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Not so bad, considering

Yesterday morning I was all ready to sit down and write a post about how tiring and not nice my day was on Friday. Being a mummy is the best things in the world and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but there are days when you’re so tired, when the kiddos are so naughty and when there is so many colds, ear infections and other things going around, that you just can’t enjoy it all. 

So I was all ready to write and just popped onto facebook to check out how some of my Dutch friends were doing (I love facebook for enabling me to keep up with what people in Holland are doing even if I don’t get round to speaking to them) and it hit me right in the face…..

What was I complaining about. 

One of my oldest and dearest friends (one of those ones you don’t see but will always have a little place in your heart) has been dealing with the immense pain of a loss of life so awful that I have no words to describe it.

Another friend of mine, who is part of an awesome charity called Global Clowning (look them up and donate a few pennies if you can), is currently in Greece, dressed up as a clown, handing out food, clothes and a bit of laughter to refugees out there.

And I was complaining about a bit of tiredness, an ear infection and a cold. I felt ashamed.

I know that I am allowed to moan about my little problems even if there are millions of people have it much worse, and I know I will. 

But not now. Not today. Today I will mourn a loss that is not mine, today I will hope the poor refugee children will end their day with a banana in their tummies and a smile on their faces. And today I shall be grateful for what I have. Please take a moment to do the same.

Thank you and good night.

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I’m back!

Wow, you know you’ve been busy when writing is one of your favourite things and still you haven’t posted for 5 months! I know! Five whole months without as much as a word. Without trying to make excuses, the main reason I haven’t been blogging is that we have had a lot of illness over the last few months. I was ill pretty much from just before Christmas up to nearly the end of February with one nasty cold and/or flu after the other. And as soon as I was better, yes you guessed it, the kiddos got ill.

Jacob got off lightly the first time with just a cold that was gone within a few days, but Elisabeth was not so lucky and she was poorly for almost two weeks. We even got worried we might have had to cancel her birthday party, but she got better just in time…..or so we thought. Last week she again came down with high temperatures, sore throat and ear ache. Poor girl.

Because she is far too ill to go to school I have taken today off work (unpaid, eek!) to look after her. Normally I work from home when Elisabeth is not well because she is such a good girl and she happily lets me get on with what I need to do, but we have had so little sleep this week that I decided that and trying to work and looking after a poorly girl was just a bit too much. So a day off it is (which was a good decision because even writing this is making my eyes wanting to shut quite desperately!).

Anyway, winter won’t last forever so in theory the colds will go, and hopefully that means I will have a little more time (and energy) to write. In the next few days I would like to share with you my first ever published article about how my super brave grandmother saved the life of a Jewish girl during the Second World War, so watch this space!

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Where’s mamma?

Even though my two lovely kiddos look very much alike, they couldn’t behave more differently if they tried.

The most noticable difference at the moment is talking. Elisabeth never really did baby talk, she was almost silent until she could discuss the political situation in Africa (so to speak). She talked so well that when she was two and a half I got asked what scholl she went to (it also helped that she is rather on the tall side). Jacob on the other hand doesn’t stop jabbering, but at over 18 months he is in no hurry to start talking.

He has his own way of saying Elisabeth – Elily – and is still very keen on the words ‘wow’ and ‘ball’. But that is about it.

A few weeks ago I thought he finally started saying ‘mamma’ only to find out he was saying ‘banana’. And soon after that all fruit was ‘mamma’. Funny little man.

The other night at dinner we asked him:
– Where is Elisabeth? – Jacob points at Elisabeth.
– Where is daddy? – Jacob points at daddy.
– Where is mamma? – Jacob points at something in the conservatory and says: ‘ball!’

Ha ha, funny little man.

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The First Kiss

The first time someone kisses you is always special. I remember the first kiss with my husband, it was in a nightclub in Clacton-on-Sea. This is 14 years ago and I still remember it as if it was yesterday.

Elisabeth gave slobber kisses for ages when she was little (you know the ones that are more like licking than kisses 😃). And no matter how wet and slobbery, they were lovely.

And then yesterday. Yesterday was great. Yesterday was awesome. I came home from work and gave both kiddos a cuddle. Then Jacob climbed on my lap, grabbed my face with both his hands, pulled my face towards his and gave me a big proper kiss right on the lips, and then another one, and another one and another one. My day, which didn’t start particularly well, brightened up immediately and I couldn’t stop smiling for quite some time.

I don’t think I will forget this first kiss in a hurry!

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Conversations with Jacob #1

Me: Morning Jacob.
Jacob: Wow!

Me: Would you like a drink?
Jacob: Wow!

Me: Look Jacob, a dog.
Jacob: Wow!

Me: What would you like for lunch?
Jacob: Wow!

Me: Night night Jacob.
Jacob: Wow!

The boy is a genius 😂

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Conversations with Elisabeth 3

Elisabeth: “Where are my nipples mummy?”
Me:”Excuse me?”
Elisabeth:”Where are my nipples mummy?”
If I find out who is to blame for this they will be in serious trouble 🙂

This Tuesday Elisabeth didn’t really want to go to the child minder, she was tired and wanted to stay home with mummy or daddy. But when we got there she was fine, because she loves it at Jenny’s. When I opened the door to get her out of her car seat she said (completely unprompted might I add)
“I ove you mummy.”
Now that’s a good start of the day!

Elisabeth: “Dora’s got a big cock!”
Ha ha, she still struggles to say the ‘L’.

Even though Elisabeth can say the word ‘Help’ perfectly, every now and then when she wants me to do something, she will run around shouting: Hel, hel, hel, hel!

Elisabeth: “Daddy wants orange.”
Daddy: “I am going to have some cola Elisabeth.”
Elisabeth: “Daddy wants orange!”
Me: “Daddy is having a different drink Elisabeth.”
Elisabeth: “Daddy wants orange!!”
Bored of waiting until daddy has the drink she thinks he should have, she stomps over to the fridge, pulls it open, takes out the bottle of orange squash, drags it to the table and puts it in front of her daddy.
Elisabeth: “Daddy wants orange!!!”
No how can you refuse that. So, daddy had orange.

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Conversations with Elisabeth 2

Me: ‘What did you have for dinner at Jenny’s today?’
Elisabeth: ‘Mash and beans and fish fingers.’ –
Me: ‘Really?’ – She actually had spaghetti 🙂

Me: ‘You’ve grown so big!’
Elisabeth: ‘I’m not big, daddy is big.’

Elisabeth: ‘Daddy is a boy and mummy is a lady.’
Me: ‘That’s right, daddy is a man and mummy is a lady.’
Elisabeth: ‘No, daddy is a boy, daddy is not a man.’

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