Monday

Today the sun was shining and the birds were singing and I only shouted at the children once whilst gearing up for the school run. The only thing that woke me up in the night was the fire alarm battery running low and making irritating loud bleeps at silly o'clock in the morning. Feeling pretty good, apart from greasy roots and inevitable toddler snot on left shoulder.
Before taking the girls to playgroup I had small errand to run, moving some empty packing boxes from one married quarter where the family had just moved in, to another where the mum and son were about to move out. Twin 1 and 2 were happy because I let them eat chocolate in their car seats whilst this was going on.
Normally the army pay for your move, including the boxes, but this woman's husband had just left her, so she had to pay for her own removal boxes and vacate her quarter within three months of the marriage breakdown.
Her son was in the same class as my son.
I remember him coming round to play in the summer and us talking about how great it would be that his dad would be back from Afghanistan in time for his birthday, which he was. They had waited a whole six months for him. However on his return Dad immediately announced that the marriage was over, and moved back into the block. Now Mum is having to give up her job, take him out of school, move back to her home town, and declare herself homeless, in order to qualify for a council house. My 'good deed' of shifting some boxes is pretty paltry, given the situation, and has probably only saved her around a tenner. But this time next week she will be a homeless single parent living on benefits, so actually that tenner saved might make a difference. I hope it will.
Meanwhile Dad is living the life of a single soldier.
Some aspects of army life just suck.