Category: Children
A Day in The Life..
6.30 am alarm goes off. Children have been up for sometime like very large dancing elephant mice. Manage to put the inevitable off, listening to Radio 4 till 7.00, but I know it’s a busy day. Shower. Dress. Need to get a post up – thankfully written the day before – I’m out all morning. Re-check notes, address, battery in camera, put a wash in the machine, find oyster card, mediate a fight, oversee teeth cleaning, hair brushing, shoes on, school bags, ready to go…
8.00 Head out the door on the school run..there’s a fight over who shuts the door. I suggest that if I shut the door first they might not be able to get out..Charlie not happy with this logic.
8.50 Head to the train station. Notice my Vans have two nice holes in them. Damn Vans.
10.00 Meeting in Clerkenwell (Great part of London – history oozing from every corner) with the inspirational Matt Cooper, the driving force behind The Fableists – a seriously cool children’s clothing label, built to last and save the planet. What’s not to love? – but more in a future post.
11.00 Checking out the clothes and loving the fact I can buy stuff for Bella..and hand it on to Charlie.
11.30 Grab a quick coffee and phone a friend who’s recovering from an op. Do a quick email catch up. It’s a beautiful day in London. Head back on the tube via a supermarket shop for supper.
Makes me laugh.
1.00 Home. Realise I should’ve grabbed something for lunch as well. Have to make do with a hot cross bun, some cheese and blueberries..but at least the hot cross bun was made by my fair hands at Creative Coffee yesterday. Run round the house and do a quick tidy up.
1.30 Start to write. Always have to put pen to paper once a day otherwise it feels wrong. Set alarms on my phone so I don’t lose track of precious time. Check the blog but no time to reply to comments. Slack.
3.00 Head off to collect the kids from school. Remember to take snacks otherwise I’ll have my arm eaten off. In the whole scheme of things this is only a little patch of green, but it’s one of my great joys walking through it every day.
4.00 Homework. A relatively quick affair today as I’ve promised them we’ll make use of the gorgeous weather (could be snowing next week knowing the UK) and head out to the Common again. We may live in a City, but we make use of what we have.
They insist on wearing their new t-shirts from The Fableists.
5.00 Picnic tea with hot chocolate. A must. It’s our second picnic of the week..a record this year. ANY year..in fact it’s the first year Charlie hasn’t been too knackered by this time of the day, after school, to do things like this. It’s always a balance with kids..doing things..over doing things and then taking the kick-back…
6.00 – 8.00 No time for photos. Just manic. Getting baths done. Hair. Teeth. Stories read. Trying to get ready to go out at the same time. Attempting to stop blood being spilt. Trying to catch up on the Blog. Trying to get everything together – uniforms laid out, bags packed by the door as I don’t want to do it at midnight. Sort the washing in the machine. Husband back at 8.00. I’m already late..run!
8.00 pm – Mums night out at a local Kareoke bar. Always good for a laugh! A fun night setting the world to rights with some great gals.
Get home close to midnight. Up at 3.30 am to give Bella some medicine to stop the Chinese water torture coughing.
Alarm goes off at 6.30 am…and because I was out morning and evening, there’s no post written…it’s also Book Club tonight..and we’re out to dinner tomorrow…honest to God, there’s no rest for the wicked…just crack on…and no run managed yesterday..must remedy that today…and do an internet food shop..and Bella’s gym today and I have hundreds of emails..and…and…write a list and set alarms on phone…and start..
Laters, Kate x
Moments in Time x
There’s one New Years Resolution I’ve slam dunked..I’ve embraced growing younger gracefully by going back to school.
Each week I’ve been studiously at my desk at Putney School of Art learning properly about Photography…and I’ve loved it.
It’s not that I didn’t like the photos I was taking..I just didn’t really know how I was doing it and whether I could do it better. A bit like our brains or computers, we now have these incredible beasts of cameras that we rarely take out of first gear..
Thinking about short term, long term, quality, light, composition…it’s such a peaceful place away from the clamour of family life and I have thoroughly appreciated the time to think of nothing else other than the moment.
Some of these photos were taken on a field trip we did as a class around the streets of London, others are from my beautiful nieces christening last weekend.
Watching for a photo is like waiting for little pockets of opportunity. Often I think – if only they’d look up. But then the sweet spot happens and it’s like the nectar of the Gods.
Is the process getting something right? Or does it go beyond that? All I know is that to break the rules, you first have to know them..and that learning as an adult is the best drug ever.
