my mum has been here for a couple of weeks now. she has made herself very useful. we race each other to the computer to check emails, she bemoans over the fact that asian television stations air footie, badminton, horse racing and cricket more than they show golf and tennis, and when it comes to the kids, she is invaluable.

yesterday charles was out of town and mum and i were getting the kids ready for church. it was a day destined to keep the kids out of the house for as long as possible because although they had only been awake for 2.5 hours, i had learned that having them in the house was driving me insane.

the kids managed to open the entire contents of their art and craft supply suitcase and dump it over the floor. they ruined a aqua doodle pad, some markers, drew over their legs and lost caps to markers, and tossed ribbons across the floor. i was horrified. and demanded they clean it up which meant mum and i cleaned it up while chastising them.

and guess what my cheeky jay said to me in part of the "sebastian, did you get that piece of paper? sela did you put that pen away? carys why aren’t you moving faster? jasper! are you clearing up?" tirade?

he had the gall to answer honestly and factually, "no mummy, i’m holding my willy."

that set the tone of the day.

i will share more later. but it was all pretty much like that.