A day in the life..
Yesterday was just one of those days.
The Husband has been away all week. In Turkey. 34 degress. Sigh. We’ve started wearing gloves again in London. He’d got up at 4.30 am Monday morning to catch his flight. And I’m generally OK with early mornings except the night after that Bella, my eldest re-developed her night-time cough of old that I’d thought she’d grown out of. It used to arrive punctually every half term/end of term when she was particularly tired. Just a little cergh, cergh, slightly louder than clearing her throat. But every fourth breathe. And only at night. Like a subtle variation of chinese water torture except I’m meant to feel sympathetic. I don’t. By the third night I am ready to commit infanticide. Then last night the dog started barking in tandem. Foxes in the garden. Demanded her in and locked the dog flap. Came down in morning to a brown present. Nice. I was feeling sh*t. And now I can. Charlie puts his clothes on inside out. And back to front. Shouldn’t complain. Packed lunch. Show and Tell. Gym stuff. Find reading book. And £2 for cake stall. No change. Raid the piggy banks and leave I.O.U’s. Again. School Bags. Coats. Snack for choir. Post office slip. Keys. Phone. Purse. Shopping list. 8.00 am Get out the door. It’s hailing.
And legs feeling strange. Really odd. Like I’m self conscious in my knees. Ignore it. Except silly voice keeps piping up..this is how neurological disasters strike..you’re going to fall to bits and then who will look after your children? You’ll never see them win the Noble Peace Prize twice. In a row. And marry royalty. Rich royalty. With yachts. Or be able to snitch to their children all the stories you’ve been storing up..or embarrass them with your really bad dancing ..instead you’ll be a blobby, incontinent wreck because that’s bound to be the first thing to go..Drop Bella off. Run to post office. Pick up package. Run to super market, whizz round with Charlie, trying to stop the world going into the trolley. Jelly zebras? No! Join queue. Get stuff onto belt. It’s closing. Re-trolley stuff. Wait for new till. Late for nursery. Dash to nursery. Drop him off. Buggy falls over. Run home. Missed a delivery. Head to study. Internet intermittent. Hate that. Work solidly on costings and budget ignoring the chaos. Frozen stuff melts.
Meet Anna. Discuss our launch. Cogitate and brainstorm. Pick him up. Wonder if there’s such thing a a summer scarf it’s so bl**dy cold. Maybe a man’s vintage paisley cravat. Must get one. Or would it be pretentious? Do I care? Run to bank. Legs still funny. Pick her up. Ignore sibling fighting – they love each other really. Chocolate milk. Snacks. Homework. Feed dog. Put on a wash. Start cooking supper with Ipad open on emails – except I’ve resorted to pizza as I keep burning everything else. Can’t think why. Do spellings. Whilst juggling lego figures to keep Charlie amused. Then I take my own advise and look down..
I have odd shoes on.
Think this is so funny, have to find camera to take a photo.
Smell burnt pizza.
Sandwiches children?
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 
Oh, it was a relief to see that, at the end of your post, humor is still here ! You’re brave and strong, and I really do hope that your family appreciates this ! Have a lovely (peaceful) weekend ! X
Ah. We have relatives staying for the weekend – no rest for the wicked..but it was lovely to see them – and the sun is shining! xxx
The fun of being the woman of the house never ends ………. I think we have a hard work gene or something …….. hope your knees are better when your shoes are the same!
It was like magic.. x
Ciao Kate, I’m so with you on the cough! Here in Northern Italy the cold is back too (bleah!) only good thing is that I can still wear all of the nice wool things I made over the winter, bummer is that all the lovely light cotton things I want to make for summer are on hold. My girl gets that little hacking cough too and after an amazingly large number of frustrating (and useless and expensive) trips to the pediatrician and the chemist I’ve found that a standard dose of kiddie ibuprofen syrup given right before the bedtime story and a wonking big tablespoon of chestnut honey given right after ensures at least 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep for both of us. Best of luck with the launch and getting supper on the table!
We used to live in Varese – still have good friends in Laveno! Beautiful part of the world..particularly love the underwater nativity at Christmas..Thanks for the tips! x
THANK YOU!!! I totally relate and understand. Since my daughter’s surgery a few weeks ago her internal clock has been reset to “let’s drive mama crazy” which is a 4:00 a.m. wake up every morning. Needless to say my brain function has not been peek these past few weeks. Thankfully no one notice the day I wore my undies inside out. I didn’t even notice until I went to get ready for bed that night.
The common trick for little ones with persistent coughs here is a little bit of Vicks Vapor Rub on the bottom of their feet and then put socks on them. Seems to work quite well.
We got cold again here too:-/ I am afraid to go look at my freshly planted flowers this morning. Afraid they might have been hit with frost.
Argh! The earlier dawn with so-called summer approaching does not help. Being a mum is by far the hardest job – what age till they realise it’s not all done by fairies??! xxx
Bahahaha! I am still trying to teach my grown husband that there are no fairies! I think we are out of luck on that count 🙂
Early dawn and full moons. I swear my kid is a a werewolf. I have every possible sliver of light that can sneak into her room covered but if there is a full moon it makes no difference, she can smell it or something.
Maybe it would be easier if we actually ran around in fairy costumes?
that was awesome!
Ta luv. big thank you for the retweet xxx
Oh no, poor you! Like most of your Mum readers (and any Dads, I guess) I can also relate and it certainly made me laugh. My oldest does the cough thing sometimes, drives me nuts, and I am not great when sleep deprived but with two early risers who have lots of nightmares it’s my permanent state these days. I just keep dreaming of the teenage years when, apparently, they don’t like getting out of bed – heaven 😉
Will I..and my sartorial elegance last that long??! xxx
I did that a long time ago. I was joining my then husband for a last minute business dinner with customers that were from out of the country. Irked that I had to make an impression on such short notice, I thought I hit it out of the park because one of their wives kept sneaking glances at my feet. I thought she was admiring my shoes but when I eventually looked down, it was because I had on two different shoes.
Fail…
I feel your pain..but I love it! Glad I am not the only one..I did spend a day in an inside-out bikini once..The Husband thought it was a new fashion statement.. xxx
LOL! I believe inside out clothing has been a fashion statement at some point, or maybe someone was trying to hide a stain.
Too much!!
So cool!
I’m not sure I’m there yet..
What a day! I hope that was unusual because I was thinking there was no way I could have gotten through half of that without losing traction, getting into a spin and hitting the wall.
I laughed so hard (partly from relief?) when I saw the shoes. I did that on purpose back in the 80’s. I’d buy two pairs, different colours and wear one of each. I loved the looks I’d get. Some people just HAD to ask if I knew. I had a red and blue set and a gold and silver set. Looked great-at least I thought so. Mind you they were the same shoes, just different colours. It was a trend that didn’t catch on…you’re welcome to try it though!
Honest to God. Apart from the sleep deprivation that is a normal day – apart from the working till late once the kids are in bed. Time is time. You were one slick chick in the eighties..just watched a BBC documentary on David Bowie..incredible..brought it all back. Sending love luv xxxxx
Love this post, fast paced life and mismatched shoes. I don’t know how you do it 🙂 Super mum. Like both the shoes you’re wearing hehe.
Kate, you need to book a day spa after you have tagged your hubby and said, ‘see ya …..’
Ho ho! A spa would be nice..but I do have the next best thing..my lovely husband has taken the kids to stay with his sister for a few days as it’s half term..I am still working..but at least I’m not clearing up after everyone else and it is BLISS! X