children are strange. i would love to blame sela’s recent attitude on:

a) discomfort from the 800 or so chicken pox infesting her body

b) cabin fever…she hasn’t been out in four days

c) side effects from drugs not meant for children under the age of 4

but i think its all about that she’s a kid.

so yesterday she finished a rather enjoyable dinner of spag bol and smacked her lips afterwards. the pox in her mouth have gone down, which meant that the tomato sauce was not too acidic. she ate and apparently enjoyed it all.

sebastian had finished his chicken korma and so i passed him some chocolate bears for his treat. he smiled and thanked me. sela was very interested in the bears as well, so i passed her one. then i passed jasper and lulu one as well. they were very pleased and dove in immediately. but sela chose to be angry. she wanted more. she threw hers down on the floor, where olivia ran over and smelt it, licked it and then ran away.

jj and carys asked for another one, and so i graciously handed them out, and when sela refused to pick up the bear, walked her over to the time out chair. she writhed in the chair and fell out. i let her gyrate on the floor. i removed the other kids to the playroom and read them a book. decided to reward the good behaviour so i read the kids a book…ironically elmo’s book of manners.  it seemed quiet, so i left the good kids and went to face the bad and ugly one. but she sela was still screaming. it seemed quieter because she had pushed herself under one of the carpets (that olivia is systematically shredding to pieces) and was yelling from there. i lifted her back up and put her on the sofa. not that she had ever stopped, but i think she might have drawn breath, for she commenced howling again, and i left the room, visiting the kids.

when i returned, it definitely WAS quiet. sela had gotten down and walked over to the computer, where we have a slide show of the family running when the computer is idle. she had crawled into the chair and was saying "jayjay…..gwandad….mummy…..sebbie….cawys…daddy…". she gave me a big hug.

i walked her over to where she had thrown the bear and asked her to pick it up. she did. i then made her apologise for screaming. she did. i then gave her the two other bears her siblings has received…and she offered me one.

this at the end of the day was a very confusing event, but to be fair, if it had happened earlier in the day i still would have been scratching my head.

they’re never boring.

i read something the other day which really confirmed my decision to give up one of my jobs. to paraphrase, it said:

15 years from now you would give anything to go back in time 15 years and spend a day with your children, when they were children. you would do it no matter the cost. so why don’t you pay the money now, and spend those days with your children while it is still possible.

now i know this is a simplified account, but it worked for me and helped me make a decision that financially wasn’t the wisest for our family, but emotionally, spiritually and mentally, was.