Laters, Kate x
Friday..
Friday started off as a totally normal day. Bella had her class assembly so I went in to school to watch, collecting a happy Charlie from his class to sit with us and enjoy it as a younger sibling. The assembly was fantastic – the kids were so grown up and displayed such blossoming confidence. I said my farewells and went on to meet a friend at London Bridge to discuss her new shoe Collection. As I stepped out of the tube my mobile rang..It was the school – Charlie, who I’d just literally said good bye to wasn’t feeling well and had a temperature what would I like to do? I rang my parents and they said they’d collect him and in the mean time the school nurse gave him some Calpol. Phone rang again..my mother – they’d picked him up but despite the Calpol his temperature was still high, he had a red face, was not looking good and was complaining of a sore neck. What should they do? It was friday, the doctors surgery was closed..we both could hear the warning bells..I said take him to the paediatric A & E at our local hospital and I’d meet them there. Better safe than sorry. By the time I got there my laughing child was curled up asleep on a hospital bed radiating heat and looking very small. It was one of those times when you know you’ve reached a cross roads – to recovery or a darker place. We were lucky..it wasn’t meningitis but a nasty virus – the fever broke and Charlie started responding to us, but my heart so goes out to any parent with a sick child..it’s a gut wrenching place to be. And even when the worst’s been avoided – we all got to go home with Charlie under strict observation – the potential weight of it stays with you for a long time..I swear The Husband and I have looked worse than him all weekend with eyes like piss holes in the snow just from the sheer depletion of emotional energy.
But when all’s said and done….it’s a price you’re more than happy to pay.
Laters, Kate x
Onesie Made Good..
Not a new clip..but if you’re struggling with any bad weather, cabin fever and young children it’s worth sharing. Besides, it was the first thing I ever saw that made me take the onesie seriously…sort of.
Enjoy..and remember – laugh. Don’t cry…..
Kate x
The Jewels of Christmas..
The truth be told, Christmas is MY time of year and all I really want to do is indulge in every bit of glitter and tinsel going. What stresses me is being separated from that by all the mundane crap that requires wading through with super strength Hunter wellies – the everyday AND the present buying/the wrapping/the sending/the cards – it never stops. I alway say I need my bah-humbug rant in November when I’m out of synch with everyone else, running round like a headless chicken trying to get ahead of the game so I can truly enjoy the magical time in calmness and serenity (well, that’s the plan). I will admit this year has been a bit mixed..I left the Great Furniture Move a bit late in the day which put the squeezers on, but I’ve learnt from previous years to knuckle down and keep moving so no matter what most of the main bits are in place with a few days to spare..a few more decs to hang, a few more pressies to wrap (those that need batteries), a few more cards to drop at neighbours (it’s like dinner parties..the closer you are, the later you turn up) but there has been time to sit down and smell the cinnamon..
We’ve painted our four 99p reindeer for the Christmas table..the idea was to go all scandi/red n white n gold..so we lost the silver glitter…
(Charlie likes them kissing)
To be teamed with elegant gold Christmas trees from Ikea…but then something started happening..
We did a trip to our local haberdashery shop and there were these wonderful hot pink fluffy pom poms..how nice on the trees?..and dare I say..on the reindeer??
Then the flood gates opened to an avalanche of colour and fun..the upshot? We’re going back to the shops tomorrow to get piles of pink, red and orange tissue to make HUGE pompoms to hang from the ceiling!
I feel the doors of heaven starting to open….
Laters, Kate x
O Christmas Tree!
At least the tree is up! (And looking rather splendid in it’s new position in the bay window. Was it worth it? Give me another 48 hours and I’ll let you know…)
With it’s assortment of memories..this one bought when Bella was born.
This from our life in Italy.
This was lovingly made at nursery by Charlie.
My Bella.
Our homemade pasta and cranberry garlands are still going strong after YEARS!
Heading out now to buy cellotape..and lots of candles..lots and lots…
Laters, Kate x
Hmmmmmmmm……
Disaster! I lost my phone!..I’ve found it again thanks to the icloud ‘find phone’ computer option which sets the phone bleeping till you can locate it (genius. First time I’ve used it. Won’t be the last.)..but I think the perpetrator’s have left some incriminating evidence behind…
Maybe I should be more worried by these ones….
(Don’t they know Father Christmas is all seeing, all knowing??)
(Except he wasn’t) (But he is now!)
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 