Will they keep him in?

After trying to get Sam to understand we would like him NOT to attempt a second escape into the main play area today I reminded him this morning when dropping him off at Breakfast Club, 'Now, you do know that you're not allowed to climb the fence.  So, promise me you won't do it again.'

Cue big eyes, cheeky grin, big giggle and 'Well, I might have another little try'.

Alcatraz would have nothing on this kid.

Tom, Dick or Harry

Before I had kids I always said I never minded what I had, but I would be especially happy if I had a real, proper naughty mischevious little boy. Sometimes it's really not good to wish for these things.  Today, on only his second day at Foundation Stage, Andy and I were greeted with a chuckling teacher explaining to us that Sam had attempted to escape.

It transpires he was outside in the play area, which is right next to the main school field and playground.  It is fenced off with an approximatey 6 feet high chain link fence, with gaps in the wires just big enough for four year old little feet.  Seeing his older sister Eleanor on the other side on the field, and no doubt, knowing Eleanor, she probaby added a bit of encouragement, he proceeded to stack the milk crates to make a handy set of steps so he could bunk one over the top and head off into the main school playground to join her playtime.  It seems the grass was greener.....until he was noticed by the teacher.  When asked what he was doing he tried to justify his actions by explaining 'I was only popping my head over the top'.

He thinks it's hilarious.  I hope they check for tunnels tomorrow.

What's In A Name?

I remember with each of my pregnancies thinking long and hard about the names I wanted to give my children. Andy and I had our reasons for certain names and reasons against them. Some names would lend themselves to be shortened to something that didn't flow right with the surname, or perhaps the initials turned out to be a rather unsuitable acronym.

Andy's one insistence was that the children did not share their initials as this would make the issue of post later in life very confusing. If letters were address to people with the same initials, who opened it first?

My insistence was that my children did not have names that reminded me negatively of people. So when choosing names I instantly dismissed some suggestions as the name would be associated with somebody I perhaps went to school with who was unpleasant, or was the name of a particularly difficult person I'd worked with in the past. I couldn't name my child the same as somebody that irked me. Family names were also ruled out as I'm not a fan of naming children after aunts or uncles or the like.

We also wanted names that could be shortened without sounding ridiculous and also names that were classic and ageless. No Britney's or Brad's for us.

So, I was rather astonished this morning when I mentioned to Sam that we were spending part of our day off tomorrow meeting an ex-work colleague for coffee. He asked me what her name as and when informed her name was Sue, he said, 'I like Sue, she's nice'. Sam's met Sue a couple of times in the office, but I know for sure he has no recollection of her, so I asked him what it was he liked about Sue. Instantly, without even thinking about it, he replied, 'When I go for coffee and a biscuit with Granddad, there is a Sue in the coffee shop and she's really nice. So, all Sues in coffee shops are nice. That's how I know'.

Already, at the age of four, he is associating names with his own memories and formed opinions of people. It's amazing to see the little idiosyncracies he is already displaying at such a young age and to see him using them to determine whether or not he is happy with a situation that is about to arise, or whether he is comfortable about meeting somebody.

Crazy Vet

Eleanor had a day home from school yesterday. Feeling very lethargic and unwell she managed to convince me that a day at home to rest and a recover was in order. I get days like that too. Not ill or unwell, but just drained and out of energy and in need of a day of nothing. I understood where she was coming from. She was hard to wake, tearful and lacking motivation to do anything, whereas usually she's up and bustling around, eager to get to school and see her friends.

But as soon as she's down, she's up again. Within 3 hours of being home, around lunchtime, she mustered up enough energy to eat her numberetti (spaghetti hoops made with numbers - I'm moving on from hoops as I deem numbers more fun). But not only was numberetti cheering Eleanor up, it turned out to be a great cure for Monkey.

Monkey is Sam's cuddly toy bought from Monkey World on holiday this year. I enquired as to why Monkey was on the table covered in toilet roll, only to discover that Eleanor was his vet and Sam, the very concerned owner, had brought him to her for an operation. Further investigations led to finding out that Monkey had suffered a very severe heart attack earlier that day and only had two hours to live. But no matter how critical Monkey's condition was, he was well enough to hold on to the last portion of his life, while vet and owner stopped for numberetti.

Toilet paper turned out to be bandages. At this point I'm trying so hard to stifle the laughter and show genuine concern for Monkey's plight only to nearly bust a gut holding in my giggles when the answer to my question, 'Why does Monkey have a hairband round his mouth?', was met with the very dry tutted response from Eleanor of, 'It will stop him screaming when I put the injection in'.

