Synchronised pooing.

Tuesday 12th June

Agggh, I am SO frustrated. I have seriously lost my sense of humour today, but I hope that in the process of writing this rant I can gain some of it back. Grace has been tearful from the moment she's woken up. This isn't particularly unusual these days, and is becoming increasingly wearing. In fact, I'm beginning to see why small children take the patience of a saint and how having children - especially two-year-olds - can be a way to Sanctification. I am so annoyed. The tears started from the off, so I knew it was going to be a frustrating day. So it was a bad idea, a very bad idea, to give Honey Hoops for breakfast. I know this always leaves Grace feeling hungry, so I should have known better. I should have known that the Honey Hoops would have been a hindrance rather than a help. But anyway. The tears had started before the hoops. 

I wondered whether I should bother with play group today, since Grace was tearful and tired about everything, arguing with me over so many things and shouting at me... and she seemed to be happy watching Clifford the Big Red Dog with no desire to go anywhere, anyway. But I reasoned that play group was better parenting than the laptop and that, besides, it would tire her out and she'd probably fall asleep in the car on the way home. Well, she didn't. And these are always the worst days, when I cannot co-ordinate the naps for the two of them. So when we got back I ventured out, in the muggy weather, with baby in carrier and Grace in the buggy (note to self: must look at decent double buggy options). I really couldn't be bothered with this walk and wanted to feed Isaac to sleep on the bed, fully reclined and in comfort with my Kindle, but I reasoned (again) that Grace would be asleep in no time and it was 12 O clock, optimum time for napping according to all the parenting books. Grrr. 

About 40 minutes later I was back home with pleas from Grace to 'get down, get down.' So I tried giving her lunch (a banana and a yoghurt - perhaps that's where I went wrong?) and settled baby Isaac to sleep, telling Grace I would be back to settle her with stories as soon as he was off. Well, he was just about to be 'off'' when screaming from her room unsettled him and I had to start again. I can't remember what it was that had provoked the crying this time, but anyway it didn't stop till, finally, at 3pm, I stormed downstairs and declared that I would be back in 5 minutes and was 'very annoyed.'

That's when I came down to write. I put Isaac in his Jumparoo and wrote the beginning of this rant, until he was crying loudly and I went back and finally settled him. What a day. I realise how much I come to depend on the midday rest. The best days are when I get them both asleep on a walk, buzz back, dash upstairs and nurse baby Issac asleep on the bed and collapse next to him. This leaves me time to read and write, which are my sanity-savers. Gone are the days when I fritter that time away on Facebook. Oh no, no no... it is too precious. And anyway who gets a WhatsApp from me during these precious minutes is very lucky!

What I haven't yet mentioned is that when I was trying to feed baby Isaac to sleep and trying to let Gracie 'self-soothe', I heard her shouting for me and went in to see her sitting on the potty doing a poo and shouting that she needed me to carry it to the toilet for her. One glance into the room showed me that the poo wasn't just in the potty. Oh no. 

So I sorted her out and it was getting on for half 2 and I was pretty vexed, when I went to carry Isaac back to bed and realised he, too, had done a giant poo. So today I didn't manage synchronised naps, but I did manage synchronised pooing...

That's all for today, folks. Hope it has brought you some amusement.