Really? My Child?

Now that my firstborn is in full time school he frequently comes home with his jumper generously spattered with stickers in recognition of his good works and impeccable behaviour.

Obviously I always feel a smug glow of pride when he comes out adorned with stickers while other parents pick up their kids who aren't so beautifully decorated. (No doubt that'll be me next year picking up Eli, he's just not all that bothered about making people happy like our Thomas).

Of course in school I was always the model of perfect classroom etiquette (when I wasn't idly chatting to my classmates and ignoring the teacher of course) so I think Thomas is just following in my footsteps.

The other day as we were collecting his coat I enquired as to why he'd received a sticker of a dinosaur that said 'excellent-saurus'.

"I had the tidiest pile".

"What?"

"When we got changed for PE and had to leave our clothes tidy my pile was the very tidy one".

(Completely bewildered) "Oh, right!"

"Cos some of those kids just are not good at being tidy".

And that behaviour he did not get from me.

But I'm hoping it's contagious because my house would really benefit from a healthy dose of that.

(On a tangent I just barely got around to removing the 'your pregnancy' widget. Imagine my horror when I just checked it only to find I'd neglected it so long it was telling me I was 7 weeks pregnant all over again! I'd rather fracture my other shoulder than be pregnant all over again).

Giving a Bit of Credit Where it's Long Overdue

For Father's Day this year we happened to be off by the sea enjoying some sunshine on our family Summer holiday.

On Thomas's last day of school before we left Rob wasn't working and so he went to pick him up. I tried to talk him out of it because I knew Thomas would be coming home with some top quality hand crafted card or gift and I had wanted to keep it as a surprise for the big day itself.

But Rob went nonetheless and really I should have just been grateful that someone else was doing the pick up for a change. Because really after the 212th pick up of the academic year the monotony really started to kick in.

Thomas came home with this card.

I knew right away what the drawing was. It couldn't have been more obvious.

It's Rob playing his Xbox. Priceless.

I looked at Rob, he seemed crestfallen, he said with a tinge of sarcasm, 'Oh it gets better!'

So I looked inside and there recorded by his teacher is what in the eyes of Thomas his dad liked doing the most in all the world.

Rob was both gutted and concerned that Thomas's teachers would have a far less than top notch opinion of his fathering prowess.

Behind a chuckle I tried to comfort him by suggesting that it could have been far, far worse.

After all It could have said my dad likes to play Grand Theft Auto or some Zombie killing game.

So should Thomas's teachers ever fill their spare hours randomly googling parents of their pupils for the record I'd just like to say what a fab dad Rob truly is (and that his Xbox generally only enjoys the wonder of electrical power when they kids are fast asleep in bed).

I don't give him nearly enough vocal credit (or probably non vocal credit either) and I don't devote nearly enough blog posts to him (really I should cos the guy has hilariously killer OCD and what's not entertaining about that?).

On Father's Day when he was well within his rights to demand a nap and maybe even breakfast in bed (which I'm pretty sure were my Mother's day demands) he was instead doing this with his two biggest fans.

Plus one things for sure you'd never catch me doing stuff like this with them.

I'm impressed I even went outside to take pictures of it.

Mummy's are for warm, indoor and clean activities only.

Oh and for the record Rob actually didn't even think the Xbox tennis was that special.

What a Difference 365 Makes

Yesterday Eli had his very first visit to Nursery School.

As we spent our hour there playing in very familiar surroundings (due to the fact that we drop Thomas off there every afternoon) I couldn't help but let my mind wander back to the same experience a year ago when I was doing the exact same thing with Thomas. (Though mercifully back then it was about 10 degrees cooler and I wasn't incubating what feels like a litter of puppies).

A year ago I was full of apprehension about my firstborn growing up too quickly.

This year I can't help thinking, Roll on September!

Last year I decided to send Thomas in the afternoons so that we could all enjoy lazy mornings in our PJ's together.

This year I realised that with 2 boys under 5 lazy mornings simply just don't exist so Eli will be headed to school at 8:40 with his brother every day and I'll have lazy mornings by myself (new baby permitting).

Last year Thomas cried for 30 minutes after leaving his visit to Nursery he was so enamoured.

This year, all year, Eli has cried and had to be wrestled out of nursery when we drop Thomas off on an almost daily basis. I feel ready for that particular brand of humiliation to end. 11 days to go and counting.

While Eli and I were visiting Thomas's teacher came over to tell me that she's thrilled to be getting Eli because it'll make it easier to say bye to Thomas. She expressed that it'd be like having Thomas still there.

