Bedlam at Build-a-Bear......

Who'd have thought that so many little people would be wanting to build a bear just 2 days after Christmas. Yes I know mine were some of them so I shouldn't be so surprised but I was still shocked at the amount of people all crammed in to that little store.  It had already taken us an hour to get there, 45 minutes to find somewhere to park the car (I think I would have wrestled anyone if they had tried to nick the space we found off us) and so by the time we'd disembarked the car and actually got in to the centre the kids were busting to go get themselves a bear each.

Even in its heaving state that shop is a wonderland of yumminess.  Ninja was really good he picked an inexpensive bear that he couldn't be persuaded out of for love nor money and so we offered to let him spend the rest of his voucher money on accessories.  Humf was another story all together, initially it was a pink bear and that was that but I think Daddy made some gentle suggestions for a  perhaps not so girlie bear and that got things totally confused.  Humf ended up crying in his in ability to decide, we had to pry several unstuffed teddies from tightly gripped fingers and the more choice we gave him the more upset he got.  In the end a cat got a smile out of his tear stained face so that was the one we went for.

In all the indecision and trauma I fell in love with a bear myself and decided I was going to build  my very own bear to take home as well. 13 year old thought I was mad and hubbie was just dumbfounded but, the bear reminded me so much of childhood teddies I just couldn't resist him.

Having then spent another 45 minutes waiting in the queue to get our bears stuffed (and yes I did have to do the routine and make a wish before they would hand over my bear) we were finally able to hit the accessories.  OMG those bears have better dress sense and far more stylish clothing then I will ever have.  I loved it all and as I watched people going to the till with 3 little outfits, shoes, hats, glasses and whatever else their new pet bear could want I was sooo jealous.  Ninja got unstuck with finding the perfect outfit for his bear which had now been named "Lightning" He went from a full Woody costume, to an Obi Wan Kanobi costume to a leather bikers jacket and blue denim jeans, Biker jacket and jeans won the day (a classic look that never goes out of style).  My bear got a pair of camouflage boxer shorts, so he's a bear in just his underwear. Humfs cat didn't need any accessories because cats are cool no matter what they look like.

So bears bought and paid for we made our way to our next port of call.  The "Game" shop another nightmare of a place, far to small for its demand and stuffed full of too many people.  I just couldn't face it so sent hubbie and Ninja in for a re-con and tried to find a toilet for humf and I to attend.  I never made it to the loo, I got so profoundly lost trying to find one I decided it wasn't worth it and followed the trail of breadcrumbs I'd left behind me to get back to the game shop only to discovered if only I'd turn right instead of left there was actually one right in front of us.  As it happens when I got back I had the other little one wiggling so now with two in toe we headed once more into the uncharted territory of the shopping city to find a place to relieve ourselves.

You know how you can sometimes be blissfully unaware of what is going on around you, well this wasn't one of those moments. No sooner had we stepped out of the shop than a security guard comes running out behind us bellowing "excuse me sir, have you got a receipt for that item"....Oh crap !!! I grip the kids hands as we watch in utter horror and fascination as the security guard who'd run out from behind us, rugby tackled this man to the ground and straddled him like something out of a really bad cop movies.  I was frozen to the spot and speechless, right until a little voice piped up "Mummy I think that man has been naughty, don't you?" You can imagine the conversation to the toilet being quiet a difficult one from that point forward with lots of "whys?" and "yeah, but's"

So the moral to this tale is this "always avoid doing the January sales, it just isn't worth it"

Is it still alright to eat chocolate for breakfast on boxing day?

I can't believe I managed to come down with a tummy bug on Christmas Day so while I could help make dinner I couldn't actually enjoy it.  That aside, Christmas day with 3 children is always an event and yesterday was no exception. I eventually got to bed at around the 1.30am mark on Christmas Eve which considering the last one down wasn't until 10pm wasn't too bad going (we do all the kids presents wrapping Christmas Eve, mad I know, but that's just the way we do it). I knew I was going to be a tired puppy when the morning roll call was made (Hubbie went to bed at 3am, the mad man still hadn't wrapped my pressies which I told him not to worry about but he wouldn't listen).

