Easter Egg Fever!

I've not seen the children for a couple of days.

Any readers that also happen to work for the NHS, and are also accountants, will know that it's a pretty busy week this week.  The accounts for the period ending 31st March have to be submitted by 9am tomorrow.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Tomorrow.  Just the 3 week period is allowed in which to pull a full set of accounts together.  And so, as a result, the children went on a special adventure to Grandma's house for 3 nights to enable me to work long days.

They loved it of course.

And when I arrived home tonight they ran to me shouting; "Mummy mummy!  Yeay, mummy's home...." and so on. It brings a lump to the throat.

Until the youngest followed up with:  "Can I have some Easter Egg Chocolate now, mummy?".

Hmmmmmmm....

I did laugh.  Priorities eh?!

Looking Good On No Sleep?

Tricky one, this.  And I'm in need of advice myself. 

We've had two disturbed nights due to our youngest having yet another cold and spending the nights coughing.  In the end it took a dose of Karvol on her sheets (it is a decongestant capsule that you empty onto a hanky or bedding and it produces a vapour that essentially stops a runny nose in its tracks) to stop the coughing caused by her runny nose and a dose of Calcough to sooth her throat.  But these treatments took some time to take effect during which I had to lie on the floor by her bed, holding her hand, in order to comfort her. 

She's still in a cot bed (which is why I could reach!), but lying on the floor next to her, even if it is carpeted, isn't particularly comfortable.  Not only do I end up with a bruised hip, but I also end up dosing off and waking up half an hour later freezing cold.  Even with the balmy weather we've had in the UK this week, lying on the floor with just a dressing gown on isn't a good idea. 

So I stagger back to bed, by which time it's 4:45am, and try and go back to sleep again.  The alarm goes off at 6am as usual and of course I'm so so so warm and comfortable that the last thing I want to do is get up.  Half an hour's worth of snoozing later,  I end up rushing about trying to get myself and two children ready and out of the door by 7.30am. 

Irony was the name of the game  - because my daughter was, of course, now sleeping peacefully!  I had to lift her out of bed, wrap her in a blanket, and put her straight in the car.  No breakfast together today.

It doesn't take a genius to realise that lack of sleep and no time to get ready does not equal good looking.  Is there a cure for bloodshot eyes?  Does yawning go hand in hand with sophisticated professionalism?  Maybe not. 

Running out of mascara didn't help.

Wearing trousers that were just too short for the height of heel I chose today also didn't help.  (I have a thing about trousers being the right length.  Just above the floor: regardless of heel size.)  I hadn't prepared the outfit the night before you see.  Ironically.

Having absolutely no clean, ironed clothes that are mine also didn't help.

I'm beginning to wish I had a 'fancy' head to simply pick up and pop on, Worzel Gummidge style.

Hmmmm.  Maybe a wig is the first step?

Things to do with the children this Easter break...

I've found a great website detailing places to go with the children.  So for days out in Derbyshire this Easter click here.

The Social Network....

At the weekend I watched "The Social Network" for the first time.  It's probably the most recently produced film I've watched since I had children, which I'm disappointed at (my lack of effort in keeping up to date, not the film) as I very distinctly remember a time when I was 17years old and had watched every single film showing at the local Odeon cinema; and since we went every Friday regardless, were forced into watching one for a second time.  My time is somewhat filled these days though... and any free time we have to go out is likely to be used for a lovely meal and a few drinks, rather than watching a larger version of our telly along with a host of other strangers in seats less comfy than our own.  So it's Lovefilm.com that supply our fill of films.  And very well they do it too.

I enjoyed the film.  It made me giggle (a rare commodity) and I always like to hear real life stories.  Clever writing combined with good casting and production contributed to a film where I felt empathy for all the main characters at the same time.  Quite some feat.  It made it much less about good versus evil (an overused plot) and much more about different people with different motivations, trying to be the best they can be.

It made me think though.  About that Eureka moment that inventors have.

Do you think inventors know they've had the true Eureka moment?  Do they understand straight away the implications of the thought?  Do you think Mark Zuckerburg knew precisely what it was he had created at the moment he thought it up?  Or are there people all over the world having genius moments, but not seeing them for what they are.  Dismissing them as crazy before the thoughts have had chance to grow.  Is the trick really about going with the crazy, rather than having the idea in the first place?

If so, can someone please get around to inventing a solution to my trousers tucked into socks-trainers with a suit problem please.  My new Hobbs trousers are not looking their best on the school run!

Night cream? Day cream? Sunscreen? Beauty flash what?

Summer is on it's way and my skin isn't ready for it.  My beautician, with whom I have a healthy relationship that involves me booking appointments at the last minute around 4 times a year if I'm lucky, tells me I have dry skin on my chin and forehead.  My first thought is that it must be hitting 35 that's done it.  I always thought I had 'combination' skin, with soft cheeks and a T-zone prone to breakouts.  But apparently not.

Using tons of moisturiser at night is apparently not the done thing either.  It brings out those breakouts.

But the qualified beautician points out that using 'a small 20p piece' sized ball of moisturiser every night is definitely the way to go.  I'm afraid I have no idea what size of coin in dimes and nickels is best reflective.  But needless to say, slathering it on like sunscreen isn't the done thing.

So I'm trying.  Along with the ever increasing bedtime list of things to do - brush teeth, wash face, check all doors, move baby monitor upstairs, switch off all electrical appliances (other than the fridge obviously), check doors again, take out contact lens, clean off makeup, check on girls, ensure clean clothes available for the morning....and now slather on appropriate amount (NOT TOO MUCH) of moisturiser......  and we wonder why my hubby has taken to sending me off to bed half an hour before him, so he's got half a chance of getting to sleep without all the hustle and bustle of 'the bedtime list' keeping him awake. 

I have a feeling I'm going to have to set my alarm half an hour before his once Summer starts in earnest.  Afterall, if I've got the brush teeth, wash hair, contact lens' in, day cream, sunscreen, beauty balm, foundation, make-up to do, as well as the kids sunscreen, lip screen, sun hat........ ?

The half past four meltdown!

Cheeky Monkey No.2 is now two and a half years old and she's suddenly hit the end of nap time.

Both my girls have been pretty good sleepers (compared to some stories I've heard from friends!), but it would appear that they have both decided nap times are not acceptable after two and a half. 

It's fine.  Or at least it will be, when she actually gets to the age where she doesn't need more than the 11 hours sleep she gets each night.  But at the moment she quite often hits 4.30pm and disintegrates!  It's like watching a otherwise healthy tulip suddenly run out of water in it's vase and collapse in a pile of petals within 5 minutes.  One minute; happy and cheerful; the next minute; a cross between a screaming 12 month old and a 14 year old stroppy teenager.

Again; it's fine.  But only when I prepare for it.  Planning to cook a lovely family meal at 5.30pm isn't generally a good idea at the moment.  Unless, of course, it's the one day each fortnight when it all becomes too much and she collapses into an exhaustion induced nap at 3pm, and you know that it's a choice between waking her up and dealing with Jeykll (or is it Hyde) for the next hour, or letting her sleep and accepting that bedtime will be around 3 hours later than usual.

So it's cooked meals at lunch, quick sandwiches for tea.  At 4pm of course.  You don't think I'd wait until the 4.30 meltdown do you?