A lovely sentiment.

But Eli isn't a bit like Thomas.

The main contrast?

Last year I remember being really concerned that Thomas would injure himself playing with their real grown up woodworking tools.

This year I'm far more concerned that Eli will bludgeon someone other than himself.

Looking Forward

2009 is upon us.

It came upon me so unexpectedly that I completely forgot to make New Years resolutions that I would undoubtedly break at some point between now and Spring. Hey, at least I can't disappoint myself now, right? Hallelujah to that I say.

Here is a sneaky peak into what 2009 holds for us over here, try not to get too jealous.

First up: Potty Training

Why our dear Father in Heaven didn't send these little people to live with us completely toilet trained is beyond me, seriously.

It brings out all the worst parts of my character and magnifies them a gazillion-fold.

Thomas was dry both day and night by day 4 (bless his heart) but still by pee on the floor number 8, in the second hour, of morning number one, I was seriously contemplating throwing both him and myself under a passing bus. It was so tempting.

But SuperRob came to the rescue and saved the day.

Before I get ahead of myself and start imagining a glorious repeat of Gina Ford's (baby Nazi though she is) magical 'Potty training in one week' plan I should probably consider that this is Eli I am dealing with.

The child responsible for such antics as these? (Disclaimer: Not a link for the faint hearted or weak stomached).

Is freedom of bodily functions really what we want to give that little hellion?

Plus no SuperRob on hand to save the day this time.

So I'll be treating myself to some of this, you know, obviously, because I'm worth it.

But mostly because I'll no doubt be needing it, by the gallon.

The summer (a term I use loosely to refer to the months June through to August and not a specified period of delightful weather because hello we live in England and we haven't actually seen the sun for more than a few minutes at a time since 2006) will host our family summer holiday. This year we're going with my side of the family to lovely Great Yarmouth on the East coast. If it is a patch on last years Siswick gathering we're in for a real treat.

Unless of course 3 months in we're still dealing with potty training. Light of potty training fortune please shine upon me.

Our last milestone of this year comes in September when Thomas starts school full time from 8:45-3:25 every single day.

Oh how I'll mourn for the first week at the loss of my firstborn.

Which will speedily turn to total jubilation followed by the making of a chart to countdown the days to September 2010 when Eli will be joining him there full time too. Ah good times.

2009 could also be the year we add a new addition to the Siswick family, so watch this space. After all what better way to celebrate getting your house entirely baby kit free than by having another, right?

But I may have exploded from over consumption of Cadbury's creme eggs before any of the above actually occur, but come on, what a way to go!

Healthy Week?

This week is Healthy Week, not here of course but at school. Each day has a designated topic and activity. Monday was Move it Monday, Tuesday was Taste it Tuesday and then I guess I lost interest in the letter they sent home after that because I only remember that today if Fresh air Friday. I hope I didn't miss anything particularly exciting on the other two days.

Bearing in mind that Thomas would happily exist on a diet of bread, cheese and yogurt (well in addition to crisps, chips and chocolate of course but surely that is a given) I knew that Taste it Tuesday was unlikely to be a big hit with Thomas.

When I arrived I saw they had a display of all kinds of exotic fruits and a plate next to each fruit for the children to taste. Thomas just looked at it as he walked in and grimaced like he was being offered pure arsenic. Outrageously they had even put jam on the crackers they usually serve at snack time in an attempt to be more 'healthy' and up their fruit intake. I didn't want to point out that jam is actually loaded with sugar which surely defeats the healthy part? Nobody likes a party pooper so I kept my mouth shut. Thomas was disgusted that his crackers had been smeared with red goo and refused to eat them he later assured me.

So I left him there knowing full well Taste it Tuesday would be wasted on him.

Well until I picked him up and was informed that today he had tried something new.

Paint.

Yep, on Taste it Tuesday my three year old rejected all offers of fruit and attempted to eat paint instead.

His teacher loudly informed me in front of all of the other parents (whose children don't attempt to snack on paint and looked on in horror) and enquired if this is something he frequently does at home.

(Imaginary response) "Yes, all the time. You see he is a really picky eater and so we're just relieved to get him to ingest something other than bread, cheese, yogurt or McDonald's alternatives. So we serve it up by the pint. He really seems to like it!"

Seriously.

He was only getting into the spirit of Taste it Tuesday after all and nobody can accuse him of not wanting to join in.

Though he has informed me that paint isn't very yummy.

And for the record neither is play dough.