Oh my goodness me, what an emotional rollercoaster!! Yesterday I took Christian and the team to our old school for it's very last day. It was completely bizarre, seeing all of our friends, colleagues and students and knowing that when the school term starts next January, our beautiful school will stand empty. I was very brave, and only cried a little when one of our closest mates spoke at the assembly. Considering I was sitting at the front of the room cuddling Maisie, there were too many people facing me to really let go (I told you before, I'm a very ugly crier!). Jack and Phoebalina had an absolute ball, eating sausages at the sausage sizzle, dancing in front of the live band, and generally being cossetted by an adoring army of staff and students. Maisie was passed around like a little parcel, and loved every moment! It was such a fun day, and yet the tears were never very far away. Although I know that I will see the people I love again, it's hard to walk away from a school where the students were wonderful, the staff were amazing, and generally it felt a bit like a family.
To cheer ourselves up and reward our kids for behaving themselves in public (never a certainty!!), we took them out for an early dinner at a kid-friendly restaurant. Never mind the food - what was the most exciting thing for Miss Phoebe? Not only did the restaurant have a TOILET (yes, we are at the stage where we have to go to EVERY toilet we come across, sometimes several times over), but it was at the top of a flight of stairs. Well! Phoebalina made several trips to the toilet, proudly exhibiting her newly acquired status of "a big girl who wears undies", all the while stomping up and down the stairs. On one trip down the stairs I was acutely aware of the couple attempting to dine near my daughter's noisy footfalls, so I commented that she was like an elephant and asked her to step more quietly. Instead, she continued to step heavily down on each step, and began trumpeting loudly like an elephant with each stomp. Yes, she's such a delicate little flower.
Our lucky, lucky children were spoiled rotten by two people in particular yesterday, "Aunty Carol", our front desk receptionist, and Lesley, our cleaning lady. Every time the kids would visit Daddy at school, or come back to my office at the end of the day, Carol and Lesley would make a big fuss of them. As you can imagine, Jack and Phoebe never minded in the slightest. Yesterday, Carol was wearing jingly bells and a funny Santa hat, and Lesley was decked out like an elf. They both gave the kids enormous wrapped Christmas presents which I put under the tree last night after they had gone to bed. This morning, Christian and I were lying in bed listening to the kids as they tiptoed out of bed and into the loungeroom. "Jack!", exclaimed Phoebe, "Santa's been here! Santa's been here!" Jack considered this for a moment. "No, Mummy said Santa's coming in a few weeks. These presents are from Aunty Carol and the elf." Classic.
Once we got over the excitement of early Christmas presents (which, by the way, were exceptional), it was time to get ready for the Wiggles concert. Last year I went with an 'ormous' 22 month pregnant belly - this year, I carted three kids bursting with excitement into Melbourne. We met up with Gertrude and Esmerelda and their tribes, had a picnic in the scorching heat at Birrarung Marr, and then traipsed off to Rod Laver Arena for a wiggly good time. For an hour and a half, Jack jumped and danced, Phoebs shook her groove thang, even Maisie Mouse squawked and flapped her hands. I doubt that my two big kids will ever wash their hands again, as they waved to Murray when he was a metre away, high-fived Sam (!) and patted Dorothy when Anthony carried her up the stairs and right by our seats. By the end of the concert, Jack and Phoebe were pink-faced and sweaty behind their Dorothy the Dinosaur masks, and Maisie was asleep in Christian's lap (how did she sleep in all that noise? Seriously, the woman wakes if I even think about going to bed...) After collapsing in the shade near Fed Square with drippy icy poles, we made our sticky, dusty, dancy way back to the car. They all slept the entire trip home (actually, Jack frightened the bejeesus out of me when I looked in the rear vision mirror and saw his nose sticking out the eye hole in his face mask), and then took hours to settle at bedtime. Typical! Actually, I think I hear a little mouse right now...which would be about right because I was just thinking about turning in! Grrr. Trust me to have a telepathic baby.
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