my home life is getting political.

depending on the time of day, i have three or four political parties each vying for majority votes. the inevitable loser (can either be an opposition or on the same team) has various ways of making me, the voter, pay for my decision.

at times, it is fricking insane. we have re-elections sometimes every 30 seconds. where i have to choose: who will i embrace and support until the next election? whose "background" doesn’t stink?

imagine this….it is 2.45pm. i have been closeted away in the computer closet for the past 90 minutes, and suddenly i am aware that at least one baby is crying.fair enough, naptime is definitely over. and i have long bypassed that first time mother platitude of "a happy baby shouldn’t wake up crying". who knows how long they have been awake?

as i approach the door i hear there are two wails and i feel trepidition seeping through me. how am i going to handle this. sure enough, jude and sela are awake and sobbing, sela drenching her sheepskin, while the j is standing like jean val jean waiting for release. carys is still sleeping.

the toddler mind works in the following ways:

if i don’t get picked up first, that means i will not get picked up at all and i should dissolve into further tears to express how much i was looking forward to being taken out of my bed.

however if i do get picked up and then get put down, that means i am being abandoned and need to wail.

i have tried carrying both out of the room at once, but no matter how i try it, even in picking them both up, one still gets lifted FIRST. and the other is thus betrayed.

if all three are awake, i turn on the lights and use a cheerful voice and pick them each up and put them down beside each other. this way when they collapse to the ground they can crumple against each other. i open the door to the playroom and tell them once they are sorted, to come on in. i don’t stick around for the drama.

on the playground, we play games with the kids. running games are very popular, as they tire out the little ones and it doesn’t showcase my truly appalling singing voice.

but all four kids start racing towards me, and they’re colliding and pushing as they all aim for me.

today at playgroup, jasper started SCREAMING when i took him off my lap and went in search of carys. by the time i got back he was perched on lita’s lap, but he didn’t crack a smile during wind the bobbin up or even say "shhh" at the end, so you know it had to be serious for him.

despite hassle caused by politics, i am finding the political parties fun. i can burst into the bedroom and see sebastian showing his willing vice presidential candidates how to throw, or teaching them their ABC’s. the giggling and "stop it cawis" or "oh jj, i have lots of babies."

if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. i vote. and hey, what a coincidence…i also complain. but i do tell my candidates what i expect they will do for me, and i am happy to say, i am seeing results. let’s put it this way, they aren’t perfect, but i will vote for them again.