And, relax!

So really, people genuinely do this for a living? Really?!

Actually it has been altogether far less gruesome that I was imagining it was going to be. I’ve managed to spend oodles of time online having very serious and intelligent input on message boards and IM, tracking down links to illustrate my points properly and debating challenging, worthwhile things including regional accents. 😉

So Jack and Maisie were here for a few hours and it worked pretty well. D & S were excellent hosts, I was very proud (and grateful!) and we managed not to inflict any of our high sugar, high salt, high in saturates, high in cholesterol type foodstuffs on the clean living half of the next Goddard generation, so that was good. 😉

Just enough time to tackle each room (Davies did the playroom, Scarlett did the lounge and I did Davies’ room, the washing up and ran the hoover round to collect up all the bits of rice cake – see I told you we were clean living!) before Mel arrived with Liam and Lily.

Room trashing was contained pretty much to the lounge and the playroom as Liam, Davies and Scarlett watched W&G. Lily was scared and chose not to watch, which made me all the more relieved that I hadn’t let the children put it on for Jack and Maisie. They’d wanted to but I remember Jack having nightmares after watching a Brum video we’d lend them once so I thought Were Rabbits might be a little too macabre for their genteel tastes! I did allow half an hour of Nick jr while they ate lunch and that entranced J&M to such a degree they were utterly oblivious to everything else around them being totally hypnotised by the screen. I think their TV watching may be as restricted as their food choices! Very commendable but possibly setting them up to be McDonalds eating, Eastenders watching teens of the future when they have their rebellious phase!

My kids had their bodies abused with fish fingers and potato waffles along with Liam and Lily for tea, there was some dressing up and some rowdy game or other while Mel and I chatted and then they headed off for home, shortly followed by the arrival of Ady.

Tarly is long since asleep, Davies is tired but fighting it, Ady is looking at me with new found respect and admiration and I am already on my second glass of wine. A bath, steak and chips and the weekend await…