Posted by Jenny
My two year old
daughter has deceptively angelic looks. Shoulder length blond hair, big
glittering blue eyes and a broad ready smile that reveal the only hint to her
character: chipped front teeth! She’s the third in the bunch and that is
straight away my argument for her …ehm… confidence. She comes… She sees… And
she demolishes!
I’m learning more and more that a golden rule
in the survival guide of parents (perhaps I should write one!) is that you talk
to other parents. People who know parents will do too. Or people who know
people who know parents. As long as you get the occasional “Oh, sure, I know
that such and such’s child did the same!” or “You think that is bad, my child
did….(fill in the blank).
Her newest fad is taking off her clothes.
Apparently it’s very common. I didn’t know this, as my older two kids have
never gone through that phase. Apparently we’re quite lucky that she doesn’t do
it in public. I’m not even entertaining that thought as she started taking off
her nappy as well.
No, she’s not yet ready for the potty. She
happily sits on it until she needs to go, then does her business on the floor,
and subsequently comes looking for a tissue as “it’s all wet” and “a mess”.
Last Thursday evening I had a real treat. My
son came flying into the kitchen and it wasn’t until I entered the sitting room
that I realized that he was actually fleeing. There she was, happily standing
in her birthday suit, colouring in a colouring book, completely oblivious to
the upheaval she had caused.
Her little bottom was covered in poo. Her
clothes and nappy were missing. When asked she helpfully informed me that her
nappy was gone and unprompted she stated that she hadn’t done a poo. I didn’t
bother arguing.
A quick scan around the room came up empty
and a look behind the couch confirmed my suspicion, it has now also become a
nappy dump. Unfortunately the nappy didn’t contain a certain article, which
presented a problem. Where oh where? Well, it turned out to be on the floor, right
next to the coffee table. Again she was helpful in commenting “Dirty doggy
poo!” Hmmm…. I wonder…..
Once they were all in
bed, there was only space for a long soak in a hot bath with a fantasy marvel
like Tad Williams’ “Memory, Sorrow and Thorn”.
Tad has created a world into which I can easily escape and be a keen
witness to his ever unfolding storyline. It’s a powerful thing when you follow
the characters through the pages and you can feel the heat of the sun and how
it saps their energy, or when you find yourself thinking about it hours after
you’ve closed the book.
The first in the trilogy is “Dragon Bone
Chair” and although I found it to be a slow starter, it has earned its’ place
in my Addictive Reads Section, one I return to in times of great need as
described above.
As a follow up from
my previous entry, I regretfully have to say that the Jojo Moyes book “Me
before you” didn’t do it for me. Sorry. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the
dialogue between the main characters, I just wished there was more of it. In my
opinion the development of the relationship has become somewhat lost in the
heavy detail and descriptions of other aspects of the girl’s life. It didn’t
grab me. According to Daisy I’m simply not a chick-lit girl. She’s probably
right.
Top illustration by AJ Photography
