Phoebe has been accepted to CAMHS (Children and Mental Health Services) for review. This is the first hurdle in identifying what is going on with her. It was up in the air as to whether she would get accepted because a, they have next to no money and b, she is fine educationally (more than fine in fact, she is doing brilliantly!).
We also have the school on our side because whilst she is coping well in the class we have had lots of moments where she obviously hasn't coped. Memorably there was the day that Miss B moved PE from the start of school until after break and it threw Phoebe off kilter big time all day. Then there was the school trip to the transport museum. Went brilliantly until the presentation and the actor they had showing us around told us that we would be going back to the past via the medium of a pop up play tunnel. Phoebe took this literally and panicked, major tears and shrieking that she didn't want to go... clinging onto me. It took me and Miss B to calm her down (every time the phrase "go back to the past" was uttered it set her off again!) despite our giggles! However this has given us a few tools to abuse if / when the Ed-Psych comes to review her at school. Miss B is going to change things around to set Phoebe off knowing that she will demonstrate her panics.
I actually cannot praise the school enough, as soon as I mentioned my thoughts on Phoebe they said it was like someone had clicked focus and suddenly they saw it too. She has been in less trouble as they are more understanding that she often cannot help shouting out and that it is often easier to just go with it rather than fight it. Miss B is fantastic with her and is able to see and help her struggles in the play ground (it is un-structured so that is where she gets a bit lost). Educationally they keep pushing her where she needs it and appreciating her views on things. I feel very lucky that she has such caring staff. And to think I was worried about her going to this school... large slice of humble pie to table one please!
Personally though I am struggling a bit. Managing her behaviour and balancing that with making sure Clara is also feeling secure is exhausting. I feel like I am walking a tight rope a lot of the time and mostly just want to curl up and have a good cry that my baby is struggling and I can't make it all better. I have to get over this and remember that what ever happens Phoebe is just the same fabulous little girl she has always been and that, really, I am very very blessed with my girls.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Reasons I love my husband.
Even though he is working this weekend (yes people, he is working on Mothering Sunday). He is fabulous and wonderful and I am a lucky lucky girl to have him.
This weekend gone he worked hard (with my help... lets not forget my part in it!) making the garden pretty again. He built an area in the corner that is now home to a bench and a metal arch that will have clematis growing up it (when it arrives). I painted the back wall of the garden pink and we cleaned and sorted the patio. He took on the behemoth that was the rabbited Forsythia and dug up the root ball (and with a tap root the size of my arm it really was an impressive feat!) and transplanted a Yukka Tree in there. He also moved his raised bed to a new location and therefore all the dirt contained there. Oh and he built a bike area at the back of our shed which frees up a lot of (much needed) space in the shed. I stained the decking a nice colour and sorted out the girls garden toys.
Is this why I love him so? Well yes but mostly it is because he didn't mind me waking him up with a mammoth fit of the giggles on Saturday night. He caused the giggles admittedly by turning over and sleep talking in my ear. In the past we have had awesome sleep comments from him, my favourite being about a flame thrower and how he would like a go. This time the words he lovingly muttered into my ear at midnight were:
Damn Those Fucking Vampires!
I seriously couldn't breathe for laughing at him and I had tears running down my face!
Oh how I love him!
This weekend gone he worked hard (with my help... lets not forget my part in it!) making the garden pretty again. He built an area in the corner that is now home to a bench and a metal arch that will have clematis growing up it (when it arrives). I painted the back wall of the garden pink and we cleaned and sorted the patio. He took on the behemoth that was the rabbited Forsythia and dug up the root ball (and with a tap root the size of my arm it really was an impressive feat!) and transplanted a Yukka Tree in there. He also moved his raised bed to a new location and therefore all the dirt contained there. Oh and he built a bike area at the back of our shed which frees up a lot of (much needed) space in the shed. I stained the decking a nice colour and sorted out the girls garden toys.
