’ll get them as one of their gifts. The Xmas tree has been chosen, delivered, lit (my least favourite bit of Xmas has to be getting the lights to work) and decorated. Other decorations have been put up around the house (although the star-lights in the front hall keep falling down - must find something more effective than white blu-tak for them!) I’ve even bought more plates and bowls, of various sizes, so we once again have enough dishes for us all to eat off the one kind. I bought the set in Canada, and have only recently found a supplier in the UK, so we’ve been running out of plates mid-way through the day on a regular basis - but no more!

The tree was delivered on Friday evening, and on Saturday, we started off our Xmas celebrations by doing our own version of a St Nicholas thingy, in which the children left their shoes at the ends of their beds and woke up to find chocolate in them. There was much attempted bribery going on on Friday evening, as some of them tried to convince Barney to lend them his shoes It was a silly thing but a fun thing, and a nice way to start the season, and then later in the day we decorated the tree.

On Sunday, we had my mum and step-father here for the afternoon and for dinner, and made most of a proper Xmas dinner, largely because Scratchy had bought a frozen turkey crown that was not going to be big enough for our actual Xmas dinner (he still hasn’t quite grasped the number of people we’re feeding here), and I’m trying to empty the freezer to defrost it before doing a large pre-Xmas shop. I looked on it as a practice run, and it was all good. Scratchy and my step-father had spent the afternoon putting down a new floor in our main bathroom. It had a carpet in there when we moved in, and I said then it would be one of the first things I changed - well, I haven’t changed all that much, but I would have liked to get rid of it a bit sooner! There’s now a laminate floor in there; I’m not sure how well it will withstand the splashes and abuse from the boys, but it came to us via freecycle, so even if it only lasts a couple of years, I won’t complain. It certainly looks much, much better. And while they did that, I cooked dinner (with some help from my mum and George, both of whom peeled the potatoes) and Jack taught Granny how to draw the earth and the solar system. I think she felt she got a glimpse of how home-education works

I’ve been planning Xmas food - I had a great recipe for stuffing last year, but didn’t think I’d saved it anywhere, and couldn’t remember where it came from, or even what it was called. But I knew it was on a website somewhere, and a couple of minutes of detective-work - or rather, trying to follow the same train of thought I’d have followed last year when I was looking for a recipe - found it. So we’re set for this year. Definitely making home-made cranberry sauce too (I did remember to save that recipe!) I will post the recipes (or at least links to them) shortly.

The boys have advent calendars with chocolates in them - not very good chocolate, it must be said. Next year I might splurge for calendars from Thorntons, just so that when I get given a bit of chocolate, it doesn’t make me go “bleurgh”. I’m using the advent calendars to, I hope, instil in Toby the habit of getting dressed after breakfast. He’s been refusing to get dressed recently - any request for him to put clothes on has been met with his stroppy-teenager impression and him stomping out of the room with his shoulders hunched and his head dropped down to his chest. Cute, but annoying. And so I’ve implemented a routine of breakfast, teeth-cleaning etc, clothes on, then advent calendars. So far it has worked.

And it might only be Monday, but there’s already a Line of the Week. This one is from Freddy, telling me how “looking after children is really hard work.” Brief, thoughtful pause, then, “But you make it look easy.”

One son at Air Cadets, two others at ju-jitsu, and three more going to sleep soon (I hope). G’night.

Wednesday:
Despite his expired passport, Barney had no trouble getting on the plane. Or rather, he had no trouble once he got to the correct airport - Scratchy drove him to the wrong one and neither of them had the sense to notice it until they realised that there were no other Cadets around! They had a mad rush to the right place and just made it on time. Unfortunately when the Cadets arrived in Liverpool, the weather wasn’t suitable for taking them up for flying instruction (the cloud was too low), so he didn’t get a chance to fly a plane. But he got a day of wandering about the shops in Liverpool, and there will be other opportunities for flying, so he’s not too upset about it. I have a feeling that Toby was missing Barney while he was away; he was very, uh, challenging. It makes me think about how much little kids whose older siblings are always out at school must be missing out.

