Simple Words Melt My Heart

It is hard being a Mum, enforcing all of the rules. Rules, you see, are everywhere, and are important in life. So it is my job, as your Mum, to let you know what the rules are, and make sure they are being followed.

You know the rules, they have been the same since you were born. We have been trying to be consistent. We have tried to explain the reasons for having the rules to you in so many ways. It is not that you do not understand the rules, or their importance. You try to follow the rules, but you are driven to break them. Not because you are naughty, but because you are fearful.

Your fear of being alone has been growing. We carry you to your bed at night, as we have exhausted all of your tears  whilst trying to get you to sleep in your bed. You are sure to wake through the night, and realise you are alone, and make your way to the safe haven next to me.
And no Supernanny! Consistency and routine are not the key to this little boy's problem.

Still, we guide you to your room each night. You need to know we will continue to try. Your room will eventually become your own haven. Your own safe place to retreat to.

You came to me the other night as I was climbing into bed. I gave you the same spiel you have heard so many times before.
"I just need to tell you something Mummy" you say, as you fidget nervously with the book in your hand.
"I wanted to show you something in this book."
You shift closer, hitching up on the foot of the bed. As you turn the pages, I know you are desperately trying to find something for us to discuss. I am tired. I look at your face. You look tired too. Yet, here you are, trying to find a reason not to be alone, instead of resting your weary eyes in your bed.
You are sitting cross-legged on the bed in your shorty pyjamas.

I sigh. I am weakening.
"Are you going to jump in?" I say.
I can not bear to see your little legs and arms prickled with goose bumps.
Your head whips up and the look on your face changes to gratitude.
As you scrambles to slide in next to me, your next words melt my heart, and override any rules you are breaking.
"Thank you Mummy, for letting me snuggle next to you. I do love you so much."

I love you so much too.

Game over.

Show Off Your Shot - bubbles

Today I am linking up with and then-she snapped. People who know me will know that I have a camera of some description on hand MOST of the time. Love, love, love taking photos! Can not have too many - Thank God for DIGITAL!

It would be quite correct to say that Master Three LOVES a bath, and doesn't mind a bubble or two.

He will tip ALL of our bath toys in and play until the water goes cold.

He is very sneaky though - he likes to splash which is breaking rule number 1.

He also likes to find things to add to his bath, whether it be some of Mum's shampoo, some Insect Repellant, some non-water resistant toys, a balloon .... anything is possible.

Master 3 is also a bath stunt professional and likes to perform tricks, swirling the water over the edge and seeing how much water will leap out when he jumps in from the bath edge.

Breaking rule number 2.

Something unique to Master 3 that I did not have to endure with my daughter (could it be a boy thing?) is how relaxed a warm bath can make him. And I mean relaxed! Every muscle ... do you see where I am going here? If you don't,then let me just say that Master 3 has had foreign objects, not usually welcome in the bath, on several occasions join him for a swim. Needless to say that hubby (who is not a fan of foreign objects) quickly lets me know my services are needed.

Grateful .... that things can be fixed

This week has been interesting to say the least. I felt like I was literally running from one errand to another. Bills were coming in the mail as I was paying others and putting them away. And things broke .... but thankfully, were repaired.

image source

When we moved into our house and did a complete renovation in 2001 (where did that time go?) we installed a new oven in our new kitchen. The old kitchen really wasn't usable, as was the case with some other areas of the house - but that's a whole other story. Our oven has been great and the ceramic cook top still looked schmicko - until I opened the cupboard above and a glass bottle leaped from the shelf in an attempt to escape, and bounced straight onto the glass. It was one of those moments when you squeeze your eyes shut and hope that when you open them it's all OK. But alas, there were several cracks sprouting out from the "crash site".  I was quite amazed,and oh so happy that we could order a replacement top which hubby cleverly installed.

Moving on...

How many times do we drive the same roads, to and from our usual pit stops? Sometimes, we arrive and wonder whether we could have paid more attention, forgetting going past the petrol station or through that roundabout. I'm not going where you think I am, SO PAY ATTENTION.
This particular afternoon I was paying attention, as I should be and practicing my defensive driving.
I saw a car creeping forward out of a lane way into the main street on which I was travelling. I kept my eye on them and even moved closer to the centre white line to allow for the front of the car. But alas the lady somehow didn't see my car (which was right in front of her at this point) and kept driving onto the main street and into the back left of my car. That sickening thud and the shake of the car caused the usual reaction from the two kids, "Mum, what was that?" The lady was most apologetic and gave me her details and told me to get a quote and she would fix up the bill, as she didn't have insurance. Ho hum!

And because these things come in three's, we'll move on ...

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We have often joked about setting Master 3 up in a padded room as he is very much a rough and tumble boy.  We try not to be too precious about the house and furniture, but have rules about what is allowed to happen in the house. Despite his hyper activity and the love of swinging things around, we have somehow managed to avoid major disaster. So when hubby called me at work, and offered me "bad news or bad news" I just put my head in my hands and waited for the inevitable. Of course, my question was "what has he done now?" In Master 3s defense he hadn't been doing much at all, and the thought that he may get in trouble sent Miss 7 into a spin to quickly fabricate a great story involving people passing by. Master 3 had managed to crack the bottom pane in the front window with his bum, as he leaned against it bumping back and forth. The crack was quite large (and reminded me oddly of the one on the cook top) but not being happy with his effort, later Master 3 curiously bumped his bum against the window again but, alas, this time the cracks increased and the middle of the window fell out onto the front lawn. Hubby and I looked at each other at this point and turned and left the room. Hubby called our trusty glazier who's number we keep handy. He arrived to pop in a new pane of glass and he and Master 3 had a chat and caught up on the gossip since his last visit.

At the end of the day the above story is really just that. A story to tell, as it didn't really cause too much of a bump in our week, and was fixed with a couple of phone calls and cash.

W.O.W 2 fat ladies and a parent

Grab the 8th book from your bookshelf. Open it to page 8. Scroll down to the 8th sentence. Write this sentence at the top of your page. Set your timer for 5 minutes and write the first words that come into your head after your writing prompt. Stop when the buzzer rings! Write on Wednesday is courtesy of  Gill at inkpaperpen

Hmmm ... harder than I thought. There are A LOT of kids books on our bookshelf. Not many of the younger books have 8 lines to a page, some don't even have 8 pages. So I didn't grab the 8th book I came to. I had to change course and select from another shelf and the opposite end of the shelf.

"As a parent you have the power to set your child on a course for success" Taken from Dr Phil MacGraw's Family First.

Wouldn't that be wonderful. To choose a course for your child and sit back and watch it all fall into place as they grow. Now I know he is not insinuating that you set a course and it's done.  More realistically, you set morals, rules and standards to follow. But the job is not done at that point. Children and sometimes, grown sons and daughters need constant guidance and supervision. As the parent of two young children I am already finding the job frustrating and exhausting. I am certainly not looking forward to the teenage years as I feel my daughter is already hormonal enough at 7 years of age. The things that scare me are the things I know from my experience as a teenager. Your child likes to challenge your authority. Your child will be tempted to deviate from the rules. Your child will want to follow the crowd.

Well that was interesting. I'm looking forward to next week's challenge ... and reading everybody else's blogs.