Good guess, but...

In honour of my in-laws' recent departure visit, I present the following conversation with my lovely three year old. It's bedtime, stories are finished, and I am tucking him in to bed. The in-laws are downstairs, doing something or other, I guess. Their footsteps are audible.

Bundle (looking down): Oh, what was that noise?

INC: I think that was your Pa.

Bundle: No, that was MY BUTT.

Hi, we're back

I have been thinking a lot about this blog lately (as opposed to actually writing anything on it). In particular, ever since I read this post from Baltimore's finest, and a few of the more pointed comments on that post, I have been wondering whether I have been guilty of presenting a rather skewed view of parenting that emphasises the cuteness while glossing over the less fantastic parts.


It's not like I have never alluded to the difficulties associated with parenting. Locating this blog at letmesleepnow.blogspot.com was a small hint as to how much sleep I have had in the past three years (none). Also, since I am aiming for balance, the past couple of months have mostly been taken up with Bundle apparently growing his wisdom teeth (or possibly they are two year old molars that are running a year late) while Cherub, advanced child that he is, seems to have hit the 'terrible twos' at the relatively young age of 18 months. This has been a truly bad combination.


Also, it would be safe to say that this movie review is unlikely to cause a sudden spike in procreational activities amongst bloggers any time soon.



However, having considered all of that, I don't really plan to change my approach to this little blog. Whilst the point of We Do Talk About Our Kids is to have a space where we can all write whatever we want to and there are no rules as far as I know (we really need to have a staff meeting, don't we?) I plan to continue to use this little blog to record all the things I love about my beautiful boys and anyone who wants to send me 'get a life, mommybloggers/daddybloggers' type messages, can.

As far as I am concerned, there is enough negativity towards parenting without me adding to it, and every time I think about complaining about the way parenting has changed my life, I look at my awesomely beautiful boys and forget what I was going to say.



So, to catch us up for the past couple of months, here are a few of my favourite parenting moments from recent times.

Cherub is at that age (around 18 months) where every new word he learns is an event. I won't bore you senseless by listing them, buit allow me to mention in passing that whenever he runs through the kitchen at top speed saying "Hurry. Hurry. Hurry." the cuteness meter is at risk of exploding.

Around a month ago, I took the boys on a train ride to Belgrave to pass he time one Sunday afternoon. Every time we were about to leave a station and the doors were about to close, Cherub leaned over, pressed my nose and said 'beep'. The other passengers were suitably entertained by this.

Driving home from Bunnings last week, I had this conversation with Bundle:

Bundle: Oh, there's a posty. Will he get wet?

INC: Probably, but he has a good raincoat so he should be okay


Bundle: Does he have a house, too?


INC: Yes, I'm sure he does


Bundle: And does he have wood at home?


INC: [briefly pauses to wonder where this is going] Yes, I think so


Bundle: [profoundly] We can't live without wood.

I could explain that one, but I think it's cuter if don't.

Cherub is at an age where he is very, very clear about what he wants, and when he wants it, by his verbal communication skills are not always up to the task of communicating it clearly. I admire his creativity in finding ways to get the message across. For example, he was slightly displeased that his grandfather was reading a book in a comfortable chair rather than playing with him. His response was to walk up as close as possible and throw a soccer ball at my father-in-law's head, really hard.

This pleased me endlessly.

Earlier this week, Honey Bear and I took the boys to the family hairdresser, a wonderful woman who provides excellent haircuts at stupidly low prices because she works from home. Bundle was playing with our hairdresser's train set while Honey Bear was having her legs waxed, and he drew my attention to the fact that a particular train had fallen off the end of the track. From there, the conversation went like this:

Bundle: The driver can't get the train back on the track

INC: Keep trying, you're nearly there


Bundle: It's back on the track


INC: Oh, what a clever driver


Bundle: It was me actually


INC: ....


Bundle: Pretend drivers can't really drive trains, daddy


INC: Oh, I didn't know that


Bundle: I didn't know that either

What's to complain about? My life is awesome.