cabin fever

Have just had a large glass of Cassis. Looks and smells just like Ribena. Tastes like it too, but am hoping it will take the edge off midweek half-term blues.  

Kids are all in the bath, but I shall be able to hear if anyone drowns! I just had to tell them that Mummy's patience is now the size of a very thin piece of paper and I am within a whisker of wailing like a banshee at them. 

Twins are both crying at the moment - which proves they are breathing, so I'm staying put!

Today started ok, and I was inwardly congratulating myself on how well I was doing with the whole half term/rain/car-less thing, and then we spent the morning with one of the Twins' little friends. She was not on top form (we'll give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she's coming down with chicken pox or something, and not just being a grumpy hectorette), so it was an endless round of tantrums and tears and snatching and not sharing and naughty steps etc. All I wanted to do was hide in the kitchen and have a quiet cup of coffee, and I kept getting drawn into disputes over whose turn it was to wear the sparkly ring/use the Barbie perfume bottle etc.

In desperation Little Friend's mum put on a DVD, which meant they spent most of the morning watching telly, thus limiting options for the afternoon.... so I tried having them let off steam this afternoon by having a pillow fight, but Son kept actually hurting me, and Dog joined in and started humping the pillows, so it had to be abandoned. Tried playing catch, which was also pretty disastrous, given that my ball skills are about the same standard as the Twins'! They were finally happy for five minutes scuttling about in one of the empty packing cases and pretending it was a helicopter - until someone shouted too loudly, which made someone else's ears hurt and someone else banged their head, etc. so it all ended in tears, as blooming usual. 

I guess this is what is called cabin fever.

And speaking of which, wonder how Hubby is doing out in the middle of the Atlantic with his burly crew (or is he in a motel with a beauty therapist from Nantwich? I neither know nor care)?

Right. The Cassis is beginning to take effect - might have just enough courage for story time...