Thursday:
I went shopping, determined to finish off my Christmas gift-list. I didn’t quite make it - I have two gifts left to buy, both (I hope) in the same place, but rather than go there in the middle of the afternoon and then deal with a rush-hour journey home, I decided to just go home and leave it until another time. It wasn’t helping that I had all the children with me (which isn’t unusual) and that Barney was exhausted after being away all day on Wednesday and was thus quite the opposite of helpful (which is unusual). But overall, I’m feeling very pleased with how organised I am this year - all the cards are written, addressed, sealed and stamped, and with the exception of those I’ll deliver by hand, are sitting in a pile on the kitchen counter, ready to be posted tomorrow. I’ve also wrapped all the gifts I’ve purchased - there are a few that have been bought on-line which haven’t been delivered yet, but really, the bulk of it’s done. I can’t help thinking there must be some huge job that I’ve completely forgotten, and that is going to throw me completely off-course!

Friday:
It was my turn to be tired and grumpy - I woke stiff and headachy and hoping I wasn’t getting sick. I had a couple of people out to measure and quote for blinds for the bedrooms (the old verticals were well beyond the point of no return!) but otherwise there wasn’t much that needed done. After lunch I left Barney, George and Freddy at the barber’s, came home and put on a DVD for Jack and Toby, and snuggled with Louie on the sofa. My cunning plan to have the older three finished at the barber’s around the time that Scratchy would be on his way home didn’t quite work, as they were later than expected, but it did at least mean that I didn’t have to pack up the younger three into the car again to go and collect the others.

And then…Saturday:
In the morning we prepared for the arrival of various friends, and from early afternoon they started to drift in. Shortly before 4, those who were going to the movies left for the movies - the numbers worked out very nicely, as we’d 14 people going, so my friend K drove my car and Scratchy drove his and that let me stay at home with Louie and my friend J and cups of tea. The younger children attending went to see Madagascar 2, and the over-10s watched Ghost Town. The former finished half an hour before the latter, which gave just enough time for Scratchy to come home to collect Louie and me - what timing! At about 6.15, we all met up in the Pizza Hut just down the street from the movie-theatre and went about emptying their refrigerators. It’s quite amazing how fast such quantities of food can be inhaled when there are a handful of teens and pre-teens around the table!

Some of us were vegetarian, and when the second (or perhaps the third - I’d lost count) vegetarian pizza was served, it had something on it which looked suspiciously like sausage-meat. We pointed it out to the waiter, who was very apologetic. “I’ll go into the kitchen and make you a vegetarian one myself,” he said, “Honestly, that lot in the kitchen can’t understand simple instructions. They couldn’t manage an English GCSE between them!”

(We sort of disagree with him about the people in the kitchen though, because all the food was very good indeed!)

Barney’s birthday cake was presented and he set about blowing out 14 candles - except that there were 14 of those magic self-relighting candles on it, so it took quite a while!

Home afterwards for tea and talking around the kitchen table for the adults, and a riotous evening in front of various Nintendo-type consoles for the children. Some of them went home, some stayed over - and so I present - Sunday:

Everyone still here now is in bed, thoroughly tired out by a most excellent weekend. Thinking we might do a St-Nicholas-type thing next weekend, with chocolates in shoes followed by putting up the Christmas decorations

I’ve been very remiss with respect to photography recently. I haven’t been taking enough of them, and I haven’t been flickring what I do take, which then means that none have been posted here. The evidence of this, which I’m not about to present, is these photos - some of which date from *ahem* August.

Anyway.

First up, my kids

Barney and Jack:

Freddy and George:

Toby:

And Louie:

The next few haven’t been delayed by quite so long - they’re from just under a month ago (as if you couldn’t have guessed, given the costumes):

And an extra one of Louie. Just because.

Photographs from Barney’s birthday celebrations will be along shortly; they are uploading to flickr as I write. Like buses, really, except that a lot more than two come along at once

An assortment of stuff.

Good stuff:

I have done a fair bit of the Christmas shopping, and even wrapped most of what I’ve bought.

I have finished - yes, finished! - writing my Christmas cards. I did it in short spurts, because I figured I wouldn’t get arms-free time for a long spurt. And I’ve finished. I might even get them posted on time this year.

Someone told me I didn’t look old enough to have six children - which is weird*, because I’ve certainly been feeling old enough recently.

Barney got his OU books - and confirmation that he’s receiving full funding for his course.

And he turned 14 (see below).

George and Freddy graded at ju-jitsu. George, who took some time out from ju-jitsu, is a belt behind Freddy, so he was tested for, and passed, his orange belt grading. Freddy was supposed to do his blue-and-white belt grading in two weeks, when he’d have to go to a leisure centre in the city, because he’s at the stage where they start to grade outside the club - but due to a mix-up, we were given three hours notice that he was going to be grading at the club last night. Still, he passed too.