Funnily enough it wasn't the kids that woke up first it was me, they follow within seconds though.  Both the 6 year old and the 2 year old completely missed the large sacks of presents that had been left at the end of their beds and both ran in to Daddy saying "its Christmas".  This awoke the 4th member of the family and that left only one more to go.  The one none of us had the guts to approach but having now been shown the large sacks of pressies the boys were busting to start cracking in to them.  We sent in the bravest one of us, Ninja the 6 year old and he within in seconds of entering the room of doom he reappeared with a a cry of triumph "she's awake". Right member number 5 was with us and now we were all present and correct. The unwrapping could begin...............

I was determined this year to make the present unwrapping stretch beyond the first hour of Christmas day so the cries of I'm bored at 4pm could be quelled in an instant and failed miserably.  Eldest child was handed her admittedly small sack but still chocked full of expensive presents ( I mean a £25 itune voucher neither takes much wrapping or much space in the sack) and the look of "is that it" was completely apparent on her face, but she did her best to stem the flow of large present envy and participate in her younger brothers presents. The boys got to work and with in minutes things weren't going well at all. What is it about "wanting what someone else has got" the pair of them were like dogs fighting over two bones and no matter how many presents they got the same or how they'd just opened something they really really wanted they still wanted what the other one had just unwrapped.  I think I had to walk out the room at least twice and we stopped filming the scene for fear we might have to put an age appropriate rating on it to view it again. So carnage ensued and I kept my hands over my eyes until the last of ripping paper was heard. What greeted me upon opening them were three grumpy looking kids, lots of bits of paper, some damaged (and obviously fought over) boxes and I swore once again to myself that next year things would be different.

We decided to do dinner early as the thought of waiting until the evening to start preparing, cooking and clearing up didn't really appeal to either of us and the fact we were just the 5 of us we had no one to answer to and no one to go out to (bliss).  We did a fabulous job on our turkey, making it tasty and moist and managed to only forget one element to the meal (the stuffing) but I just started feeling gradually more and more rough as the cooking progress went on till eventually when it got to the table at 2pm I could barely hold my fork.  It looked so gorgeous and it tasted wonderful to I just couldn't eat it. How depressing is that then !!

So most of the rest of the day I spent with hubbie clearing up the dinner I wanted but couldn't eat and then lying on the sofa dosing and feeling sick.  Oh in between sorting out WW3 disputes between the reds, having an argument with 13 year old because she threw a tantrum that she didn't get exactly what she wanted and trying to make sure hubbie had as good a Christmas as possible.

Possibly the lowest point of the day came when hubbie turned to me and said "its not all its cracked up to be,is it? this Christmas lark" and the funniest came when Ninja said "my psp was my favourite present" and I rather smartly replied "that Santa is a clever one isn't he" and Ninja came back with "I think you and daddy bought me it and all my other presents, Santa's not really real, oh never mind". Which left me and daddy speechless, and amused that once again you can't pull the wool over that child's eyes.

I also just want to say a quick congratulations to my very good friend who informed me she was preggers...!! Love you loads girlie xx

Top ten countdown of things you might do that will annoy your teenage daughter

10. Try to sing along to have favourite song of the moment (well you have heard sooo many times coming through the bedroom door)

9. Tell her, her skirt is too short and she needs thicker tights.

8. Not notice she's had her hair cut with Nanny.

7. Not notice she's just dyed her hair again.

6. Not notice her hair.

5. Tell her your not sure how to do geometry anymore as it was quite a long time ago that you did it at school.

4. Ask her to make you a cup of tea.

And the top three are................

