A Holiday!

How wonderful - four nights in a two-room apartment on the NSW north coast! It was lovely to get away, but I must admit it was a challenge.

I was sick, Chubbity Bubbity was teething (yes, finally teething! CB is very grumpy about it), and Sonny Ma-Jiminy is going through a Very Difficult Stage. All screaming and violence.

There were the constant Screaming & Object-Throwing Tantrums from Sonny Ma-Jiminy in reply to parental comments like "We can't go in the pool yet, it's not open," or "We can't go in the pool yet, we have to eat breakfast first," or "We can't go in the pool now: it's dark, the pool is closed and it's time for bed."

There was the thumb-slammed-in-the-car-door incident after which Sonny Ma-Jiminy screamed for a very long time.

There was the day when Chubbity Bubbity reached out, grabbed my vanilla milkshake and spilt most of it on the table, after which Sonny Ma-Jiminy grabbed the cup and took the opportunity while Husband and I were cleaning up the mess with napkins to quickly gulp down the remains. I can't tell you how thirsty I had been, how much I had waited for that milkshake, and how close I came to crying because I missed out on it thanks to my two lovely children.

And there were the many disturbing occasions when Sonny Ma-Jiminy, upset at the outcome of events, thought that the best way to solve his problems was to scream at his parents like they were errant, wayward children. Here are some examples written in capital letters too small to represent the decibel level of the shouting:

• "I TOLD YOU ... I'M NOT HAVING A SHOWER NOW!!!"
• "YOU MUST NEVER SMACK ME - I TOLD YOU NEVER SMACK ME!!!"
• "IT IS TIME FOR THE POOL NOW!!! THE POOL IS NOT SHUT NOW!!!"

Husband and I can't understand where this behaviour came from. We are wondering if we could have done anything to avoid the bossiness and screaming which issues from our two-year-old, but in the end, we assume that it is simply because he is a two-year-old that this behaviour is occurring. Some comfort, but it doesn't stop people from looking censoriously at us at the shops.

None of this was easy to deal with through a fog of sore throat, runny and/or blocked nose and the general tiredness you get when you've got a cold.

Chubbity Bubbity enjoyed her swims especially those in the warm spa. Husband enjoyed relaxing without guilt about the things he should be doing instead of relaxing, and I enjoyed "Being Away." It wasn't the complete relaxation holiday of years past, it was just a new place to be in while I did everything (washing, tidying up, waking in the night to give children a drink of water) but that in itself was good.

I re-discovered the complete joy of doing quiet laps in a pool while all other family members were elsewhere. I hope that I'll be able to find some regular time this year to go to our local pool for peaceful swims by myself.

I didn't get a full night of sleep due to the fact that the children woke for drinks of water each night except for one when Sonny Ma-Jiminy fell out of bed, cried a little and fell asleep on the floor.

Since we have been back, the sleep-throughs haven't been much better. To her credit Chubbity Bubbity has slept very well since we returned, but the nights have still been punctuated by Sonny Ma-Jiminy's requests for drinks of water. Last night I decided to put two glasses of water on his shelves and tell him that he could have drinks by himself whenever he wanted to.

The good news is that this strategy worked. Chubbity Bubbity slept through again, and when Sonny-Ma Jiminy woke at 12:30am for a drink, he remembered he could help himself to a glass of water on his shelves.

The bad news is that when Husband put Sonny Ma-Jiminy down to sleep earlier in the evening, he forgot to put a nappy on the little feller and left him sleeping in undies and shorts. As Sonny stood at the shelves drinking his water, he did a Very Large Amount of Wee on the carpet. As he realised what had happened, he walked across his room, still weeing. While he paused to open his door, the wee collected in another Very Large Amount at his feet. He came out of his room and stood still, making the third large puddle. The first thing I knew was Sonny Ma-Jiminy standing beside me saying, "I've got wet pants Mummy."

The cleanup was long and difficult, owing to the fact that I didn't have contact lenses in and I was only 65% awake at most. When the cleanup was done, Sonny was wide awake and stayed that way for an hour and a half. So of course, I did too.

Tonight, Chubbity will probably sleep through again. Sonny Ma-Jiminy has a nappy on and a drink of water on his shelves. What can possibly go wrong?

THE NEXT MORNING: Of course, I forgot. Husband can wake me up by drinking a glass of milo clinking the spoon on the glass beside me after midnight, and Sonny Ma-Jiminy can wake at 5am demanding a nappy change. How silly of me to forget.