Better than Expected..

AB got back from 4 weeks away today. FOUR weeks. A month.
A month of single parenting for me, in winter.

I have to say I wasn't looking forward to it - trying to think of things to do, making sure I didn't slide into the 'toast for dinner' style of cooking, no breaks from the relentless fighting, mess, whining etc.

But i'm happy to say I did really well - the weather was mostly cool & clear, so there were lots of trips to the local park, and of course our regular weekly meet-ups and play-dates.

I co-ordinated kinder, Auskick, swimming lessons and Speech Therapy* - all with the younger in tow, and I even managed to shower, dress and look presentable every day ( which is better than when AB is home - perhaps I get lazier knowing I can get him to pick up some milk on the way home, but I seem to have more jammie days.. *ahem* .. )

So it was kinda like working again - boot camp - up, at 'em, hurry up, where's your shoes, come on, let's go, we'll be late. And we.never.were. I'm impressed!
Perhaps I *will* survive the early morning grind of Big School next year ?!

Dinner was around 5pm each night and it was hot, nutritious, and the house just flowed like clockwork. I washed the ugly curtains the house came with and then didn't put them back up and instead opted for a run to the Salvos bins, I toyed with making a studio out of the dining room, I perused templates for websites and caught up on old projects and worked well into the night.

We all slept in the same bed, and it was quite nice really. The house stayed pretty clean, mostly, and the boys played nicely. I only had to make one bed.
Yelling and threats seemed at a minimum.

The house was also devoid of jocks, socks and newspapers lying around. When I took out the recycling bin, there was only HALF the normal amount due to the lack of papers. It was nice.

I pruned the roses, put out hard rubbish, stole next door's hard rubbish ( a rabbit hutch! - how could I resist !) and have probably also inherited their guinea pigs and run ( due to them all moving to France to live ). Hope the new neighbours are nice :/

I also got to fit in a bit of work - had to get mum over to babysit, so i've really been moving and grooving. Donated a portraiture sitting to the upcoming Kinder Trivia Night, and have been bolstered by the enthusiasm of the other mums towards it.

And hopefully, soon, I will be launching a new website!
I really do need to, as all my promotional material lists a site which diverts to an 'oops, the owner has done NOTHING here, peeps, move along now'. Pretty crappy.

Of course, it wasn't all smooth sailing - I broke a vase, got a parking fine, and almost let dangerbaby break his neck falling off a fort, but at least we didn't have to visit the hospital this time - thank goodness for rubbery bubs!

AB had a good time without us - fine weather, visiting castles ( his postcards all arrived the day AFTER he got home ), playing golf, seeing Oasis live at Wembly ( arse! - although he did get soaked in lager - ha! ) and visiting the mass war graves where his Grandfather lies in France. MC was really upset that he didn't run into TinTin in France - I love how MC loves TinTin - I don't know any other kid his age that even knows who he is!
Soooo much cooler than Ben-bloody-10!

* oh - and the Speech Therapy mass group ? A bit disappointing. The three other kids are not only younger, but also much more impaired, to the point the therapist has to spend more time with them physically manipulating their mouths to make sounds. MC sits there patiently for a long time until it's his turn and then, like an eager puppy looking for a pat, does the word exercise perfectly, and his turn is over in an instant. And also - a feral mum and her feral kid, disrupting, being naughty, oblivious to their disruption. Kid obviously learned her manners from mum who rabbited on ALL session with the other mums ( who all politely kept their answers short, curt, and pointedly led their body language to say 'i'm here for my child and we should be concentrating, not chattering ). I moved to the other side of the room with Dangerbaby, and she called out 'oh, is it a boy or a girl ? Oh, I thought he was a boy, but he's too PRETTY to be a boy, oh he's so pretty, but he is wearing boy clothes, rabbit rabbit rabbit'. I just smiled politely and mutely.

Afterwards, I had to wait an eternity to talk to the therapist while she hovered and went on and on about her daughter and herself, asking questions she would have picked up if she had been PAYING ATTENTION instead of indulging her ADHD. Ugh. Finally I got to ask my short question ( re: are we in the right class? ) and was assured it would get harder and more appropriate for MC as the weeks wore on, she just need to catch the other children up first.

I guess beggars can't be choosers and I have confidence in what I saw of her methods, so all good. And as kinder wasn't yet over, I thought i'd take him along for the last hour of play, to use up some energy as a reward for being a good boy. And that was when I got the ticket, and the almost-broken-baby-neck. *sigh*
My penalty for trying to do the right thing.
For once.