Overheard at the school's May Fair...

After spotting a copy of the Kama Sutra on the bookstall:

First older lady: "The Kama Sutra?! This is a church school!"

Second older lady: "Well, Christians have sex too. Where do you think all of these children came from?"

They walked off laughing but without purchasing the book.

Adventures in parenting

A few days ago Tobes and Rosie were having an argument and I heard Toby say "I hate you Rosie!". I try to stay out of their spats as much as possible and let them work it out. I only intervene when someone is getting hurt, physically or emotionally. When I heard Toby shouting I braced myself for Rosie to be upset. After a beat I heard her shout back, "No you don't! YOU LOVE ME!". Then Toby started laughing and the storm had passed.

This afternoon we had a little replay with Toby shouting "I hate you!". This time Rosie replied "Well, I hate you too!". Then they just stared at each other for a minute and Rosie walked out to the hallway and started crying. After a second Toby followed her and when I walked out to the hall they were hugging on the stairs and whispering "It's OK, I really do love you."

Rosie has been a real handful lately and she's obviously getting on Toby's nerves. I have to say I can't blame him. Some days she is really unpleasant. When she gets angry she screams so loud that her voice cracks. The other day I asked her to stop being naughty and she whipped round and screamed, "I'm not naughty, I'm LOVELY!!". I'm sure quite a few people in the grocery store at the time would disagree with that statement.

Today's highlight was overhearing Rosie say "And now it's all over my hands... yucky" as I walked into the dining room to see her wiping her hands on the table and leaving a long brown streak. Yes, she had put her hands down her nappy after doing a poo. And then she got mad at me like it was my fault.

Attention all Stallions!

Next year will be our 20th highschool reunion. Yep, the big 2-0. I've been talking to David Eddings who organised the 5 and 10 year reunions and he's given me the following link:

Party People

Please go here to update your info and to insure you get an invite to the big bash next year!

Jason's new toy

Have I mentioned that Jason is having a mid-life crisis? I'm always writing blog entries in my head. Some of them actually make it here but a lot of them don't and I can't remember what I've said and what I haven't.

Anyway, Jason is going through a mid-life crisis, man-opause, milestone, turning point... whatever you want to call it. Luckily it's all positive and he's worked hard and created a life that leaves him the freedom to explore lots of options... and buy some pretty cool stuff. This Mini is his new toy. It's all Jason's. I've ridden in it once so far and we've had it over a month. It's a reward for 20 years of hard work.

Now, I wonder what I want... Hmmm, I'll have to think about that.

Toby, Rosie and Joe this morning

Tobes and Rosie have both had haircuts recently. It seems like they look so much older with shorter hair.

Milk and babies

Rosie had her allergy check up last week with the specialist. For the first two years of her life she was on a no dairy/wheat/nuts/soy/eggs diet. It was a bit challenging at first but once we got the hang of it it was fine. She's been on a prescription baby formula which is hypoallergenic and has never seen an animal of any kind. I like to call it Franken-formula.

It's been a year since her last check-up and in that time I've slowly introduced all of her allergens and she's fine with everything now except milk. She obviously has a threshold for it though because she has a yoghurt every morning and eats ice cream fine. She doesn't really like cheese though and if I put cow's milk in her bottle she gets an upset stomach. Lots of people are sensitive to cow's milk (including Nikki) so I'm not worried about that. My concern is that Rosie is 2 1/2 and still having a bottle because she won't drink her formula from a cup. She still has her formula plus a calcium supplement to make sure she gets all of the vitamins and minerals she needs.

So, off to the hospital we went on Friday. I was prepared for a long day of prick tests, blood tests, measuring, weighing and talking. In the end we were in and out in less than 30 minutes. I spoke to the consultant and he said that I seemed to have it all under control. He suggested I try to wean Rosie off of the prescription formula over the next six months and substitute it with calcium enriched soya milk or rice milk or, if I preferred, just keep Rosie on the forumla until I was happy to phase it out. They then suggested she be discharged from specialist care and that was that!

So, Rosie is no longer considered allergic, just milk-sensitive. I gave her a bottle of soya milk yesterday and she loved it but woke up in the night with a mucousy cough and brought up a lot of phlegm. It could just be a cold or her body adjusting to the soya. Watch this space...

Today Toby is home with a sore leg. He came home yesterday limping and was up in the night complaining that his leg was hurting. He gets a lot of growing pains so I put it down to that but this morning it was still bothering him so he's home for a day of rest. We're watching Philippa's little boy, Joe, today so Toby's 'rest' is consisting of running around playing with Joe. The kids are having a great time so I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on some laundry and chores around the house.

