Holiday

We're off for a week in Cornwall on Saturday. A holiday park in Perranporth with access to the beach.



I haven't been here since I was about 9 when we went on a camping holiday around Devon and Cornwall. The two things I remember most about that holiday was having wet sand thrown in my eyes by some other kid and having a tooth out at a local dentist. He left part of the root in so I had to go back and get it done properly when we got home. I think it was this holiday that put my Mum off camping for good.

So, we'll set off on Saturday morning, stop off at my wife's aunt's farm in Devon on the way and then push on to the park. It's our eldest daughter's 4th birthday on Monday so the car will be full of her presents.

It's been blisteringly hot all week but I bet it cools down for the holiday next week. Oh well, at least the park has an indoor pool, live entertainment and lots for the kids to do.

Frisky in October

This is a very busy time of year for birthdays in my family. My wife, daughter, brother and grandmother were all born in late June. My dad and niece were born in early July.

Count back nine months to late October and early November, just as Winter's drawing in and people snuggle together for warmth. Coincidence?

Moments

Ever had a moment or two when you feel as if your conscious awareness of the world around you is somehow clearer than usual?

On the train this morning I finished reading The Map That Changed the World. It's a biography of William Smith, often referred to as 'The father of English geology'. He spent most of his life discovering and researching the underbelly of the English countryside to put together the first map of geological strata. All this at a time when geology didn't exist as a science and his findings contradicted the theological beliefs of how old the Earth is and how it was formed.

In his dotage Smith was part of the team that selected the first source of the stone used to build the Houses of Parliament. I had this in mind just as the train approached Charing Cross.

Looking across the Thames I saw the London Eye in the foreground, the Houses of Parliament in the middle distance and a red double-decker bus crossing Westminster Bridge. A postcard view of London I've seen a thousand times but now I know little more about it I somehow felt a little more comfortable with the city. Weird how something so small had such an impression on me.

Thank you Dr. Smith.

Parenthood - health warning

I often muddle through my days on auto-pilot. Get up, shower, dress, toast for the kids, go to work, write a report/fix a problem, go home, kids to bed, eat, blog, sleep.

I'm depressing myself now. My days aren't that bad, they just feel like that when I'm busy, stressed out and tired.

I feel like I'm in a tunnel with a small light at the end. The light symbolises the children getting old enough to not be so demanding, it's getting brighter but is still a way off yet.

I'm not wishing their childhood away, they're too much fun for me to want that. I just don't want to wake up to dirty nappies, have dinner shredded on the floor or have to take two buggies out everytime we leave the house together.

The good times with the little ones: reading stories, playing in the park, trying new foods, parties, family get togethers, quiet chats at the end of the day, these are all great and I love the children more than I can express.

But they're not always little angels: fighting each other, learning to lie, refusing to go to bed or take a bath, being rude and stroppy.

By the time the kids are sorted and the more pressing household chores are done, it's time for sleep. My wife and I seem to have so little time for each other that sometimes I feel isolated and lonely. I'm not talking about sex here but the little things like watching TV snuggled together on the sofa or a kind word when you look stressed out. It's not her fault, or mine, just the usual pressures of life that all parents have.

When the kids are a little older things'll be just that bit easier for us. The children will bring fresh trials for us, I'm sure, but at least we won't be wiping their arses and picking their food off the floor. Not until they discover alcohol anyway.

Pastures new

My wife started her new job yesterday. As with most new jobs she's done nothing so far apart from being introduced to her new colleagues and lots of reading material to get acquainted with the new environment.

It's good that she's settling in gently as she has been quite ill with for a few days now. Banging headaches, very sore throat and ulcers at the back of her mouth. Once this clears up I know she'll enjoy the new post. It's in Tonbridge, a larger town than she worked in for the last job, so there is more to do at lunchtime.

Tonbridge has a ruined castle and walls. The River Medway runs through it, under the High Street in a couple of places and there's a nice big park so plenty. Shops are OK.


More pictures.

I used to know Tonbridge quite well as I did my catering studies there. Learned to cook and still enjoy it but the long hours and crap wages soon made me shift into IT. It's a shame since I enjoy the kitchen and restaurant camaraderie but not the slavery that passes for a job. I used to work from 6am 'til midnight for a pittance. No life for a family man.

Early to bed...

Our tactics for getting our youngest girl to sleep have paid off. She now goes to sleep with no bother. She gets up before 6am though so we've another battle to fight there. Not sure what to do just yet.

Happy Birthday

I didn't make this. It is the funniest thing I've seen for a while, it made me snort with laughter in the office.

Huey Lewis and the Jews

Had a great time in Legoland at Windsor yesterday. It took 2 and half hours to get there but there were no big queues for anything and the weather was hot and sunny.

We went with my wife's best friend and a friend of my daughter's from nursery with her dad. His wife is the main earner so he stays at home to look after their daughter. I'm half envious of him and half glad I don't have to do it.

