Never assume

anything. Ever. Particularly where there are children involved.

It is dinner time. Everyone is sitting quietly at the table eating all their vegetables and not fidgeting or complaining or kicking each other under the table. What, that isn't how it happens at your place? Nope, not here either. But I digress.... Just because your child's plate is empty, do not assume your child ate all their dinner. No. Whilst sometimes that is the case, and they have in fact cleaned up all that you have provided for them, other times you will find, sometimes days later, that food has been delicately piffed, quite obviously while you weren't looking, underneath lamp tables, or under a pile of papers, or drawings, or simply launched as far as humanly possible while you ventured to the kitchen to get one of the children a drink that if they didn't get they would die. Then and there.

Just because you put the kids to bed 45 minutes ago and there is silence, do not assume they are asleep. For it is when you relax, when you let down the guard, and when you finally allow yourself to slip into 'the kids are asleep' mode, that you will hear it. It will sometimes be soft, almost melodic. Sometimes it will be like the caterwaul of a pair of bobcats. "Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum."

Packing a child's bag for daycare may seem a simple task. Never assume that just because you packed a bag, the contents of the bag will be the same when said bag arrives at daycare with the child for whom the bag was packed. On Thursday I packed Master 2s bag. It contained a spare pair of tracksuit pants, a spare t-shirt, a spare hoodie and a spare pair of socks. When I picked up Master Angus, I was told that he had got wet today following some water play, but there were no clothes in his bag. Interesting. Very interesting. And so when we got home I checked the contents of the bag. They were right. There were no clothes. There was, however, a small yellow tip truck, a miniature soccer ball, two hot wheels cars, a pencil, a minion, and two pieces of his very own artwork. No clothes. Obviously I had not selected those items that were of optimum use to a 2 year old. Silly me.

We went to a birthday party today for one of Miss 5's little school friends. It was a McDonald's party. Fabulous. So I gave in before even putting up a fight and told the younger two that they, too, could have McDonald's. Happy meals all around. Except I got the wrong one for Master 2. So left them at the table eating chips in order to get another Happy Meal, with nuggets (how could I have been so silly?). In this space of approximately 13 seconds where I walked from the table to the counter to order, Master 2 managed to stand up, slip, fall and hit his head on the side of the wall, and cry. Loudly. So I rushed back to him to ensure he was okay, cuddled him lots, told him I was getting the right Happy Meal for him, made sure he was settled and then went back to collect the Happy Meal, and got back to the table to realise that I had ordered the wrong one. Again.

And so back to the counter I went and put on my most pitiful look and said "I got him the wrong one.... he wanted nuggets... please.... please will you change it for me......". My eyebrows have never, ever been higher. And she looked at me and said, head tilted "Ok" and gave me a smile. And I asked if there was any extra charge and she said "Don't worry about it" and I could have hugged her, because I didn't have any money with me anyway, that was back at the table with he of the bumped head.

So we all had a Happy Meal. And I got the one with the burger that I had mistakenly ordered for Master 2, and he got nuggets. And Miss 5, who was in the party room, kept coming out and pinching my chips because they hadn't been fed yet, and heaven forbid if an hour or two goes past and she is punished with being unable to eat.

And they all ate, and played on the playground, and after an hour I was told that they were still hungry. The younger two I mean. And I figured we'd screwed up any kind of nutritious meal today anyway so more chips it was. With sweet and sour sauce of course. And then Miss 5 comes rushing over with all the things she got from the party, and Miss 4's face got lower and lower because she didn't have a bag like Miss 5.

And then the cake came out. In the party room. Which was next to where we were sitting.

Seriously.

And much as the mini two were saddened by the apparent lack of cake in their world (ice cream cake to boot), they did marvellously not to throw a tantrum and I was incredibly relieved.

And then someone brought over a piece for them to share. I moderated. And fed them. And it was ok.

And I'm an idiot because ice cream makes Master 2's eczema worse. Fabulous. Didn't think of that one.

Anyway, long story short, the party ended, we came home.

And then heard it.

"I'm still hungry."

Times 3.

Of course you are. Of course you are.

Never assume that because your children have eaten more than an adult that they won't be hungry again within the hour.

After all, you know what they say about assumptions..... and no, not that saying. The other one. Although you may not know it because I made it up.

All
Situations
Sap
Up
Mental
Energy

Assumptions, in the end, are exhausting. Prepare yourself for the worst, always, and anything better is just a bonus.

Wonder what will happen tomorrow......

Life is never, ever dull.

I think I kinda like it that way.