Writers Club

via Writers Club

Friday

Three weeks into the holidays and I feel only slightly relaxed and rejuvenated. Why? Well, have you ever been stuck in a house with four children of varying ages and degrees of personality, just waiting to challenge you on whatever strays from your tight lips? Add a broken (hearted) car and torrential rain into the mix and it becomes the tasty cocktail known as school summer holidays. 

The forest has lost its appeal and my photography is as mundane as the same old trees barking for a picture. Change is required before the apes (my sprogs in union) decide to conquer civilisation and tear down the fragile structures of society we have left on our lonesome postage stamp known as home. With no escape in sight, my only option is to call on the soothsayer, the one who holds the golden key to my children’s hearts: their father!

He has the ability to tame the natives into submission and coerce them to follow basic rules like make your bed, yes you do have to wear clean underwear everyday or do the wash up without killing each other. 

As a side bar, it always amazes me how children are so enthusiastic about washing up till it becomes a chore. Suddenly the plates are too heavy, the pots will be stained forever and utensils are weapons in soapy water hunting their unwary fingers. My last Sprog fought for his right to do the wash up like the others at the beginning of the summer holidays. Now, when I see his face grimace at the mere thought of it, I cry a little inside knowing he has taken that step to becoming a big boy and feeling the pain of responsibility. 

So, with a ticking time bomb of mutinous imnates walking around my prison, I am counting down the days to their father’s vacation time. With him  as the main focus, I might just get away with planning mini escapes from this paradoxical paradise.

If you don’t hear from me, know that I love you all and the natives have probably disposed of me!

Monday Coffee

The cat is scratching at the door, hoping for someone to stand there and watch as he takes a moment to decide whether or not to venture out into the wilderness. While he sits there contemplating life, come on into the mess and join me for a cup of coffee and some packing.

As you sidestep the boxes lining the passageway to the kitchen and take in the ambiance of plastic containers blocking the dishwasher, tell me about your weekend. Did you manage to get all the writing done that you needed to or finish off the project that has been waiting to be tackled? I spent the weekend celebrating my littlest sprog’s birthday and cleaning out the shed. Both seemed satisfied with the results asI have a happy sprog and empty shed.

Here’s your mug. Be careful, it’s hot!

As the shed spewed out its contents into the garden, my happy little workers (aka my sprogs and hubble) became rather distracted by the interesting boxes littering the area. Toys and photographs that had survived a year in the dark recesses of their forced solitary confinement in said shed dazzled them with their memories and soon all work came to a halt. Exclamations of joy could be heard by my lovely neighbours when a cuddly bear received long lost kisses and a few tears were spilt over the discovery of a journal dedicated to the first born. The unlucky sprog that found the journal was so unimpressed with the effort made, she burst into tears and had to be consoled. You see, I started writing this special journal back when the sparkle still glinted in my eye and I thought the world revolved around my only child.

Of course, when the other sprogs descended on my rosy, ecstatic world, time became a rare commodity and technology had moved on from paper journals.

Trying to reassure her that she has her own special journal saved on a disk somewhere seemed to stop the waterworks and the extra mummy hugs and kisses hopefully sealed away the pain of thinking she was less loved. Being a mum is tough and convincing each child that they are unique and special is really exhausting.

After settling them all back into their chores, we managed to clear the garden, pack everything back into plastic boxes and start on the garage. What an incredible amount of junk we keep in our storage areas! Moving has its own good purpose – cleansing the soul and the clutter!

Now that most of the troublesome areas have been sorted, we can breathe a sigh of relief and let the removals people do the rest. From next week, I will be reporting to you from a different town/village. I can’t wait.

Until then, thanks for joining me for our last coffee together in this house.

 

The view from my desk.

Monday Coffee

  Hi!

It’s a brisk, cold Monday and the moon is showing her pretty face tonight.  As we walk to the coffee shop together, let’s stop by the river and look at the stars for a minute or two.  It has been a hectic day couple of weeks and just pausing to look at something so serene has a calming effect.

Now that we are here, what shall we drink this week?  I fancy a cappuccino for a change with extra chocolate sprinkles!  What about you?

Well, my weekend has had its highs and lows.  The highs were attending a fantastic baby shower on Sunday and watching the Hindu ceremony before it to bless the mum, dad and baby.  The lows were damaging the car on a speed bump (I promise I was not driving fast!) and of course, my mum’s six month anniversary since her death.  Sad and happy mixed.

As we sip our hot beverages, tell me about your weekend.  What highs and lows did you have?

