I am deeply asleep on Wizard’s bed, sheet-creased, when I become aware of the others moving around. Brown Owl also had a bad night and was awoken out of deep sleep by the breakfast door knock.
We played musical beds last night. Even Jack seems super tired and grumpy. Wizard must sleep in his bed tonight, and not on the floor in his cubby. In hindsight I am grateful we didn’t try to stay up to see the new year in, as this would have messed with his body clock big time.
There were noises in the night, that bothered me. The fan was off when I went to bed, leaving the rooms stuffy and still. I know I had a conversation with Brown Owl about this and she seemed to think it was good that the fan was off, but by morning, she is adamant that she turned it on and prefers it on. In any case, it was definitely off during the night when I had transferred myself from our bed to Wizard’s, as he had come into ours again and was elbowing me away.
The noises sounded industrial. Big booms and metallic things bashing into one another and falling. I was in that hazy state where I couldn’t quite sort out the noise and the environment. I worried the hotel was being knocked down. It took me a long time to fall back to sleep and when I did, my dreams were vivid, confusing, disturbing.
All of us are grumpy and short-tempered. It’s hard not to look at anyone, in such a confined space. I think of what I read last year about how Inuit parents teach their children to manage their emotions. It really hit home when I imagined several people in the confined space of an igloo with dangerous weather outside. While it helps to jiggle my perspective, this does not particularly assist me in dealing with two boys on edge, at each other, determined each to outdo the other in the shoulder-chip stakes.
Can we go back to bed now, and start over?
After several minutes of deliberation, Wizard decides that he will attempt to play Horseopoly with us. We manage for 40 minutes before he upends the board. Calmly, ever so calmly, Brown Owl and I work to sort and put away the pieces. We use this as our therapy and manage a smile or two in amongst the paper money.
Wizard disappears to hide inside his bedclothes. Oops – now he’s angry again at the “someone” who packed away his cubby, pushed the bed back into the corner and made it all neat. Jack is needling him, throwing balls at him, jumping from bed to bed, making it impossible for him to be alone.
I've made all the beds nicely this morning. I like making beds. I also like beds that are made. Alas, Wizard has it in for the beds today. Better the beds, I suppose, than us. In a rage, he tears all the covers off from top to bottom. It’s good exercise, and Brown Owl manages to catch him out in a laugh. He has learned to laugh at himself. Good.
Jack sulks and storms. The tv on the wall beside the doors that adjoin our rooms gets a wobble when he slams the door, and we must not allow this to keep happening. There was a time a couple of years back when the clock we stationed on the wall of our dining room between the doors to the boys’ bedrooms regularly smashed, after being dislodged by the vibrations of a slamming door. No, it can’t continue.
We play ball. We read with Jack. We let them watch. We play with the beys. Brown Owl suggests a lunch-time movie, to break up the routine. I opt out. I can hear How to Train Your Dragon II from where I’m sitting at the desk in the other room. I love these movies, and their music, but I’d rather colour in, than sit idly on an uncomfortable chair and watch the screen.
After the movie there’s a knock on the door. Suddenly, another care package arrives. As usual, Brown Owl was in the know. I can’t believe she even exercises with her phone in her pocket, but maybe it’s because it counts her steps. Anyway, our dear friends the Prouds have brought us a gorgeous bag full of goodies, which the children fall upon immediately. It changes the colour of our day, and the rest of the afternoon is spent happily exploring. Thank you, Prouds.
I pay less attention to the world outside today. There’s little point in pining for air and sun. Then we get a video call from the Kitty Cats 3 and they are at our place and we all crowd around the tiny screen, looking at our home, the one that’s waiting for us in just a few days’ time. I breathe deep. I know there’s going to be lots to do, and I can’t wait to get into it.
After dinner, which was a terrific success (thanks kitchen people!) we put on Kiboomers again. We dance and move around a lot, throw balls, play floor is lava and work our way into feeling like we’ve used our bodies for something. Brown Owl and I did manage our yoga and PE with Joe, and we need the children to get physically tired out, as well.
Wizard and Brown Owl start reading a book about dragons. Jack and I are still working through Septimus Heap. They take a while to fall asleep, and we give Wiz some melatonin to help. Tomorrow is another day. We are well over the hump, now.
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