Today has been trying. I don’t write many posts like this because I get about three-quarters of the way through and feel all whiney and start thinking about how good I really have it and then end up not posting them, but this time I will post because I don’t want yall thinking I am some sort of Alice from The Vicar of Dibley.

So as I said, today has been trying. Trying to drive me to drink, I tell you what.

Bede is on a late shift and Gilbert is on an early shift - so Bede has been going to sleep around midnight (how does this child do this) and Gilbert has been waking up around seven. This would work out to a lovely seven hours of sleep for me except for the fact that my boys wake up in the night. OK, I could deal with that, especially because my darling husband is the bedtime go-to guy, but still. I don’t go to sleep right when Bede does because I’d like a little, just a little, time for myself and even, gasp, with my husband who as I said is a swell guy and needs some attention now and again else he will wither like the proverbial grape vine.

SO that means I stay up late, like til 2ish or so. And wake up a few times and then get up early (sorry worm-getters, 8AM is early to me). Then the day begins with the usual kid shepherding duties like feeding and watering and clothing and cleaning and the like. All okay, usually but for some reason everything Faith has said today has been in a petulant whine. I’m sure a lot of it is because much of what *I* have said today has been in a petulant whine, but still. And Abaigeal is immovably stubborn and seeming especially digging-her-heels-in-ish today. Again, not that I’m feeling inflexible or anything. Bede is just being Bede, but at twenty-six monthst that’s enough in itself! All day has been one big ‘No’ to the older kids.

And Gilbert is very needy today and has been happy Right Here

and nowhere else (and he emits The Sound Of Sounds when he is not Right There, or in an analogous position on the front of the mama), even Sean can’t do much with him and he adores Sean. Right now Gil’s mumbling to himself on the floor and I think I have about three minutes to wrap up this descent into self-pity before he tunes up again.

I think the day went south for real when we tried to watch the last twenty minutes of The Third Man which we’d been trying to finish for three days. We had to pause it about ten times and it took a good hour to watch that twenty minutes. It’s quite exciting there at the end and it makes it all the more irritating when you have to pause. It. Ag. Ain and a. Gain. But that goes to show me that I can’t really expect to do much that doesn’t involve my children during the day. Every time I do I get all off-kilter and grouchy because it just don’t work.

On the extended family front someone who is very dear to me is having to deal with a little of his own problems with someone else and a lot of the someone else’s problems that have absolutely nothing to do with him. I have many things I could say and would say but I won’t unless asked because I don’t want to do anything that might increase his stress and strain. Is that vague enough for you?

And now, I think I’ll stop before I’m tempted to talk myself out of posting this. Happy days everyone!