This week is half term which means lovely late mornings and relaxation.  My sprogs are looking forward to Halloween and have started decorating the house!  What plans do you have for Halloween?  We will probably go trick or treating and spend the night watching Disney horrors. Party party!

Well, that’s all the news I have and I’m hoping you will have something to share with me!  So, I’m sitting here…waiting to hear from you! 😀

Monday Coffee

We are gathered today in the surgery of Mummy De Sousa!  Grab your masks and make sure to wash your hands.  Coffee will be served after.  Our case on file today is the loose tooth of the youngest sprog in the family.

For the past four days we have been watching the top right incisor slowly loosen to the point of no return.  Tonight, said tooth has shown significant movement and might decide to release itself from gum imprisonment.  Whilst a firm grip and wriggling and squiggling have worked in the past, tougher measures might need to be taken.  As you stand there with me watching the tooth fight to hold onto its warm, cosy existence, I have a deeper question for you: when is the right time to let go?  As milk teeth refuse to budge until their secure home is shaken to the core, when do we seek to change our lifestyles and habits of co-existence?

My eldest turned sixteen today and I am amazed at his confidence and individuality.  I possessed little to no confidence at his age and was only discovering myself, let alone the big world outside.  Yet, he has already travelled to two different countries on his own, stayed with families he never knew and spoke foreign languages to communicate with them.  Watching him coax my youngest to allow him a crack at loosening the offending tooth, I envy him.  Maybe I would have been a different person if I had been given the opportunities he has in life.  So many roads not taken and so many choices left to drift unanswered in the winds of time.

Back to the case at hand.  The tooth is on its last leg but I think a coffee break is in order as the youngest has decided to go brush his teeth again so that the tooth fairy pays prime gold coins for said bounty!  Coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate whilst we wait?  I don’t know about you, but being over forty does not rock as much as one would have you believe.  You’re faced with the realisation that mortality is waiting round every corner and you have so little time left to be happy, every consideration is made to make the most out of life.  

The kettle has boiled.  Sugar? Milk?  

How do you face the dilemma of changes once the children grow and you discover that this is the second half of a marathon to achieve something…anything before joining the lost souls roaming the ether?  

Ah, little sprog is back with his big brother.  It seems the tooth has won this round and we are back to the surgery tomorrow to extract the offender before it inflicts too much pain on our patient.  As I kiss them good-night, I wonder what their forties will be like and whether they will ask the same questions as I do now.

Well, it is much quieter now and we still have time for a second cup.  Tell me about your Monday…

Breaking Boundaries

Living with blossoming teenagers is similar to walking through a mine field.  What could be construed as a safe path of progress turns fraught as each step draws one closer to explosive life changing decisions.  You might ask what could possess me to write about this again. (Check out my story Who Are You Again? if you get a chance!). Well, life has thrown a few curve balls over the past few months and as though that wasn’t enough, hormones have taken over my usually peaceful household.

Monday Madness!

Ever feel like cranking the music up and dancing like a crazy person at the end of a loooong Monday? Well that’s exactly what I did today. Tuna bake for dinner…done! Kids’ homework, reading and arguments over nothing and everything…done! We hadn’t even touched 6.30pm yet and the prospect of curling up on the sofa, sifting through blogs at a leisurely pace was replaced with, “Mum, can we play musical statues? We watched so much TV this weekend I wanna dance!”

Now this might not be normal in some families, but in mine, this is quite acceptable. From my first child to the last, I’ve encouraged dancing. No specific type of music; anything that has life and a beat has us swinging and swishing, bopping and jumping till we are breathless. This is something indescribable about moving your body to a rhythm, feeling it and laughing as you watching tiny people mimicking your moves. The crazier they are, the more the laughter. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, dancing is of course fun!

The long ride to the hospital tonight was great. My eldest daughter decided to come for a ride and we sang at the tops of our voices to our favourite cd, Maroon 5. Finding a ward full of smiling elderly ladies welcoming our presence and greeting us like long lost friends warmed our hearts. My mum felt chatty today too and surprised the nurses with full audible sentences. A really great visit. Did I mention I gave her a hair cut. It was so matted from the operation and weeks in hospital, I decided to give her a short cut that accented her pretty features. I think she likes it. Hopefully!

So, to sum up, it’s been an awesome Monday and touch wood, the rest of the week will flow positively. Now it’s your turn. How was your day? Anything interesting happen this weekend?

Looking forward to hearing from you on your day. 🙂