Thursday 14th January
Today has been one of those days when I wish I could go back to bed and start again.
It all started so well, when we opened the curtains to see a fresh falling of snow!! It wasn’t quite school closing snow – but it was enough for us to feel quite excited. Annie grabbed my phone and started taking photos. She said ‘daddy will want to see the snow’. Charlie is away with work so he would have to settle for the photos. This then drew my attention to the fact that he would be traveling home today, so I prayed there would be no more snow. The last thing I need is Charlie being stuck away for another night!
Right, we have to get on with getting ready for school, and tear ourselves away from the window. This was the point where I now wish we could start over. Alice decided that she was not going to eat breakfast and she was certainly not going to drink her juice with her medicine in. After forty minutes I took her breakfast away. She refused point blank to have the drink. I told her I would help her to drink it. She spat it out all over me and her clothes, she then pushed me away. The drink went flying. She was adamant that she was not having it and she didn’t.
I had to come up with another way of getting her to have the meds. Its been tricky ever since her prescription for her bladder medication changed from a liquid to a tablet. The pharmaceutical company raised the price from £20 per bottle to £300 per bottle, so understandably the NHS have restricted it. So I just crushed another tablet and added it to another medicine in a syringe – she was none the wiser!
With all the events of the morning, we rushed out of the house for the school run. It was only when we got half way up to school that Lauren started to complain that her feet were wet. The snow was now melting into slush and I had totally forgotten to get Lauren and Annie’s wellies out. I told Lauren to change into her PE trainers, hoping Annie thinks to do the same. Feels like a “parent fail’ again. Fortunately my awesome friend and neighbour Heather reminds me that I’m doing a good job. After the school run she makes me a cup of tea and hands me the celebrations tub. It all feels so much better with chocolate!! It sure beats going back to bed and feeling miserable!
I am grateful that I have people around me like Heather – good friends like her help me regain a sense of perspective, offer a listening ear and offer lots of encouragement.
This kind of support is essential for fostering.
A Family Less Ordinary
