Nanni needs a drink!

I’ve just recently negotiated a four day working week. My initial intention was to dedicate this time to writing my blog and working on a few other sites for relatives.  What has transpired is that I spend the time with my daughter Kristy and my grand-kids Matilda and Charlie. I love spending time with the grand-kids and my second Friday off was going to be a repeat of my first Friday where I ended up on a sun lounge watching the kids play – well that’s what I thought.

The Friday in question went something like this….

6:45am – I set off to my daughter’s place early. Firstly to miss the Sydney’s morning traffic nightmare, secondly to have breakfast with them and thirdly to be with my daughter when she took Matilda for an ultrasound on her foot, which thankfully turned out to be nothing to worry about.

8:00am – While sitting in the waiting room at the health centre I was keeping Charlie amused by reading him a story. All was quiet until Kristy and Matilda were called in for the scan. Charlie thought it was certainly something he should be party too so proceeded to follow.  This resulted in a pissed off little fellow trying to dodge Nanni’s pursuits to stop his progress. After one of his dashes resulted in him almost escaping out the front door into the busy street, I thought it was time for us to go for a walk.

8:30am – Thankfully the scan didn’t take long and we were back in the car heading off for a morning coffee – this would be my first coffee for the day. Baby chinos and cup cakes for the kids as Matilda was a very good girl while getting her foot scanned and Charlie was rewarded for just being cute or more importantly so he wouldn’t annoy our coffee time.

8:45am –  While waiting for our coffees, chinos and little green cup cakes,  we settled down on a comfy lounge. Charlie was intrigued by the display full of colourful cakes and biscuits and various arrays of loaves – carrot, banana, walnut and apple, raspberry and the like.  One’s never to relax when a 19 month old boy is on the loose and it wasn’t long before I was dashing after him as he finally got bored with the window display and found the exit.  Thankfully his cake arrived and Charlie was happy to sit on my lap and eat – ahhhh 5 minutes relaxation and a coffee.

9:30am – After morning tea we arrived back at Kristy’s place where the kids settled down for 30 minutes to watch Play School or as I call it, the memorising babysitter.

10:00am – Kristy ducked off for an hour or so to a training session so the kids and I headed outside. I needed fresh air and was hoping the cool morning was turning into a warm day, unfortunately this was not to be the case but decided a run around the yard would warm me up.

We began with a game of soccer using a small plastic ball. The game didn’t last long as Matilda kept picking the ball up while shouting instructions to Charlie and me – she’s like her bossy-boots Mother.  Needless to say both Charlie and I got bored and moved on to the next game – running races.

For the next 10 minutes we were darting back and forth across the yard. For the first part of the game Charlie’s little legs were running along with us. Of course he never won but thankfully he’s too young to understand winning and losing and every time he finished at either end we’d do a victory lap with our arms in the air – he’s so cute.  When he got tired he insisted we run the race while I carry him.

10:20am – Feeling tired, I decided to fetch an outdoor chair and have a little break. At this time Matilda found a hula-hoop.  I think I managed a 2 minute rest before Matilda insisted I show her how to use it. Thankfully Matilda picked up the knack quickly.  Once she bored with this idea we started to roll the hoop to each other but when my roll didn’t go in the general direction of Matilda instructed me to go to the naughty corner.  Wow, she really is like her mother.

10:30am – I returned to the chair for a rest and watched on as Matilda and Charlie climbed their plastic castle which included a ladder on one end and slippy-dip on the other – all being less than 1 metre high. No sooner did I sit down when Charlie fell off the ladder – and there put an end to the yard games. Time for morning tea.

11:15 am – My daughter returns home. Thank goodness for that, I’m knackered.

12:00am – Lunch time.  Kristy and I and Matilda ate a decent lunch, Charlie on the other hand wants nothing that’s on his plate.  Oh well, I guess 1 cup cake, 1/2 soggy biscuits and some fruit is enough to keep a little boy active.

12:30pm – Off to the shops to look for suitable bed linen for Kristy’s newly renovated bedroom.

12:50pm – We arrived at the shops and put the kids in the twin pram, of which I’m not big fan as it’s wider than most isles can handle.  No sooner did we enter the shop when Matilda and Charlie spotted the mini ride which consisted of two ducks and a swan. We quickly diverted them into the nearest clothes store.  After about five minutes Kristy and I selected the same top, different colours, and while my daughter queued to pay I took the kids to the ride they noticed earlier – after all we had to navigate around it to get to the other shops.

1:30pm – After the ride, Kristy and I browsed in a couple of dress shops in which Matilda rejected and Charlie just shook his head in defiance to entering another one.  Then we headed to Adairs the Manchester store which is opposite a kids’ playground which we wanted to avoid. Unfortunately Matilda saw it but thankfully Charlie didn’t so we bribed Matilda so as not to bring Charlies attending to it. This was skillfully done with the bribe of a baby chino and cup cake, the second for the day was the bribe resorted too.

1:35pm – As we entered Adairs Matilda, who isn’t tied into the pram quickly jumped out and started to wonder around the shop.  Needless to say Charlie wanted to follow suit so I let him out but decided to carry him around until my arms gave way and finally I put him down.  He was happy to have a little wonder around until he saw Matilda and decided to run after her. Matilda joining in on the game did what most little girls do when being chased – screamed. The more I chastised, the more they both screamed.

I desperately need a coffee!

They finally stopped screaming when Charlie spotted the outside kiddy playground, then he was off.  Luckily I still have some life left and I managed to catch him at the door.  Meanwhile Matilda found a floor display of quilts and began to build a very comfortable lounge. If only it was bigger, I’d have certainly given it a try.

While Charlie was back to being carried he noticed a picture of a dog so we wandered over to have a closer look. He then wanted to demonstrate his love for dogs and wriggled and squirmed until I let him down. He proceeded to crawl on all fours pretending to be a dog complete with poking his tongue in and out, licking the floor and smelling the floor level Manchester.  I was too tired to laugh, I just stared at him with bemused bewilderment.

I really truly need a coffee now.

2:00pm – Coffee time! Yahoo!  Kristy refused me a cake so I resorted to waiting to finish Charlies. Alas, Kristy grabbed it from my mouth and threw it in the bin.  I should have smacked her there and then.

2.30pm – Home time and thank bloody goodness because I am fucked.  As we ascended the flat escalators Matilda decided to hop out of the stroller just before the escalator floor disappeared. As Kristy and I were stuck behind the stroller all we could do was yell at her to turn around. Lucky she did just before the top but she fell over. The momentum of the escalator meant we had no where to go but clear over Matilda who of course screamed. Thankfully she wasn’t hurt.

3:00pm – Home. No sooner were we in the door than my son-in-law returned home from work.  Thank Goodness we have support from additional troops.

By this time I was sitting on the lounge comatosed.

4:00pm – Still on the lounge thinking about whether I’ll go home or stay for more torture. I decided I couldn’t move, so the decision was made.  I stayed but OMG I need a drink!