"We have chips in Billericay"
Trip Start
Sep 16, 2011
1
119
290
Trip End
Nov 20, 2011
Southport, Queensland, Australia
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Somehow, I convince Noah to get up with Woody and I have a shower. All good, but I fall back to sleep. Turns out Dan and Elijah are up too, so it is an impromptu party for Woody.
When Noah wakes me up, I limp into action and get ready and get Woody ready for preschool. Woody is not at all happy about going to preschool whilst Dan is at home. He is very unimpressed and makes this known in all the ways that 3 years olds do.
In the car Woody moans about preschool which we ignore. And then he moans about being hungry and the heat. I think he is hungry as he has only had 1 breakfast, and he really does like to have 2 breakfasts. So Woody makes a start on his lunch in the car. He also complains about the heat. He has been running around all morning and his face his red and sweaty. He looks exhausted. I really thought he was going to sleep on the way to preschool, but he did not.
On the way to Noah's work there are people everywhere. It has such a brilliant, healthy vibrant atmosphere at 8am. I feel healthy and alive through proximity.
We drop Noah off, and Woody starts complaining about rest time immediately. He is adamant he does not want to go to preschool. I do not engage with him on this, as any response from me seems to escalate the situation. So it is with some trepidation we arrive at preschool. Woody surprises me by being okay about walking in, although he is a bit clingy which is most un-Woody. I fill the teacher in on the goings on of the last couple of days and then say good bye to Woody and it all turns ugly. Woody is distraught and I am upset too. As all the kids are outside at kindy, I can hear Woody calling for me all the way as I walk to the car. This does not feel good.
I get home and thankfully Dan, Kelli and Elijah are there so we chat and eat, and I do not dwell on the screaming child I have left at preschool. When the Ro- Jo’s go I throw myself into housework. This is not something I would normally do, but I am keen for distraction today so I keep busy. I fashion an ipod carrier out of an elastic belt so I can listen to my book as I work. This is very good until I lean forwards and then I pop the belt open with my girth. So I stay upright, clean and listen to my book. I do much more than I expect and then sit to blog. The lawnmower people come and weave some magic on the garden. Very good.
Noah calls and is making his way home. He’s finished work on another project, but as the business has so many plates up in the air at the moment, they just want an afternoon to sort stuff out, see where he could fit and call him tomorrow with more of a plan. Let’s hope it’s good news!
We collect Woody from school and I have a good chat with the teachers about Woody. Despite how I left him, he was okay today. The teachers chatted to Woody about time and they seem to do a great job of making him feel better and reassuring him. They also were dying to tell me about some comments Woody made in class today (Laoidhe you will love this). They were doing what is good and not so good food and they were discussing chips. Woody pipes up and says, 'I had chips in Billericay’ and both teachers were cracking up when they were telling me because apparently whatever they do, he compares to what he did in Billericay. They also both do an impersonation of how Woody says Billericay which is spot on and hysterical. I mentioned that his aunty likens him to Smithy (from Gavin and Stacey) and the teacher from the UK saw the likeness too and was laughing.
Back to the task of good v not good food – Woody would not have it that chips weren’t healthy. (Mum – I blame you for this. Hot chips are in all our genes because of you and grandma!). He says, chips are good because they make me feel good. I was laughing and very embarrassed about this, but also quite proud as my son knows how to make a compelling argument – and that is a handy skill. And then he apparently starts going on about McDonalds chips, and nuggets, and the toy. Oh, the parenting shame. Woody’s argument starts to falter a bit here as I think he is trying to tie McDonalds in to why chips belong in good food. Anyway, the teachers were unconvinced and still put chips in the not so good foods. And they said that when they did this Elwood was not impressed and muttered under his breath very seriously, ‘Well they make me feel good anyway’. Oh, the parenting shame...
Back at home, Woody has a parcel. He is over the moon. It is Mr Benn from Nanny and Papa- to replace the one which meant missing in action. Woody is stoked. He puts it on, and watches a couple of episodes and then he is off playing Mr Benn wearing different hats and dress ups. The funniest bit is in the animation in Mr Benn the characters do funny straight leg walking. So when Woody is in Mr Benn mode he has to goosestep. Love it!
He has some dinner and a bath and then we spend a ridiculously long time getting Woody off to sleep. Then I watch biggest loser which inevitably means I have a bit of a blub.
Noah is doing some work and am about to give myself a pep talk about cracking on with stuff. The night is still young and I am feeling optimistic.
Sleep tight, x
