Friday I'm in pain… I mean love

I'm celebrating Friday today. Well actually I'm showing gratitude that we've all made it to Friday in one piece - which has been no mean feat I assure you ! Now let me say up front I love my son. He is the apple of my eye, the beat of my heart, a precious gift, yada yada yada. That is a given. So what I say is by way of illustration and not a statement of intent.

You may have noticed I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front this last few days. If you did notice - aw bless you and thanks. If you didn't - well, how self-involved are you ? So we've all made it to the end of the week - albeit exhausted, aching and generally feeling like you do when you get to the end of a really long run on a hot day. I haven't had a night of unbroken sleep since last week and if my son says, "Mummy stop shouting" one more time in response to my shouting "Just listen will you ?" I will probably lose my mind completely. He hasn't been this restless at night since he was a newborn and had sleep feeds. Now it's a shouted demand for a drink or needing to use the toilet. By the time he greets us with a cheery "good morning" at 6am I'm only just settling down after the latest expedition.

I read a blog post by another parent whose child is being a bit 'challenging' at the moment so I think it might be something in the air. Mine is generally grumpier and more belligerant than usual and as a result so am I. I would have said it's the school holidays but his nursery is still open and his routine hasn't changed so it can't be that. Unless he's making a stand against not getting a summer break in which case he knows far too much. I have seriously considered giving him to the rag and bone man when he passes by (yes we do have them in Croydon still) only he hasn't been by lately and I'm not sure how I'd explain the absence to Hubbie. The boy has no idea how close he's come to becoming a Junior Steptoe.

I have needed things to cheer me up this week and thankfully there have been a few, so I thought I'd share them:

• On Monday a nice man knocked on the door and delivered a bundle of Twinings goodies which I had won on Twitter. How very civilised. The tins look pretty and it's always nice to have delicious tea isn't it ? 

• On Tuesday evening I went into the garden and picked some apples from the trees in our garden. The same trees that were completely bare last year. I haven't even come close to finishing picking and I have a basket full already. That's a lot of apple crumble, Eve's pudding and tarte tatin - I don't hear the boys complaining though.

• Wednesday was date night and we went to watch Alan Partridge Alpha Papa - it was very funny indeed and we had a great time. I laughed and laughed. I also found out that I'd won a goodie bag of Alan Partridge movie stuff from Vue cinemas which was a nice surprise. If I can hide it from Hubbie I might pop some of the goodies into his birthday bundle of pressies in a few months time.

• Today I had my day with the boy and we went to a recently opened store on Purley Way called Kiddicare. While we were there I needed the loo so I took him with me - they frown upon leaving your children running around and touching toys apparently. When we got into the cubicle we saw these:

• That is the single most wonderful bit of thinking about parents with small children that I've seen in a long time. We all know that cubicles are always too small and trying to get a child onto the loo and going yourself are near impossible. Here is the solution - big and small loos. Then when we went to wash our hands there were side by side sinks at different heights and my son actually washed his hands without any fuss at all. I think we might have to live there.

So we're here at the end of the week and I have almost no voice, my body hurts and we have Grandparents visiting tomorrow so I might just spend the day in bed while they entertain each other and the boy. If you have more than one child to entertain this summer holiday I sympathise with you. I have no idea how you manage and I admire you more than I can say. I know it isn't much, but I'm giving you my smile today - I have enough good fortune to spare :o)