Living 2008

Wednesday we house/child sat for friends. This involves us getting up, fed, dressed and out of the house by eight thirty and every single time I marvel at how the majority of families manage this on a day to day basis, they deserve a medal or gold star or something. We had time for everything except teeth brushing which we did once there.

Ms R did lots of writing peoples names on pieces of paper and hiding them for said people to find, her and her accomplice showed each other how they write their names and names of their family members.

Master R and I cuddled and chatted lots.

In the afternoon we saw my Dad. Master R wanted a second packet of crisps without finishing his first packet (having not realised there were those ones in the cupboard). He puts on the cutest, politest little voice full of pleases and negotiations when he wants something, then begs pitifully while declaring love and stroking me before resorting to authoritive shouty "Well I am going to anyway!" behaviour. He stomped off and got the said crisps which he cluctched protectively while I put his boots on him and then when I asked them both to put them back in the cupboard (my Dad had given Ms R a second packet thinking that I’d lost that battle) my Dad offered to hide them in a safe place for next time and Master R willingly gave them up. I’m really trying to solve disagreements without shouting and was very proud of myself. It seems that calmly repeating myself over and over works although I’m aware that there is a fine line between that and nagging, really don’t want to be remembered as a nagger.

We shopped and found some moist wipe things in the bathroomy aisle that I suggested to Ms R might help her be a little more independant in a certain area, and much to her delight they have although her pretty detailed narrative of it all makes me feel like I haven’t moved very far from the situation. I’m not sure if that mirror in the bathroom is a good thing or not.

I read stories downstairs again but Ms R is finding it too tempting to wander off and do something else instead. I accepted this for a bit after a discussion on a certain list about some children needing to move around while listening to stories. When her lips started to move I stopped reading and listened. She was saying ‘hand’ over and over again, fast and then slowly and then she was dissecting it so it went a bit like this; "Hand, h-and, haannd, h-a-nd, hand, h-an-d, h-a-n-d, hand" and then she realised I’d stopped reading and asked me to start again. I’m not sure if she was just separating out loud the sounds in the word or if in her mind she could see the letters that made the word. It’s irrevelant I guess but interesting and very reassuring from my stance.