Tuesday 8 June 2010

Things I have learned in the past week.....

1. Never, ever open a window which contains an airconditioning unit. Not unless you want to be standing there hanging for dear life to the power cord, shouting at your husband to 'come quickly', while the huge metal box lies precariously on the porch roof below your bedroom window. Or spend the next ten minutes watching your husband wrestling with the damn thing and muttering 'what were you doing?'. Until he confesses that he nearly did the same thing himself last year and never told you......

2. A toy car, flushed down the loo, will not necessarily block it. Despite the fact that the loo seems to be blocked by anything and everything else. Therefore, there was no need to go insane at your husband for flushing it rather than putting his hand in the wee and picking it up (he thought it wouldn't go down....). And, remember, you don't really have a leg to stand on after the aircon/window incident....

3. Taking time off from your husband and kids at the weekend is a great idea in theory. But taking time off to stand on a stall at the town festival and give out rubber duckies to other people's kids is exhausting. Especially in 34 degree heat....

4. When said fair is called off by a tornado warning, don't get all excited. The forecasters can get these things wrong, you know. You will still be sitting outside to eat on a lovely, albeit much windier, evening as the weather cools off dramatically. Although the boys will then complain that they are cold.....

5. The trampoline bought for Littleboy1's birthday is a huge success. Not only is it excellent entertainment and exercise for your kids, it also attracts hoards of other kids to the garden and the Littleboys have soared in the local popularity stakes. This is a bit of a problem when your neighbours have a party and hundreds of kids appear and want to jump on it. However, you can also be proud that you are doing your bit to reduce America's obesity problem, as the neighbouring teenagers are spending time hurling themselves around a bouncy mat rather than playing video games indoors....

6. When preschool has an ABC picnic, encourage your child in advance NOT to be the one who picks the letter 'x'. Finding a food beginning with X is not easy. In the end you go for Xtra chewing gum, which does not fulfil the 'try not to bring junk food' advice, but never mind.

7. Your elder son now officially has a better social life than you. Three birthday parties in the past week.....

8. And even the three-year-old has a party invitation. For 9.15 am on a Sunday morning. Clearly lie-ins are not a priority for these parents.....

9. The new Doctor Who is quite good. But I miss David Tennant.....and there is nothing else of much note on BBC America. Unless you like Top Gear...

10. Sod's law means that you will always get offered freelance work just as your children are about to break up for the summer. Gah.......

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a copy of Eating the Alphabet right here on my desk. Let's see what it says for x.

X... x... x - ah! X is "xigua". Which is defined in the glossary as... um... the Chinese word for Watermelon. And these people were being PAID!

Next time, send in some straight pretzels and tell the teacher to, you know, make x's out of them.

Expat mum said...

A 9.15am party. That's classed as a sleepover from the night before in these parts.

Potty Mummy said...

Or you could just send in some hot cross buns and turn them on their sides (not seasonal, highly non p-c in 'happy Holidays' America, I know, and of course not easily sourced - unless you get some sweet rolls and icing and do it yourself... But it's an idea, right?)

Nota Bene said...

The things you do just to be popular...:-)

A Modern Mother said...

Did I read that right ... 9.15 on a Sunday morning???

Tara @ Sticky fingers said...

Sigh. With you on the David Tenant thing. I love Doctor Who. LOVE it. And the new guy is OK, but just not as good I fear.

Jen Walshaw said...

I too miss Mr Tenant, the new one is too young, but the boys like him and I do like Amy Pond. I can not believe 9.15 for a party on a sunday morning an all.

I have to admitt to laughng at the air

Muddling Along said...

A 9.15 am party - shudder

nappy valley girl said...

Anonymous - I did look up various things on the internet, and they were all Chinese words. But that felt like cheating....

ExpatMum - perhaps going to it still drunk will help?!

PM - that is an excellent idea and very creative. Although hot cross buns are definitely not around in June in New York (I did see some rather weird ones in March) so I would have had to make them. And that sounds like JUST too much effort....

NB - Ah yes, love to be popular.

A Modern Mother - yes, you did - still can't believe it myself!

Tara - if we hadn't had David Tenant, he would be fine. He reminds me a bit of Peter Davidson (?) in fact. But DT was the business.

TheMadHouse - yes, agreed Amy is a good assistant. Better than Catherine Tate!

Muddling along - yes, what are they thinking?

nmaha said...

What! 9.15 on a Sunday morning. Is, not telling your child about the invite, a bad example?

Why would you use a day off from your kids, speaking to other kids! I mean I love children or at least I used to before I became a mom :-p, however I also value my me time. Isn't retaining your sanity more important than your popularity?

Paradise Lost In Translation said...

wow, quite a week & quite a learning curve! Wonder what next week hold sfor you? ;o) Yes, it's a sad day that come sall too soon, when the littlies outdo us on the social life front

Anonymous said...

That is just...mad. Most parties start at 2pm at the earliest. 9:15am sounds like torture for everyone.

nappy valley girl said...

Nmaha - stupidly I have already told him about it. Well, it's the first time he's been invited to a party without his brother (usually he's the little one left behind) so in a way it's nice for him. The things we do for our kids....as for the stall, well it was all for a good cause. But I'm definitely planning another Sunday afternoon off for myself....

Paradise - yes, indeed, quite a lot for one week.

Anonymous - I reckon the kids will love it. Mine are always lively at 9.15. I will just have to grit my teeth.

Mwa said...

9.15 on a Sunday morning - that is too awful to contemplate. My kids are just waking up around that time. Breakfast isn't until 10.30. Oh, the horror!