The time warp

This year, has been a strange kind of time warp
At the end of term 1 I felt as if the year was done.
At the end of term 3 I felt as if the term had just begun.
We’ve spent the year lurching from one annual event to the next, interrupted by children’s illnesses. Regularly. Too regularly.

Remember how last holidays I said we were resting, because everyone had been sick, and we wanted to keep the sicknesses at bay? Well, it didn’t work.

This term the children have had four bouts of tonsillitis, we’ve had vomiting, diarrhoea and high temperatures. Banjo fractured both her wrists. She fell off the monkey bars at school. She had one purple cast and one red, which she used to colour co-ordinate her outfits. Matilda fell on her arm but it wasn’t fractured. On the way to the ENT specialist the other day, Banjo vomited on the train. Lovely. She needs to have her tonsils and adenoids out, her ears drained, grommets inserted and the sides of somewhere inside her nose shaved off. She’ll be off school for two weeks (and we need to rethink Christmas, holidays, and anything that involves money.)

This term I’ve done most of my uni readings in doctor’s waiting rooms and at the hospital.

This term all the children had to write and perform speeches. It’s the bane of every family. Matilda’s was on animal rights and food production. Then she decided she’s giving up red meat. Even kangaroo sausages. Now, her dad is vegetarian, so this wasn’t a big step for us, but even so. There are few enough intersections of what the children will eat. Spag bol was a one. Potato Bake. Vietnamese rolls. Homemade pizza. Carrot sticks. Porridge (our resident Scotsman is handy with a spurtle). Pancakes. Apples. That’s about it.

Then I told the children that, being school holidays and me having a uni assignment due, they were in charge of dinner. And voila. Red meat is back on the menu. Clancy made meatballs and pasta in a tomato sauce, and Matilda made Chicken Teriyaki (of a type).

Now, we really are on the home stretch. All the end of year events are coming up. I wonder if it will feel like the end of the year. I’m looking forward to all our duties being dispensed with and we can just relax. I hope.