The Wisdom and Folly of Youth

Last night was the first night that I looked after MLI's girls by myself for any extended period of time.

By this I mean get home from work, play ponies til 6.30pm, strip the girls, get them in the bath, start cooking dinner, light candles in the bathroom because the girls "want to have a bath the way you do Ladycracker", try to finish cooking dinner, clean biggest girl's school uniform, try to remember how to mash potatoes, get the girls out of the bath, dry them, wriggle them into their pyjamas, clean up the milk the littlest one spilt on the table, serve dinner, plead and make deals with both of them over dinner, ( biggest one - please eat your fish fingers. littlest one - please eat your little trees), clear away dinner, feed them both a mentos for dessert, clean up the red wine that the littlest one spills (my fault) whack on some Elvis, grab the hairbrushes and a banana and make up dances to Hound Dog, wipe their mouth, toilet and teeth, get them into the bedroom, read some stories, they think they are too hot, I get some sheets, then the littlest one wants me to get into bed with her, I tell them a story about lapping ocean waves praying they will go to sleep, then I rub their backs until they finally quieten down.

I wrote this all in one sentence because it feels like a blur to me. I have always thought that I was a great multitasker but apparently not. The mash was lumpy, the carrot too raw, the bath temp too hot, dinner was on the table late and the girls only just quietened down about ten minutes before MLI got home.

I think I'm going to need a while to get a hang of this kid thing. I never had a lot of experience as only one of my friends has a child and my sister has only just had one. They are such hard work, such a joy and so rewarding. However. I'm glad that we only have the girls four days a week. Uninterrupted sex is a beautiful thing as is the chance for us to enjoy us time, going to the movies, dinner, dancing, gigs, parties, that sort of thing.

8 days til I'm on holidays