Wish it was Sunday….

“Just another manic Monday (la le la), I wish it was Sunday (la le la)”

And this is my verse from today……

Got up fairly early and did my exercises before breakfast…..

Baby boy and girl were having fun with their new toys downstairs..

Made a mental note to leave early coz the frost was covering up the car windows….

But when I put the key in the ignition, the truck wasnt going anywhere…

(dum dum di dum didi dum do dum di dum do dum)

Children freezing on the pavement wondering how they gonna make it to school

Made a call to the husband but the phone just kept saying he wasnt there…..

Glanced at the watch to see if there was any chance we could make it to the bus stop…

But by the time I got our bags everyone had gone and we were the only ones left standing there

Just another manic monday (repeat)

So I flagged down my neighbour and the kids and me jumped in the back

But not before I had already called the school secretary whod said shed get her hubby to call back

The phone started ringing while I put baby boy in the car seat

Once we were going grabbed my phone and called the number right back

Noone picked up so I left it and focused on the journey

Thanked my neighbour as we walked in to the school entrance hallway

Got a glare from the school secretary whose husband had driven round especially

Apologised profusely but pushed my luck asking for a ride to my Dad’s

She said ‘you better call him’ implying he was gonna be kind of mad

Just another Manic Monday…….

My neighbour kindly offered to give me a ride to my daddy’s work (dont usually call him that but it sounds better)

We pulled up outside his office I waved goodbye and I watched her drive off

Then afterwards I realised she still had baby boy’s car seat in the back,

Interrupted my Dad’s meeting so I could grab the keys to his Honda

Got on my way to work then finally got the call from my hubby

He said ‘Its just a flat battery, get the charger from the shed and just fix it

I sighed and rolled my eyes and said ‘As if I have time for all that’

Just another Manic Monday, I wish it was Sunday’

This blog is for Unicef.

Thanks for reading.

Runway to school

School run fashion is a serious business.

I know Mums that make a special effort to look good at school in the morning. Its almost like a fashion parade. One Mum had a full face of make-up that wouldnt have looked amiss at a nightclub. She had clearly given a lot of thought to her clothing, layering the latest biker style jacket with coloured jeans and ankle boots…….and this was just for ‘meet the teacher’ morning.

Another Mum wears a completely different style every day. It might be the ‘Madonna does exercise’ look before bootcamp one day, featuring a black baseball cap, white long sleeved sports top and a ‘skort’. The next it will be a long black coat teamed with matching beret. Another day, the 60s ‘Mad Men’ look, with quirky glasses, brogues and turn-ups. In fact I quite like this complete change in fashion, it makes a refreshing change from jeans and a top, no make-up and hair scraped off the face, like most Mums on a weekday morning struggling to get the children out of the house.

This Mum has three children too, so how she fits in styling with breakfasts and getting ready for school, is a marvel and I say good on her, if she has the time and thats her thing then why not?

Sometimes its easy to scoff at Mums who take pride in their appearance. But for some Mums thats all they have got to retain their identity in amongst the daily routines of school runs, cooking, housework and other typical ‘housewife’ duties.

This blog is for Unicef. Thanks for reading.

School run in reverse

I was on the school run, keen to get my daughter to school and my son at pre-school so that I wouldnt be late for the second day in a row getting to my cycle instructor training (a great part-time job to weave in school term time but still a bit of a headache getting anywhere fast at the beginning of the day).

I turned on to the road and was only a few hundred yards from the school and almost past the parked cars, when a guy in a BMW steamed towards me. He could have waited, but he didnt. I could see the school entrance, so near yet so far, with the Headmaster standing on the pavement to welcome pupils in. Yet this arrogant BMW man was determined to block my way.

I sat there for a while playing a stationary version of chicken. I was in it for the long haul in the battle of wills but then realised, the clock was ticking, the diesel was diminishing and the Headmaster was waiting. So, once again I felt like I was having to be the one to compromise in deference to the bigger picture. The fact I was submitting to a guy knocking around a big BMW without any passengers who was within a small reversing move away from a clear road did not sit well with me.

