The Toddler Diaries 'The rough with the smooth'

Had a good night with Caleb last night; he slept in his cot until 5:10am, fed for about 5 minutes then went back to sleep and is now happily snoring away with Daddy. I on the other hand am up with the terrible twosome, both of whom are dressed (Peeps in his Incredibles suit) and it’s not even 6:30am. (Thank goodness for real coffee).

Just to bring you up to date with events for the last few days: Daniel cycled to work for 4 out of the 5 days, pretty impressive for someone whose previous encounters with exercise consist of getting in an out of the car and looking for the TV remote. Friday he had to go out of the office to visit a client, so needed the car, plus it was pouring down.

Thursday we had lovely day in spite of the rain. Bethany was fascinated that it was raining in the back garden and in the neighbour’s garden. The rain stopped play, or at least outdoor play, so Joshua and Bethany decided it was time to head for a café and their favourite museum, the Disney Store. As a professional food critic team, we thought we should test a new café, so went to the one in John Lewis. Highly recommended for children’s food and the panoramic views across Watford. Joshua was in his element watching cars and trains, fire engines and Postman Pat vans drive far beneath him. He kept shrieking with delight in between munches as he saw yet another exciting vehicle. Bethany was not so enraptured by motor vehicles but she enjoyed herself looking at the little girl on the next table, also dressed in pink so obviously a soul mate. To continue with my survey of the price of muffins in Watford’s eating establishments, John Lewis has the most expensive by far. Good quality I’m sure, but £1.85 is a bit over the top, especially when combined with £2 for a cappuccino.

I committed the unforgivable sin of washing the Incredible suit on Thursday evening and being the terrible mother that I am, forgot to hang it out to dry over night so it was too wet to wear on Friday. Josh couldn’t get into it fast enough this morning, having asked me every five minutes “Is it dry yet?" for most of Friday. He wanted to wear it wet, so I let him put it on so he could feel what it was like. He said he liked wearing it like that. What a boy! - of course I made him take it off again.

Thursday and Friday Bethany did exceptionally well with her potty training. She only had one accident and seems to have got the whole deal much quicker than Joshua. What a relief. It’s quite strange having only Caleb in nappies. At least my accountant is pleased, it reduces the monthly budget by a bit (or at least until we find something else to spend the money on!!)

Just for those doctors out there who work really long hours here’s a break down of my normal week.

Travelling 5 hours

Washing up 5 hours

Laundry 6 hours

Cleaning and dusting 6 hours

Vacuuming 5 hours

Cooking 9 hours

Child care 84 hours ( this is if they’re up at 7 and in bed at 7!!)

Because I haven’t really got enough to do, on Friday afternoon I decided to start re-decorating our bedroom. Daniel says he doesn’t mind as long as he doesn’t have to do it and it doesn’t cost him anything - I’ll do my best. Actually he really likes the décor in that room, but my survey of people that he requested revealed that 75% of people disagree. To be fair, my sample size was only 4 people and it was rather biased (Me, Daniel, Wendy and Rachel). Anybody else who would like to support my case please comment. Joshua and Bethany loved stripping wallpaper and it was quite fun until they started throwing the paper up in air and pretending it was snow. I just hope they don’t get any idea about striping wallpaper in other rooms of the house.