3. Ask her to tidy up her room.

2. Post a comment under her status on facebook.

1. Walk in to the bathroom, while she's having a shower and say "Ooo I love that bum"

I'm going to get in to trouble for posting this aren't I? Oh well I'm sure I'll be adding more to the list anyway ;0)

Mother vs Grandmother

Within hours of breaking up from school, my daughter was hankering to get down to London to stay with her Nan.  While I suppose I could take offence to the fact she couldn't wait to get away from me, I have to admit that at 13 the chance to get out of any household chores and having access to Nanny's time (and money) is probably too tempting to resist.

Nanny lives in Hampstead one of the cooler parts of town, where there are plenty of top rate fashion shops and a good chance of some star spotting.  Their normal day together consists of breakfast out in one of the classy cafes, a stroll up the high street and into office, gap, jane norman and a few exclusive independents and then a hairdressing appointment at the excellent and charming Japanese hairdressers where daughter is treated to 2 hours worth of pampering.  A normal day at home usually consists of me moaning at her about her room, doing he homework or hovering downstairs for me. Seriously how can I compete ??

Normally I take her desire to be away from me as soon as any school holidays starts with a pinch of salt.  But for some reason this time when she told me she's only planning to be home for Christmas and then she was going back down again, it hurt alittle.  Even with that I have let it go with good grace right up until the point she sent me a picture of the new shoes my mum has just bought her.  Yes they are lace ups and look quiet sturdy but they have a 4" high heel.  No way are they shoes suitable for my 13 year old especially as she wants to wear them "all the time" and the thing that annoys me most is that my mother would never have bought me those kind of shoes at her age so why the hell does she think its acceptable to buy them for my daughter.

I haven't really spoken to either of them about how strongly I feel as falling out with both of them isn't something I would want on my agenda. But I would very much like to ask my Mum why did she do it?

Putting that to one side for the moment this weekend has been one of not doing very much, which I am enjoying immensely, hopefully while I know next weekend will be busy I am hoping it will have the same relaxing feel to it that this one has.

Its the last few days now and I am hoping everyone is feeling stress free and looking forward to Saturday. xxx

Just realised its been a year

Wow, been at it a year and had a quick look back at 2009 posts and nothing has changed. LOL Though I would like to think the quality of my blogging has improved slightly. Happy Anniversary Day to day living in the nut house !!

Down to single digits

Just over a week to go, we have 1 works do and 2 birthday parties to attend and I still haven’t bought any food yet. 

Every year without exception I get to this point and of the “season” and suddenly realise I haven’t got hubbie his “big present”.  Why is it he can appeal to me in the “help me” kind of way to steer him in the direction of what would be a good thing to get me and I’d something I'd really like and I am always left to fumble in the dark as to what I think he might want. 

So far this year we’ve been shopping together once and he was so stressed through most of that trying to get me to like stuff that we came home with a few bits for the kids, some shampoo (it is on my mental Christmas list, Tony & Guy and smells divine !! mental as in, on my mind, not totally crazy) and still no clue what to get each other. 

Now I reckon most couples at this point would probably admit defeat and recognise that we are no longer individuals that have our own desires and tastes and just buy something pretty for the house or something.  But for some reason we cling on to this belief that we need to treat each other. Some might say romantic, others would probably say delusional. So unable to bare his despondent face after this shopping trip I offer up the solace of, I’ll do an Amazon wish list and you can choose something from there. 

Amazon, massive website, lots of things, I find 3 that I want, he’s not amused.  In the meantime I still have no clue what to buy him.  Normally I will get little hints and tips in passing comments made or suggestions from eldest child, this year NOTHING !! its like he purposely holding it all in.  I can only surmise that there is some ulterior motive that may mean money being spent in the New Year.  Well at least I hope there is otherwise I will be spending the next 12 months trying to make up for it.   

In the meantime any helpful suggestions would be gratefully appreciated as the kids will probably think it very odd that Santa “forgot” daddy this year.