Lots of talk in the air about a third baby so today is good practice. Not sure I want to take that leap anytime soon but interesting to see the dynamic between three children. Toby is happily taking on the big boy role, reading to Joe and bringing him toys. Rosie is taking on the bossy-boots role, saying "No, that's mine!" a lot.

Fair Day

We survived the fair. It was a scorching day. Well, 80 degrees is pretty hot for London in May. I think our stand did well but not as well as I had hoped. We were in the Hall and most people wanted to be outside in the sun, but I'm not disappointed. I have a better idea what the children like now so I'll be able to do it all again next year. Right now just that thought makes me feel very, very tired.

Here's a photo of our stall before the fair opened and one of Rosie with English and American flags on her cheeks. My little half and half girl.

Our cakes

I like the Superman ones the best. I could only manage five Ben 10 cakes in the end. They're on the left and supposed to be the top of the Omnitrix. Too fiddly to do lots of them though.

Come to the Fair...

Tomorrow is the May Fair at Toby's school, St Margaret's, and I've been busy this week getting things together. I'm running a Dressing Up stall. I bought a bunch of beads, bracelets, hats and tiaras in the States and have added costumes and other things that were donated. Every English child I know has a dressing up box and you often see the children out in the village or in the shops in full regalia.

In Chislehurst there was a little boy who always wore a Spiderman costume. I never saw him in anything else. You see little girls in tiaras or wings or even full princess dresses over their jumpers and jeans. Rosie has a pink tutu that she likes to wear and it does look very cute when it's raining out and she wears it with jeans and wellies. Toby has a friend who likes to wear a pin-striped suit and Converse over the weekend like his hero Dr Who. It is very cute to see and encourages imagination and individuality. I wish I could get away with a pink tutu and wellies.

So, today I'm getting everything packed to take to school tomorrow. We've got a prime position next to the face painting so I'm hoping to raise a lot of money for the school. I'm also making 3 dozen cupcakes today for the cake stall. At the last cake sale we went very girly and did Winnie the Pooh and Princess cakes so this time we're doing boy cakes to balance it out. I bought some cute Superman emblems and some sugar soccer balls in the States and Tobes has talked me into doing some Ben 10 cupcakes too. That should be interesting.

The next event is International Day and I keep chaning my mind about what I want to make. Now I'm thinking buttermilk pie. I think I have Mamaw Black's recipe in a book somewhere. I'll defintely do key lime pie. I made it last year and they've requested it again. Hmmm. We'll see.

Does it ever get easier?

Demanding day with the kiddos. It's election day here and Toby's school is a polling station so he had the day off. I thought it would be nice to hang out in the village, get Tobes some new shoes for school and have a nice lunch. Rosie had other plans.

I guess she's going through the terrible twos. It is painful to deal with. She's really aggressive and shouts and whines all the time. There was a commercial here a few years ago that said that children make X number of demands a minute and illustrated this with a drill sergeant shouting at a mother, "I WANT MY BREAKFAST! RIGHT NOW! IT'S NOT HOT ENOUGH! GET ME A DRINK!" , etc, etc. I can really identify with that ad these days. I can't remember what it was advertising. I think it was some hotline to call before you try to kill your children. I wish I could remember that number.

It probably doesn't matter though because I'll be in jail soon. Due to rain and Rosie's bad temper I gave up on the relaxing day in the village and decided to have a movie afternoon. Tobes has been interested in seeing the Indiana Jones movies and I bought the box set last week. We went to the grocery store to get popcorn and ice cream to make it like going to the cinema. I think that's part of what really kills me. I'm trying to do something nice for the kids and it all blows up in my face so often.

Today we were choosing snacks and Rosie took off across the grocery store. Toby wanted to run after her but I said to just leave her and she'll go too far, get scared and turn around and come back. We stood and watched the back of her as she ran to the other side of the grocery store then turned the corner. As soon as she was out of sight Tobes and I started running after her. It's a big grocery store and I thought she might get lost and get really upset. When we found her she was dancing, singing to herself and looking at bottles of wine. As soon as she saw us she took off again.

When I finally caught up with her I kneeled down and told her she must never run off like that again. She looked me right in the eye and shouted "NO, YOU SHUT UP!". Then I turned her around and gave her the first spanking of her life. When I looked up I realised we were on CCTV. There was even a big TV screen showing us in full technicolour to the whole store.

So, if you're in England and you're watching the news tonight and they show one of those "Have you seen this woman?" bulletins along with a harried, wild-eyed woman beating the crap out of her kid in a grocery store... you know where I am.