A banal day?

Today was pretty ordinary but I felt like I achieved a few minor victories - I managed to get Annie and Michael both out of the house (and completely ready - everyone had shoes on, fresh new nappies and a sufficient supply of nutritious food and drink not to starve between 9.30 and 1); we had a successful day at Blind Playgroup, despite the fact that it was 'playdough making' day (I was filled with dread when I hear them announce this, as Annie has a phobia of playdough and tends to freak out a bit around it. She was really good though, thanks largely to the awesome staff at the playcentre, and we survived the 2 hours there with minimal upset from Annie or Michael (and I even learnt some new songs, including the delightful 'Bee, bee, bumble bee, won't you say hello to me?' which always begins Playgroup); I did some grocery shopping on the way home, with Annie and Michael plus heavily-laden buggy in tow (I needed some intensive moisturiser - my hands are not taking kindly to all the washing - but I was mostly just curious to see whether I could manage it); I successfully transferred both children from buggy to bed, whilst asleep (them, not me) with minimal upset, and they both slept for about 2 and a half hours (it's normally about 1 and a half at most); I did a huge amount of housework including wiping little hand-prints of TVs and mirrors - something that has been bugging me since I noticed them last week - and reorganising two massive drawers full of tupperware in the kitchen; I bathed both children with minimal fuss, and put Annie to bed again. Minor childcare/domestic victories FTW! :D 

When Cherie came home from work (and particularly after cooking for everyone) she seemed a bit pissy, but I think she's just stressed about Paul going away to the UK for 3 months on Friday. Given how disorganised I've already noticed Pauls is (props to Christina for the heads-up there) it's no wonder. Cherie actually said to me something like 'I've got to go with Paul tomorrow and get some original identification papers certified with him. I know he doesn't really want to go, but it needs to be done' - so he is effectively an extra recalcitrant small child sometimes  (only with earning power and the ability to drive..so somewhat more difficult). Paul and more importantly Cherie seemed to relax a bit later on though, especially after I feigned an interest in the horrors of additives (with only minor guilt-twinges about the drawer full of a ludicrous amount of junk food in my room), and watched a DVD of photos and videos from Annie's early years. The DVD was really heart-warming, seeing Annie go from this tiny purple baby-bird like creature (she was born at only 23 weeks, thanks to the sheer willpower of Cherie (who went into labour at 22 weeks, but hung on for the crucial week it took for Annie to be considered 'salvageable', luckily being registered one of the top three Preemie hospitals in the world), to the robust baby on the way to being the stubborn (but nevertheless delightful) little girl she is now.

The only other note-worthy thing (boredom-threshold permitting) that happened today, besides receipt of my delightfully pink Visa card, was that I woke up to discover I'd gained a pretty bad insect bite on top of my right foot (in addition to the litany of scrapes, cuts, bruises, and eye-scratchings that go hand-in-hand with small-child maintenance). At the risk of being labelled valetudinarian (or even worse, a whinging Pom), I've so far neglected to mention it to Cherie and Paul that this bite has now made my foot swell to the point that I can't really bend it properly. Hopefully the swelling will have disappeared by tomorrow morning though. Until then!

A xx