So extremely reluctantly I shifted into reverse. Aware that my daughter may be observing me submitting to an on-road bully, I decided to test his patience.

Like Mater from ‘Cars’ I am quite a quick ‘backwards driver’, but I figured I had just enough time to act out the granny reversing routine and inched back so slowly, that his bumper was virtually kissing mine through his impatience. Once I was in a position to let him past, I flicked up the most satisfying ‘up yours’ finger yet. Not that I make it a habit, but use only when there is no better way of communicating to another person that their behaviour equals the finger.

Jeremy Clarkson is right about BMW drivers.

But when I pulled up alongside the Headmaster, school memories of naughty behaviour made me think he was ready to tell me off, but perhaps he has seen worse on the school run.

This blog is for Unicef.

Thanks for reading.

Making a U turn

Sorry for last night’s absence – another £1 in the pot. The reason? As I left for Zumba and powerhoop, I said to my husband “I won’t go to the pub tonight afterwards” to which he replied “I’ll be asleep anyway”. So, later, when the session had finished the girls said “We’re going up the pub tonight are you coming?”. It took a few seconds for me to deliberate over what I had said to my husband…..and then I did a U turn. “Yeah I’ll come” (secretly hoping that he would be in bed so therefore it wouldn’t matter). Enjoyed a very civilised glass of wine along with some posh bread and iced water (most of the other girls had supper there too so felt obliged to nibble on something). It all felt a little bit religious – wine, bread and water. We cackled like a load of old witches talking about men, mums and embarrassing moments while a dark haired Zeuss like Greek God served us. I said to my friend “I feel like I am on holiday – this feels like Greece rather than our village”.

As a result the batteries are now running on empty. This morning resembled a scene out of Speed but without the gorgeous Keanu Reeves as I had to track down my daughter’s bus twice. First we were late and arrived at the bus stop just as it pulled away so got behind it and followed it to the next stop. As my daughter got out she remembered we had forgotten something rather crucial…her school uniform. On Thurs morning she wears tracksuit bottoms for her school’s weekly ‘woodland walk’ and is therefore required to take her uniform in a separate bag to change into later. 

So I put daughter on bus, did a u turn (I wish I could do them in the style of Bandit) and pegged it back to the house. After retrieving the bag, I realised if I drove fast enough I could catch the bus before it reached school (so I wouldn’t have to drive completely out of my way as school is in the opposite direction to work). 

I was on a mission and was very chuffed when I saw the massive white rear end of the bus disappear round the next corner – yes! It pulled aside and I hopped on but of course, my seven year old was rather embarrassed that her Mum  was on the bus so shrank further into her seat making spotting her very tricky. So I started calling her name and a boy at the front said “She’s at the back”. I eventually found her reading a book pretending that I didn’t exist. She still managed a smile as she took the bag and then I made a hasty retreat, performed another U turn (not a stylish one I hasten to add) and then got on my way. All the while my little boy sat in the back like Maggie from the Simpsons sucking on his dummy. 

Hubby returns home later having experienced the day from hell – limping because of a bad leg, cursing because the lorry is back in the garage again and generally a little feidup. We both feel like a couple of old mobiles that need to be plugged in for a very long time. In fact we are so tired that we find it difficult some times, at the end of the day, to hear our daughter’s enthusiastic re-telling of another fascinating day at school (she really loves school, which is great). She might as well be telling a couple of zombies for all the enthusiasm we have at the end of our day.

I just hope that her enthusiasm and energy stays with her and isn’t whittled away by the daily grind (and maybe a little too much wine on a school night…)

I am blogging every day for Unicef to help protect vulnerable children around the world. My aim is to gain £1 a day from fellow bloggers. If you are able to help please visit my page on the Unicef website.

Thanks for reading.