January 8th

See, here is the after shot.  Not quite what I would have done with it but hey, I'm taking what I get in this sphere of domestic life.







Remember today?  It was the day of no photos, because Teddy and Harriet were off to Luna Park with their cousin and grandparents.  Oh yes, the grandparents are certifiable.  Mad.  Crazy.  But off they trotted with James to the train station at 8am and there I was, all alone in the house for a whole day. 

WOOT!






















First port of call was my computer.  I know it sounds strange, but I have been hankering for some nothing-booked-for-this-time-but-still-have-energy moments in order to...hold on to your hats...tidy up my computer bookmarks.  Oh yes, fun times.  You see, during 2014 when I barely had time to raise my head above water, I was marking sites left right and centre that looked interesting or had great ideas or offered a different perspective.  They had some vague form of archiving system but essentially it was a mish-mash of unit titles, prac areas of study and loads of random, floating bookmarks.

And now?  Ooh baby.  Clean as a whistle.  There are even sub-folders in my bookmarks (yes, you can idolise me as you need to).  And so I decided to celebrate by heading out to drop off some items at the op-shop.  I also happened to browse around and found a few choice items - a dress and some pants for work this year, a Star Wars role-playing book for a certain couple of nerds in the house, and some clothes for Harriet.  Bonus!

While I was out today I noticed a few things about my day without children - most notably, there are many things I seem to be able to do that my children are incapable of.  I provide you with the list below.

I can:

• walk to the car with my shoes on and therefore remove the need to complain bitterly about the temperature of the footpath
• wait outside of the car until the windows are down, thus abolishing the need for screaming about the heat inside the car, or leaving sweaty handprints of anguish on the windows
• listen to FBi without crying
• handle waiting the three or maybe even four minutes that it takes for the car's air-conditioning to create the desired effect in the car, meaning that I failed to fill the car with screams as if I was being burnt slowly by the fingers of Dante's Hell
• choose wherever I want to park the car without worrying about the need for sufficient obstacle-free space on the footpath side (eg: trees preventing doors from opening), or even worrying about how close I was parking to the destination (in fact I could even park as far away as I liked to enjoy the walk!)
• walk to the destination without simultaneously sobbing about how cruel I am to park three whole blocks away, or even walk to the cafe without demanding food through screamed anger or falling to the ground
• sit and order at a cafe while staying seated upright the entire time
• pour water cleanly from jug to glass
• use cutlery
• eat without needing a floormat or eating jacket to collect the detritus 
• have food and a drink all for around $15
• sit quietly and read while eating lunch
• sit quietly and read after eating lunch
• sit quietly and read for as long as I damn well please
• choose when I want to walk away without having to turn it into a game or have it turned into a game for me by an enthusiastic five year old
• walk - not run with pulled arm or amble so slowly I may as well walk backwards
• stroll past shop windows and look at the items I'm interested in for as long or as short a time as I choose
• walk into a bookshop and not walk directly to the children's section upon entry (well ok I could do this but I didn't.  Sue me.)
• walk out of the bookshop whenever I want to
• change my mind about where I'm heading without the need to offer up a five minute explanation 
• pick up fragile items
• put down fragile items
• look like a customer that might be welcomed into a shop

I could list more, but I'm sure you get the idea.

James had told me that Teddy was acting like a tired loon before even arriving at the grandparents' apartment at 8.30am.  My trepidation about his state upon return was completely and utterly justified.  He screamed and cried for...ooohh...about an hour or so in fits and bursts.  He refused to even try the shakshuka I'd made but finally succumbed and ate the whole thing (refused to eat the egg but did enjoy the 'pasta' [ie: albumin]).                                                                                                        

In an attempt to calm him down before bed (he was hysterically insistent, of course, that he wasn't tired), we decided to crack open the surprise new SW Rebels -twenty minutes of  mind-numbing fun.  As you can see, he was kind of interested.


As for sleep - well, he finally managed it around 9pm and Harriet still was getting up from bed at 10pm, so tomorrow's playdate is looking like an exercise in patience - from everyone.