Today has been a rough one.
"It's time to get up, Mum"
After a long week I stayed up too late last night and woke late this morning. I had a shower and considered my outfit for the day.
"Princess, do you want to come to the shops with me?"
Tomboy (pouting) : "How come you just asked her?"
Me: "Well, you can come if it's ok with her"
Tomboy: "She said it's ok"

Later Tomboy comes to me crying "She doesn't want me to come"
and on it goes.......

I explain my reasons for inviting only one assistant but agree to two. After hearing my reasoning the Tomboy decides that she won't shop. I have already explained, negotiated and agreed so I don't want all of that wasted and I take two girls shopping.

The usual chorus of "can you buy......"
"I want......."
"Why can't we get......."
is muted today but present nevertheless.
The highlight is a stop for pancakes with milkshakes and hot chocolate. Yum.

We arrive home after a shortish shopping expedition and the cream is dropped on the driveway, spilling half the contents. This is the second such incident in a short number of weeks and combined with fatigue I become a little short. "Can't you just take a little more care?"
The "culprit" cries and we stop for hugs and soothing noises.

It is only about 12:30 but I decide that a brief nap might be helpful so crawl into bed for a wickedly lazy rest. A little sanity might just be creeping in but I am rudely brought back to earth with complaints that the shopping hasn't been put away.

Okay, okay......I'm on it.
I start to rally the troops to help out with some chores and getting a veneer of order about the place but Dimples is being his least co-operative self and unable to cope with his sullenness I send him to his room. He promptly climbs out the window and disappears.

The headache won't leave my head and I can't muster much enthusiasm for anything. (The day continues this way, water spilled all over the kitchen, difficulty parking near the video rental, kids asking ceaseless questions .........)

Dimples eventually makes his re-appearance and I ask him to list 40 things to be grateful for. The list is gone now but it read something like this:

1. computer
2. boy quail
3. girl quail
4. quail egg 1
5. quail egg 2
6. quail egg 3
7. quail egg 4
8. finch 1
9. finch 2
10. finch 3
11. finch 4
12. finch 5
13. finch 6
14. Nintendo
15. game designers
16. Daddy
17. his brother
18. the Princess
19. the tomboy
20. the dog...........

40. Mummy

You gotta laugh, eh?