Frame It!

Having had a good deal of practice with me when I was a toddler, Granddad arrived with a pretty good understanding of just how much hard work it is to keep a Small Girl entertained. He arrived equipped with an array of interesting puppets the evening before DH left for India, and threw himself heroically into the job of getting reacquainted with his granddaughter.

Whilst I was distracted with an increasingly fussy Very Small Dribbling Boy, Granddad and the Small Girl spent many long hours playing Going to the Doctor with various puppets afflicted with disturbing ailments (a penguin with “a stomach in his head” was particularly memorable - he required several rounds of pink lollipops at the chemist before he felt better).

Pacing the upstairs hall one evening with a Very Small Overtired Boy, I was overseeing the Small Girl's bathtime and listening to her conversation with my Dad.

"Gwanddad?" she was asking
"Yes, Sweetie?"
"Frame it!!!"

Granddad looked slightly alarmed and turned to me, lost for words. Laughing, I explained that it was merely an interestingly applied phrase from one of her art programmes and not some veiled expletive. Meanwhile, Baby Pie carried on squirming, fidgeting and fussing in my arms. “Oh frame it, Baby” I said, exasperated, and put him down for his nap.

The week passed surprisingly quickly and we were all sad to say goodbye when Granddad left – especially as we still had a couple of days alone before the return of DH. And typically, on the final night, the Small Girl woke in the small hours with a temperature and demanded to come into bed with me (a request I couldn’t reasonably ignore unfortunately). That, combined with the Very Small Boy’s frequent night wakings, made it a dreadful night for everyone and by 8.30am the next morning, we were all up, dressed, fed and pacing the Shopping Centre waiting for the shops to open so Mummy could indulge in a bit of therapeutic shopping.

One of the few blessings of having had such a disturbed night’s sleep is that at least the children can generally be relied upon to sleep during the day. And by the time we got home from the Shopping Centre, both the Small Girl and the Very Small Boy were peacefully asleep in their car seats. Not knowing what to do with this sudden and unexpected free time, I carried them in asleep, made myself a nice cup of tea and put my feet up before realising that DH would soon be home and that I had better spend the next hour frantically tidying the house.

By the time he arrived, the children were awake, refreshed and full of energy, I had changed out of my baby-sick top and into something new and swish, the house was gleaming and we all crowded around to welcome him home and examine our presents. And while he spent a bit of quality time with his two favourite Small People, I retired to the kitchen with a glass of wine and my new Indian spices to cook us all a fabulous curry.