Just being a mum.

Last night I got home at 9pm after a massive day setting up and then hosting the Light Party that I am in charge of each year.  We had about 700 people on site I reckon, with 340 paying excited kids to entertain and feed.  It was huge.  When I got home, my throat was raw, my feet were bruised and I was exhausted.

But life goes on.....

I came home to find my darling husband on the computer after he had taken the kids home from the party and popped them into bed.  I was buzzing, and asked him how he thought it was, what he had done with our kids - I wanted to hear his side of the story of this event.  He told me it was "really good"  - or something along those lines anyway, as he kept his eyes on the screen.  I looked around the house.  The kids school bags still had half empty lunch boxes in them, the animals still needed feeding, clothes were strewn over the floor.  I sighed.  "Could you please feed the rabbits for me love?".  Big huffs and puffs later, Marty did as asked while I took care of the rest of the house.  An hour later, things were looking a bit better....pity that mummy duties couldn't take a break on just one day of the year. 

Skip forward to tonight, when we are now dealing with tired girls (thank you Light Party!) who are wailing as they have to tidy away toys and a son who seems to have the runs....hmmmm...I did think it strange that he slept for 2 and a half hours before I had to wake him from his nap today to get the girls.  

At dinner time, I mention to Marty that I still have to bake after dinner.  The school has very cunningly sent home a note saying that any child who brings baking for the school fair tomorrow is allowed to wear mufti.  I tried asking Jaimee if she didn't mind wearing her uniform, but her eyes welled up and she shook her head without even saying a word.  Marty piped up when he saw her face: "I will bake after tea".  I was quick to take him up on this one.  I suggested he make a choc brownie: quick and easy....and oh, could he please double the recipe and make one for Gramp Muz too, 'cause I owe him one.  No worries.  Marty got to work.  

And that's when we enter "the baking moment":

First, he realised after starting to melt the cocoa with the butter that we were out of cocoa.  I would have to run to the shops for more now that he had started.  Next he cracked an egg into the boiling butter.  "STOP! It will cook!" I said, trying to fish it out.  "Grr...Stupid recipe book...look: you wrote down to boil all these ingredients in a pot together".  I tried to show him the (very slight) separation between the two lines, but I guess I hadn't written it clearly enough for a novice cook! By now we were both a bit grumpy and flustered.  

 After fixing the egg problem up, I went out to the supermarket for the cocoa while Marty put the kids to bed.  While there I got a text saying that we need castor sugar and chocolate chips too.  That is when I clicked that he is not just making my cheap, quick and easy chocolate brownie.  He is making the "only for special" expensive, rich, indulgent chocolate brownie recipe Vicki-Lee gave me.  Sigh.  There goes 6 eggs, 4 cups of chocolate chips and a lot of other things!  

Finally, we sorted the rest of the brownie without incident.  Of course, because of the supermarket run, Marty had to leave me to finish the baking and do the cleaning up because it was time for his home group meeting.  Sigh.  Thanks darling for helping!  At least we were able to smile about it by the time he left....

It's just little stories like these that crop up over and over again in the daily trials of parenthood eh?!

As I say to Marty: "Take a deep breath, count to 10, and remember who the adult is here"!

EDIT:

And that's when we cut to "the sick baby".

As I have been typing this, Luke woke up crying and with another case of a disgusting nappy.  I recall that he didn't eat much today actually on top of the huge sleep and yucky nappies.  He has been cheerful enough though.  Hmm...what is going on here?    Well, as I had just finished typing "daily trials of parenthood"...Luke started grizzling again.  I finished the blog post off, hit the send button and went to see what was up.  And found Luke sitting up having just been sick in his bed.  Oh joy!  I managed to whisk him to the bathroom and over the edge of the tub just in time for round two and then had to leave him crying on the bathroom floor (he missed his PJs completely through all this) while I remade his bed.  Yep, this is parenthood in all it's glory!!

PS: Just so you know, even with all this kind of thing being a daily event (and in many family homes I know it is the same)....I still love being a mummy and a wife SO MUCH and would not change one day of spew, poo or baking disasters for anything if it meant a life without my troup!

SECOND EDIT:

....and the brownie sank upon taking out of oven.  Sorry Gramp Muz.  Just enough to salvage for school but not for two :(