Office Babies

This morning I did my first solo morning get-out to Kindy with Annie and Michael. I was so ontop of things (for once) that we actually arrived 5 minutes before Kindy started. This turned out to be rather more a curse than a blessing, as Michael started to get crotchety (the minute somebody else does or gets something (in this case, Annie getting out of the buggy) he wants in on it too) and it was pretty awkward for me, as all the other parents chatted amongst themselves, and spoke to Annie and Michael, but not me :S I've become slightly averse to introducing myself because even when I do people almost immediately revert to calling me 'Anne', even after I've corrected them. The McFaddens previously had an au pair called 'Anne', so I can understand the confusion from some corners, but even those who would never have had contact with her seem to decide that's my name even if they start off saying 'Anna'. It's incredibly frustrating, although I suppose I can take some solace from the fact that it's just not that common a name here (and therefore, hopefully not personal), given the fact that, the range of names I've come across so far includes: Skye, Xavier, Angus, Jayden, Summer (quite a few of these in fact), Savannah, Nikita (but spelt 'Nakeeta'), Allie-Anne, to name but a few. On the flipside of this argument though, these names are uncommon to me, yet I've managed to remember them! Bah!

Anyway, nominal whinging aside, today was pretty fun. Once I'd dropped Annie off, Michael and I did a quick stop-off at the discount pharmacy to get a giant tub of hand-sanitiser (a serious godsend for changing nappies, but narrow shelves, and aisles with items precariously stacked in the middle en route to purchasing are NOT fun to negotiate with a relatively wide buggy). We got back to the house, and I had to attempt to get Paul up to take me and Michael to a tea-party at Cherie's work - they were having a kind of 'dress down' day where everyone came dressed as, or bearing something that represented an aspect of themselves, and a couple of the women, as working mothers, wanted to bring their children in. I knocked for Paul, expecting him to still be in bed (he's attempting to adjust his body clock to UK time) but he was up and assured me he'd be down and ready to go any minute. About 20 minutes later he came ambling down the stairs and started to make himself breakfast, asking me if this was the Blind Association meeting he was going to. I told him, (in a tone that was a cross between scathing and surprised) that it was the tea-party at Cherie's work, and he apologised for being more out of it than usual (although given his usual time management/organisational skills I doubt there was much discernible difference [I am well aware of the irony of me criticising someone else's time-management though, thanks :P]).

So we headed into the City and met Cherie in her dull-as workplace (good samosa and cake today though :D) and everyone cooed over the cuteness of Michael. I felt pretty sorry for Annie at this stage - although I'm sure she was enjoying Kindy, it seems a shame that she misses out on a lot of bonding things like this. People also remark on Michael's cheeriness and affability a lot more, although, if she's in the mood, Annie can be every bit as, if not more, disarmingly cute (if you really get her smiling, she gets these cute Japanese-kawaii style eyes. Somewhat like this a trait that, as Paul pointed out, comes from Cherie). Anyway, Michael had some photos taken 'helping' Cherie work at her desk, much to his delight (he is an incredible ego-maniac Michael, you just have to point his face out to him in any reflective surface and he's making gleeful noises and laughing away (e.g. Paul was on the sofa once eating something from a chrome bowl and Michael toddled over to see [read, be fed] and ended up admiring himself in it!) then Paul went to the infamous London Court to purchase Australiana tat to give as gifts in Saudi (apparently Saudi people are big on gift-giving and personal relationships in the business world), then went to the Citizen's Advice Bureau (Commonwealth similarities a-go-go...) and Michael and I played in a nearby park. Again Michael attracted a number of people, from several cheery elderly ladies and businesswomen, to an 11 month old girl and her Dad (they exchanged sticks a number of times. I think it was love...), and a group of teenage boys who, for some reason, Michael froze and pointed vigorously at, then attempted to follow out of the park, much to their amusement. He seems fascinated by the behaviour of older children, but particularly boys, often trying to join in with what they're doing, which is pretty ironic, given his treatment of baby Angus.