Monkey's op was successful. He went to bed last night with a headache. It think that's the least of his worries.

The Magic Porridge Pot of Questions

AKA - Sam.

We've been travelling in to my home town by train for a little while now as we're down to one car. I dreaded the inconvenience of having to leave the house an hour early to drop the girls at school club, trek onto the station, get two trains and then trek to work, but it's actually been a really fun time for me.

I get to spend a little time with Sam in the mornings this way and we talk more than we did when I drove in. Or rather he talks and I listen. Or rather he asks a million questions and I end up having to find quick fire satisfactory answers before the next inquisition comes.

Today's offering included (in the space of just 20 minutes).

1. There are two train tracks, so why can't the inside tracks of both of them hold a third train?
2. What are the pebbles for on the track?
3. How do you know what direction the tracks are going?
4. Are these people on the train your friends?
5. Why aren't we going to London?
6. Can trains fly?
7. If the train crashes, does a police train come up the other track with lights and sirens?

If you're ever in need of a good conversation, you can be sure Sam will provide plenty of topic material. If only I could jump inside that little head - just for a day.

Sam is 4!!

It's a common theme for all parents to wonder where on earth the years have gone when celebrating their children's birthdays. But having Samuels' 4th birthday suddenly arriving it whacked me with the huge realisation that there really are no more babies in my house.

He's not even a toddler anymore. He's a little boy. Sometimes a naughty little boy. Sometimes a very good little boy. Sometimes a help and at other times a menace.

But in all he is, he was given to me to love and it's a gift I'll never forsake.

Eleanor and Sam make dinner

It seems the love of cooking is running in the family......







and it tasted delicious!!!

Letting Them Be Little

Andy and I received confirmation from the LEA last week that Samuel has a full time place at school next April.

I'm not sure whether I'm glad or not.

I'm glad because it means he'll be at school, learning to read and write and do all the things he sees his older siblings do. He's keen to go. He loves coming to school to pick them up as he can play on the monkey bars and mess around with the other little brothers and sisters there.

I'm glad because I'm selfish and it means not having to do additional trips to Mum's and to nursery to pick him up en-route from work. I can just drive to work and drive back. I haven't been able to do that for ten years now.

But I'm sad too.

Sad that my little baby is growing up. I'm sad that my 8lb 15oz chubba bubba is now no longer a baby. He's no longer Turbo Toddler either. He's a little boy. He's my last baby and I can't pickle him to preserve him. I can't stop him growing. I can't keep him to myself anymore.

I'm sad that my Dad will no longer see him everyday. I'm sad that my Dad, who worked while the other three stayed with Mum will have his bond with Sam broken. They go everywhere together. It's both amusing and heartwarming to see a 3½ year old walking hand in hand with a giant of a Grandad who's 6' 2" tall. It's been amazing to see the hard hearted man who I never got on with during my childhood have a child the height of his kneecaps mellow him. It will be sad that they can't take advantage of Dad's free OAP bus pass to travel round half of Berkshire finding new playgrounds to visit, new climbing frames to master and new ponds with ducks to feed.

If you've got children, don't wish their time away. Don't wish for them to reach milestones just because another parent bleats on about how their child is 'forward' at achieving goals. Don't feel bad when other children walk and talk before your child does. Cherish every cuddle. Don't be too quick to wipe away the sloppy kisses. Be glad that they haven't grown out of their little clothes too quickly and don't be hasty to push them to the next level.

Because before you know it, they'll be going to school and you'll have an army of 'experts' delighting in pushing your child, reporting on their achievements, or lack of achievement, picking up their errors, placing them on gifted programs, accelerating their learning and making them grow up way too quick.

Let them be little, just a bit longer

Where Exactly Is He?

The conversation in the car this morning.

Samuel: 'God's with us ALL THE TIME isn't he Mummy?'
Karen: 'Yep, ALL THE TIME, it's like having your best friend over for breakfast, lunch, dinner and sleepover - how great is that?'
Maddie: 'He's by our side all the time isn't He Mummy?'
Karen: 'That's right Maddie'.
Eleanor: 'What side is He on?'

One day, I'm sure of it, I WILL crash the car!

Further thoughts on 'friend'

It's actually now occurred to me that this little 'friend' of Sam's may also have an allegiance to Eleanor.

For as long as I can remember, Eleanor and Sam have been partners in crime. Where mischief follows one, the other is usually attached, either in thought or bodily presence. They are incapable of causing havoc on a solitary basis. They have a symbiotic relationship of knee-high mischievousness.

I think it's now dawning on them that it's becoming futile blaming the other as they are slowly learning that involvement of any nature means discipline for the pair of them. So, what better than to introduce a 'friend', who can take ALL the blame?