My 2nd Favourite Thing About Christmas

Its funny but this year I have come to realise that while my favourite things about Christmas is the traditional family time and Christmas morning, but I also really love talking to my friends at Christmas. 

I know us women all get a buzz out of buying new things but I think at Christmas it is most apparent.  All we can talk about is present buying it consumes our thoughts and shows in the sparkle in our eyes. Its one of the few times of year we are allowed to gloat (I found the most amazing bargain) we are allowed to give unasked for opinions (Ooooo not sure she’d like that one) We are allowed to demand things (No they definitely want Power Rangers) and no one bats an eyelid.

For most women while there is pleasure in Christmas day it self, for most of us there is a lot of hard work, moments of guilt and panic as well and this means there is an almost greater pleasure in spotting the perfect present £5.00 cheaper than in the other store.

I love it, this run up, where we can stand at the school gate and discuss our latest acquisitions, gasp at the vast quantities of money that is being spent and console one another because the shop has just sold out of that one really important present that will ruin Christmas if its not under the tree.

So ladies (and gents if you’re with me) lets celebrate pre Christmas and I hope you are all having a lovely time. xx   

Plans for 2011......

Recover from Christmas: Not always an easy task and always takes longer than anticipated

Go on a diet: Don't even know why I bothered writing this down, oh yes I do because I am exercising my fingers and surely this burn off some calories (please)

Ignore my birthday: I'm starting to forget which birthday it is coming up which can't be a good sign so its probably best if I just ignore the whole thing.

Read more to the children: Keeping them still and interested long enough for more than just a chapter should be marked as accomplishment if I can actually manage to do it.

Stop worrying: I may as well try and stop breathing.

Learn something: Well actually passing my AAT exams would just be great, I can't quiet believe how much harder this year is as opposed to last year.

Go on holiday: Now this I have to achieve, don't how, what, when or where but I will get on a plane with my family at some point this year. Especially as eldest is going on a school holiday I mean educational trip to the south of France and I am totally jealous.

Catch up with old friends: Again another don't know, how, when or where but I can see a bbq and some cheap booze in the future.

Moisturize: My skin is becoming like parchment, but I seem unable to remember to moisturise it for more than 2 days on the trot. Really how much time does it take to rub your hands together its not like I am apply special effects makeup.

Make more time for me: As above..!!

Get off the antidepressants: That's the biggy....!!

Watch out 2011 I have plans for you.

Maybe this is why Kanga a single mum.

To say my emotions are on a constant roller coaster would probably be the understatement of the century. I feel like I am in a state of alert all the time. Every time there is a knock on the door my heart starts pounding..Oh god is that another parcel how am I going to get this one past the kids and into the garage before they start asking questions. We put the tree up at the weekend its really lovely this year, we changed the lounge around and the whole family agree it is all perfect now. I just couldn't help being left with the sense of the impending doom of, too many toys, wrapping paper everywhere and the fact of having to cook a "perfect" Christmas dinner.

Being 36 I am feeling like I have been a slave to my hormones for long enough now. While I don't feel ready for "the change" just yet I don't think I really want anymore babies and the fact my body still sees fit to put me through the mill every month, just in case, is starting to wear thin alittle. Why do I always end up like a sulky moody teenager just before I am due covered in spots and uncontrollably miserable. Eldest having had hers for a year is pretty understanding but the two boys are always surprised by it. 6 year old, bless, the other day just said "mummy why are you in a bad mood?" at which point I just burst in to tears. Hubbie is convinced its natures way of making sure the male of the species actually gets off his bum to go and hunt for food, good time to keep out the way and that.

Everything is feeling like a mountain to climb and I could probably moan about the sun, the sky and green grass, oh goodness sake Caroline snap out of it !!!

Whenever I am in this sort of mood it always reminds me of the classic line from Steel Magnolias "I'm not unhappy, I've just been in a bad mood for the last 40 years"