He came in the car that I was driving and we got on really. He plays guitar in a band that does the pubs around the south-east. Our musical tastes aren't that different and he's into football which always makes it easier for men to talk.

The kids had a great but tiring day out. I think their favourite part was the water park section. We'd been once before so came prepared with swimming cossies and towels.

We managed to save a packet on entry by using vouchers we bought from eBay, free child with a paying adult, and some Nectar vouchers too.

On the way out we had a quick look around the store for something to cheap for the kids to remember the day by. I found this little bracelet making kit for the girls, you'd think they could've come up with a better abbreviation.

Gaoler

So little one still isn't staying in bed first time and the reward charts aren't working for her yet. Maybe she's too young.

We found another way that works though. Sitting outside her bedroom door and putting her back as soon as she opens the door. No eye contact and no talking. On Monday it took 30 minutes and only 15 on Tuesday. I think (hope) we've cracked it.

It's a shame that her big sister woke up at 12:30am on Wednesday morning needing a pee. She woke her little sister up by accident who then didn't go back to sleep properly until 4ish. Great, we'd arranged to go to Legoland in Windsor that morning, with no sleep. Oh joy.

Scooby-snax

Our youngest girl just will not go to bed at a decent hour. Her twin brother goes up with no bother and her older sister will go up between 6:30 and 7:00 after a cup of milk and a story but, the little one?

No chance. I put her to bed and she's up and down for two hours or more. Most nights it's gone 9pm before she settles. It is draining the life out of us. Something has to be done.

We decided to try out a reward chart so, I printed up one for each of the kids with their pictures on them. They'll get a sticker for every time they do as we ask, concentraing on one behaviour at a time.

Big sister got a sticker for tidying up the toy room so the little one knows how it works. We put her to bed and promised her a sticker if she didn't get up until morning.

She did get up once but that was only because big sister got up during the night for a pee. We couldn't believe it, she got her sticker but wanted to wear it instead of putting it on the chart.

I'm not convinced the sticker worked and it wasn't just coincidence that she stayed in bed. We'll see tonight I guess.

Treat

On Saturday, before the party, we pooped into Maidstone to get a birthday present for the little girl.

We decided to go to Pizza Hut for lunch. We hadn't eaten out like this for a while and it has been a bit of a chore in the past as the kids are so young they mash the food up, paint themselves with it and generally make an awful mess.

This time my wife and I managed to sit next to each other rather than mingled in with the kids to keep the peace. The twins are 2-and-a-half now and can feed themselves without too much bother. It was really nice to enjoy a meal out together without constantly stopping to clean up.

Party

My nearly-four-year-old daughter went to the birthday party of a girl she goes to nursery with.

We called the girl's parents the night before to see if they wanted us to stay and if parking would be OK. They didn't need us to stay , yippee some time off, and "Parking won't be a problem," said her Dad, "I've got 20 acres around the back." 20 acres? Crikey.

So we dropped her off on Saturday afternoon and she had a great time. There was a giant bouncy castle out back, clothes for them to dress up in and lots of goodies to eat and drink.

My wife went to pick her up at the arranged time of 5:30 whilst I bathed the twins. She didn't want to leave and they ended up staying for another hour.

When she got home she was really tired but excited and had obviously had a great time. "What did you do at the party?" I asked.

"Nothing, Daddy."

Wonderful, she's a teenager already.

Skirt

Can anyone tell me why women wear skirts above the knee and then spend most of the time trying to pull the hem down below the knee? Is it a sub-concious thing?

I usually don't notice their legs until they bring attention to them in this way. Is that the reason, to get me to look?

Perhaps it's the opposite, they think i'm perving over their thighs and want to cover up.

Or maybe they're just cold. Who knows?

Shattered

Popped into hospital to see my Dad last night. He was tidying up his tools in the garden the other day when he tripped and fell backwards, smashing his right elbow on the blade of the spade he was carrying. He's chipped some bone off his elbow and had to have surgery to rebuild the joint.

He's got it in plaster and traction at the moment and will need some physiotherapy as the weeks progress. He's got a couple of wires holding it all together so he's kind of a bionic man now. Thank heavens for the NHS.

Mum's barred him from the garden, she'd already barred him from DIY after he drilled through a water pipe.

Hopefully, they'll let him out of hospital today and he can get back to his own spot on the sofa.

Timewarp

Sheesh! I feel run ragged. I still haven't quite finished my essay and I'm royally fed up of Porter's Value Chain. On top of that I've done two in-house courses at work. Also, keeping up with my techy bits and bobs, reading manuals and such.

Still at least we've appointed a childminder for when my wife start's her new, full time job. Her old one at the estate agents does have its moments though. They're selling a house for Anne Widdecombe, MP and sometime TV personality. My politics might be on the other side of the divide to hers but she does act on her constituents' wishes and once she's got hold of an issue she doesn't let go. Nice to see an MP with conviction rather than convictions.