Furthermore, it isn't at all surprising that the introduction of this 'friend' to our family has come via Sam. Eleanor is the instructor in these instances, and Sam is cunningly manipulated into carrying out his sister's instructions without feeling that he is in any way being puppetteered. He's usually under the impression that her ideas are great and worthy of carrying out and defending should an offence be committed and later exposed.

I love the relationship they have. I love their commitment to each other, even if it results in them being naughty. It shows a spirit, an independence of thinking, personality and vibrancy. I never had this with my siblings so it's great to see it in my children. And to balance the scales, they have many, many days where they are great friends, have fun together, behave well, encourage one another and help each other in times of difficulty.

The 'Friend'

Sam has a new friend. He's invisible, very small and sleeps during the day. He wakes for breakfast, then goes back to bed.

I found out this morning this 'friend', advised him to climb out my bedroom window, onto the flat roof of my kitchen to pick up Joshua's shot out BB gun bullets. Had he fallen off the roof, I dread to think what would have happened.

This is the same friend that also advised him to attempt to throw the remote control out of the bedroom window.

Apparently, this friend doesn't have a name yet, because he's very 'private'.

I shall be talking tonight to Sam, to inform him that his 'friend' had better start behaving nicely or he won't be able to stay at our house anymore.

Grrrrrr!!!!

By Her Childlike Faith She Moved a Mountain!!

Eleanor is totally stonked that her little prayers were answered. It only took two days and in my limited wisdom, I know that God decided two days was long enough for a five year old to wait for results!

The first morning we prayed together, Sam stood by the door and cheekily said, 'It won't work, I'll get up early again'. Rather annoyed at seeing the dark one at work in my three year old I positively told Eleanor it wouldn't be the case and that I was sure he would sleep in. At this point I was praying a bit harder than she was!! The next morning there was a 20 minute delay in his efforts - he slept in. But for Eleanor, it wasn't long enough, so again, as promised, we prayed he'd sleep a lot longer the next morning.

It worked!

Sam has now found out that even a determined three year old can not break through the prayers of a five year old elder sibling.

And to aid the continuation of this, we've introduced a sticker chart for Sam. Five smiley faces in a row (one for each night he stays in bed and doesn't wake his sister in the morning), he gets a small prize. Fill the whole chart up (20 sleeps), he gets a big prize.

I know the result is due to Eleanor's prayers being answered, but I don't think God minds too much that we've also enhanced His work with a little love induced bribery!

Goofing About

Sam insisted on trying my glasses on tonight.

He fills me with more laughs and smiles than there are bubbles in a bottle of fizzy pop.

Sibling Love

Love is....

When you're 3 years old and Grandad takes you to Burger King and you save your ketchup sachets for your big 5 year old sister because she loves ketchup so much.

Love is....

Giving them to her at breakfast time and then offering to keep them safe in your pocket so she can have them with dinner later that day.

The Food Chain According to Sam

Last week I randomly decided to book today off work. It's not something I usually do as all my leave is earmarked for school holidays.

But boy! I'm glad I booked the day off. After spending Thursday and Friday laid up AGAIN with this mystery virus and then spending the weekend carrying out long awaited plans, all hoping I wouldn't crash again, I'm finding spending a day at home all the more deserved.

The sun's out, the day is beautiful and Sam's happily playing with his toy guns (yes, I do let him play with toy guns). The study has been cleared and hoovered, some minor shopping has been completed and it's soon lunchtime.

Talking of food, the reason for my post.

In the car this morning (you'll learn over time that a lot of conversations with my children happen in the car), Sam asked where food came from. The exchange was short but another of those gems of childhood wisdom I just had to capture. After explaining how food grows in this country and how it also grows in other countries he concluded that it was all far more simple than that.

"Some food grows in the mud. Some food comes from animals. But no food we eat comes from elephants."

Sometimes it's just easier to smile, nod and carry on driving.

Theology for Toddlers

I've often commented on this blog about the relentless questioning that comes from my eldest son Joshua, and I've often commented that in this respect he's very much like me. We both question everything and we both like answers to those questions. At times, those answers are great in order to solve a problem and sometimes they're great as they give fuel to a further question. At times it drives others mad!

Today, however, I was met with questioning from another source. My three year old son, Samuel. He is currently fascinated by the existence of God and has, in my opinion, offered up some pretty plausible queries regarding God, His purpose, His will, His residence and His presence.

