Last Day Of The Hols

The Easter holidays drew to a close here yesterday in pretty busy style.  We had visitors in the shape of my parents in law and my sister in law with her family.  Our nine year old returned from a friend’s sleepover after having far too much fun to sleep and so was in the sort of form you’d expect from a walking demon.  Our teenager went to the last disco before her Junior Cert which started at 8 o’clock so obviously she had to start getting ready from 2 o’clock, (that certain shade of tangerine they all like to be, takes a while to take hold) while the “in between” kids played happily with their cousins without any regard for the Department of the Environment noise pollution guidelines.

While eating we were treated to a floor show by my two year old who is well capable of using the toilet but preferred to show the accuracy with which he can aim at the potty , the sort of accuracy you tended to see from the person who answered the questions on bullseye.  The five year old meanwhile imitated Dusty Crophopper, complete with sound effects and actions from the Planes movie which was being shown simultaneously on RTE and the seven month old looked on bemused but definitely not fazed by the whole spectacle. It was a lovely afternoon.

When everyone was gone home and most of the kids were in bed, all that was left to do was wait for my daughter to come home.  The baby, who doesn’t rate sleep, kept us company and greeted his sister with a big smile as she came in the door.  It’s an almost surreal feeling sometimes to have a child old enough to go to a disco and have a child so young he needs propping up with cushions on the floor. It’s funny to have children who keep you up at night for very different reasons.

Today, much to my kid’s disgust will be about getting ready for the return to school tomorrow.  Trying to reel back in bedtimes which have gone more than a little askew over the last couple of weeks and making sure everything is ready for the week ahead.  I have loved the break from the routine, the freedom from homework and afterschool activities and the reclaiming of our afternoons.  There has been lots of fun had and far too many rows too but all good things must come to an end. Now how to convince them that the return to school is not all bad…… #atleasttheresagrandstretchintheevenings #mamatude