Toby had an assessment with the paediatrician, who is no longer at all worried about him (I think her worries disappeared about two minutes after she met him and me, but anyway…) and who has discharged him. I was going to ask if we could just drop the assessments anyway, because there really is nothing to worry about now, but as soon as I mentioned it, she said she’d been going to suggest it too. She says she’s “quite certain that if there are any concerns, you will access whatever he needs”

During a conversation with Barney (remember, he’s 14), I said, “I’m far from being a perfect mother” - and he looked thoughtfully at me and replied, “You’re very near, actually.” Cue tears from me - I don’t think I am at all, but it’s lovely to hear he feels that way

Bad stuff:

Ju-jitsu grading. Yes, I know that’s under “good stuff” too, but this is about the badges. The ones that are really difficult to sew on, and are really huge. As someone said, on hearing the size of the blummin things, “That’s not a badge, it’s an advertising hoarding!” Indeed.

Jack’s breathing is not good - he’s been using his inhaler regularly recently. I’ve made an appointment for him at the asthma clinic, but it’s still a couple of weeks away. You’d think they’d prioritise things like breathing.

Someone hacked into a retailer database and got a bunch of credit-card numbers - just the numbers, no expiry dates or names or anything - including mine. And the credit-card company decided to cancel all the accounts and re-issue the cards. And that meant I couldn’t shop on-line until the replacements arrived. When I pointed out it was a month before Christmas and I’d six children and about eight websites with full baskets, the guy said he’d get the cards sent special delivery. Good - except that I had to be home to sign for them. So I waited at home. And waited. For 11 days, before they finally showed up - in the ordinary post, with no signature required.
(Yes, I could have used another credit-card - but I get cashback on the main one. And yes, I could buy on-line with my debit-card. But I like the legal protection and extra insurance I get with the credit-card.)

Louie has a wicked rash on both cheeks. I’m hoping (but not very hopeful) that it’s not eczema

Cute stuff:

Jack, in the middle of a discussion (involving all the children old enough to talk) about why giraffes have such long necks. “I think,” he announced, “that it’s so they can watch the clouds go by.”

Jack again - this time, cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast - with a tea-towel slung over his shoulder, like a proper little chef.

Toby, on the umpteenth request to do something, responding with his impression of a stroppy teenager.

Louie. In general. But also in particular the tuft of hair which sticks straight up, due to his double-crown, and which has resulted in him being nick-named TinTin - which seems to amuse him

Weird stuff:

I got ogled whilst breastfeeding Louie at a shopping-centre! By an old bloke, who was obviously also a rather sad bloke if he had to rely on glimpses of my flesh for kicks.

Words from Freddy, while Jack was trying to get out a pizza-cutter: “Stop it! I don’t want this turning into a blood festival!” Erm…

A phone-call from…well, I don’t know who it was from, because the caller asked for someone I’d never heard of. I told her she’d reached the wrong number. She replied, “That’s okay, I’ll give him a call later.” Uh…

We spent part of Barney’s birthday on Youtube, seeking out Showaddywaddy vids. It’s a bit of a long story, but it involves Mock The Week, Hugh Dennis and Jimmy Saville. I’m sure you all understand now.

*Maybe the bit about me being told I didn’t look old enough to have six kids should have been in this section.

Ranty stuff:

I still can’t cope with the website for the library system. Or it can’t cope with me. Either way, it’s horrible.

As-yet-uncategorised stuff:

Tomorrow, Barney is off to Liverpool, to fly planes - his first time (he was supposed to do it before, but the weather was uncooperative). At least, he’ll be off to Liverpool if they let him on the plane to Liverpool. Because his passport expired earlier this year, and we weren’t told until last night that he’d need a passport. Or a driving-licence. He’s how old? Oh yeah, 14. Right. So the plan is that we’ll take him to the airport with his expired passport and keep our fingers crossed. According to the Easyjet website, he can use the passport for domestic flights up to two years after it expires. Also according to the Easyjet website, under-18s don’t need photo ID anyway - but the Cadets woman says they’ve had problems with this before - so, uh, why couldn’t they have mentioned the passport thing more than 33 hours before the flight?

Imusttakesomephotos… Imusttakesomephotos… Imusttakesomephotos… Imusttakesomephotos…