He started by asking where God was. That was easy - Heaven. He followed this by asking where Heaven was, so the optimum answer to any child for this one is up in the sky. But then Sam asked that if God was in Heaven, how could He be all around us? How could He be on Earth AND in Heaven? Try explaining that to a three year old. The best I could come up with was that He lived in Heaven, but could see us and loved us and in that way He was with us - like when Mummies and Daddies are at work, but they think about their children while they're there and still love them and care for them, but are not actually with them physically. He kind of got this. He totally understood that God is invisible but then went on to ask whether it's because He wore a cloak like Harry Potter! It's funny, but extremely clever of him to use that comparison to understand the seemingly impossible.

Then he asked when we were allowed to go to Heaven. I wasn't comfortable telling a three year old that entry to Heaven was upon death. So I told him that God takes us when He wants us to be there. Sam's response to this was that God would have to come down to Earth to collect us and decided that He'd need a space ship, a space suit (complete with helmet so He could breathe), and time to pack our stuff because if we didn't take food and drink to Heaven we'd die. I was amazed at the imagery my three year old son was conjuring up in his attempt to understand the complexities of spirituality, Christianity and faith. THREE YEARS OLD!!!

The presence of aliens was then explored. Did God let aliens into Heaven? We discussed whether aliens were real or just pretend and he concluded that aliens were real but they lived on another planet and only people from Earth were allowed into Heaven.

God is also in charge of us was another conclusion he reached, along with the query that if God was in charge of all of us, who was in charge of God?

It was at this point that another of his fascinations came into view - the woods. The conversation, as with all youngsters ended abruptly and moved to another question - can you find crocodiles in the woods?

Isn't it wonderful how our children's minds work? Isn't it fantastic that we have the ability to help form their opinions and enter into their worlds momentarily to share their fascination, unravel their confusion and be three years old, just for a few minutes?

It's times like this I really treasure being a mother. It's times like this I wish I could snap my fingers and hold time still, just for a few moments to capture the wonder of my little boy and his amazing mind. It's times like this I don't want him to grow up, but I know he has to and I know that if he continues to be the little treasure he is now, he'll be like his brother - always questioning, always asking, always learning and growing to be a remarkable young man. I thank God for the gift of my children and I thank Him for the joy they bring me.

Poorly

For the past two days I've been laid up with some mystery virus. It started Sunday night while I was ironing. I felt absolutely fine and then WHAM!!!, felt faint, woozy and started to lose my balance. For a few seconds I thought maybe I'd had the steam setting on for a bit too long and was simply overcome with the humidity, but after a few minutes with the feeling not subsiding I had to admit defeat and give up.

Yesterday morning I woke up and ached all over. Even the tops of my feet hurt and the back of my hands, my back was excruciating and the backs of my shoulders felt like somebody had held ice-blocks over them all night. Coupled with two bouts of vomiting it culminated in me ringing my husband to come over from his place to take the children to school as I couldn't stand for long.

I honestly can't remember the last time I was knocked off my feet like this. For years I have NEVER slept through the day but yesterday I was exhausted by 10.00am and ended up back in bed, only to find the next thing I knew, it was 4.00pm.

Today, having another day off work the virus has only 50% left me. I say 50% because today the bottom half of my body is fine, but the top half is stiff. So stiff, that when I went out for a bit of fresh air today I had trouble bending down to do my shoes up. If you're ever been eight months pregnant and remember that inability to bend, you'll know what I mean. Tie that in with feeling like somebody has trampolined on your stomach and punched you in the spine and you're halfway to understanding the discomfort I'm in at the minute.

But even through the pain, it's wonderful when your three year old son comes up to you, presses his nose right against yours and says, "Me and Daddy are looking after you today because you're poorly, but I'm doing it more because you're my Mummy".

What better care could I ask for?

Chillin' and Larkin'

Usually my Sundays are spent flitting around like a wingless fairy clearing up the mess from Monday to Saturday and preparing for the mess that will ensue the following Monday to Saturday.

But next week is half term, the children are off school and I'm off work for the week, so no need to iron school uniforms, check book bags, double-check homework, clear bedrooms and so on.

Just a day to chill and relax and what better way to start the day than with a bit of larking around.

Angry faces

Sad faces

Silly faces

Shocked faces

Happy faces

The Curse of Spud Guns

Sam has a spud gun. I thought it was quite a good little stocking filler for a three year old.

But, whilst teaching your children to clear up after themselves is a good thing, it doesn't always pay off when they find the most inappropriate places to put their leftover shot out ammo.

Distractions

For the past two days I've tried to work from home. After every half hour or so I have to give up because Sam seems to be having a mental few days.

How can I concentrate when he behaves like this? You need sound.