Is this why I love him so? Well yes but mostly it is because he didn't mind me waking him up with a mammoth fit of the giggles on Saturday night. He caused the giggles admittedly by turning over and sleep talking in my ear. In the past we have had awesome sleep comments from him, my favourite being about a flame thrower and how he would like a go. This time the words he lovingly muttered into my ear at midnight were:
Damn Those Fucking Vampires!
I seriously couldn't breathe for laughing at him and I had tears running down my face!
Oh how I love him!
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Mummy... Where did you live when the earth was built...?
Asks Phoebe en route to swimming!
I told her I wasn't alive when the earth was built as it was made millions of years ago. She thought for a minute then asked if I was dead. I explained I wasn't dead as I hadn't been born yet. She paused a little whilst thinking about this and then asked...
Where did Granny live then?!
That'll go down well then!
I told her I wasn't alive when the earth was built as it was made millions of years ago. She thought for a minute then asked if I was dead. I explained I wasn't dead as I hadn't been born yet. She paused a little whilst thinking about this and then asked...
Where did Granny live then?!
That'll go down well then!
Friday, 10 February 2012
I can now officially put my elbows on the table!
I became an Aunty today so, according to my Mother and Aunt at least, I can now rest my elbows on the table with a clear conscience!
In all seriousness my lovely sister Jennie and her husband Shane welcomed their twin girls Roisin and June today! I am delighted for them and really hoping that Jennie will be well enough for us to go and see them and the babies soon!
My two girls are thrilled and were desperate to meet them today! Clara thought they should be called Cinderella and Pinky though but I am sure she will come around to the fabulous names the girls have!
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
I can feel the "where do babies come from" question coming..
My sister is about to have twins. The girls are ridiculously excited about this and we have had many many conversations about how and where they themselves were born (Phoebe in hospital and Clara at home... much to her shock (and mine, Phoebe remembered details that I didn't think she would!)). They know babies come out of "tummies" or "rooms" (Clara interpretation) and that all women have these special places to grow babies. They know that a period is me getting ready to redecorate my room for a baby but that I am not having any more as I have a special thing in there that stops them (Yay for the mirena). Although Clara is currently still demanding that she wants a new sister called Cinderella... dream on kid... dream on!
However thus far they haven't asked where the room is and where the exit is. Or, most crucially how the baby gets in there in the first place. Now I wouldn't normally worry too much but Phoebe is a very particular little girl who generally isn't fobbed off with "special cuddles" and the like. She likes specifics and is fairly used to an honest approach by us. So do I take the scientific approach and say that Mummy has a special egg and Daddy has a special egg and we put them together and that makes a baby and hope that the semantics of the situation become forgotten in the whole "There are eggs in your tummy?!" or better yet "so that is what those funny things by Daddy's willy are!" (sorry dear!) and hope she puts 2+2 together and makes a number somewhere int he vicinity of 4. Or do we go with the whole basics of sex thing... if she is anything like me her response will be similar "what you have to take your knickers off!".
At least one thing is certain, if I know my girls the question will be posed at the most inappropriate time they can find.
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Aspergers... Here we go.
My gorgeous big girl Phoebe has always been a little, well, tricksy!
When she was born we had problems with breastfeeding and she screamed and screamed when presented with the breast. After just a few days of this we ended up moving to formula. It nearly destroyed me as breastfeeding seemed as natural as breathing to me and I couldn't do it. I didn't fathom that Phoebe didn't have the tone in her mouth to be able to do it effectively. Then she was on formula and it became evident she suffered from reflux, badly. When a 3 week old can get her toes wet with sick whilst lying on her back it is fairly obvious there is a problem. The GP's wouldn't help though as she was gaining weight. Then there was this weird rash on her cheeks... my research suggested it might be cows milk intolerance but again no one listened. Then one morning I was changing Phoebe and felt a lump on her back... we were at the walk in centre within minutes and seen quickly. They prescribed antibiotics as they thought it was an infected sting. The first set did nothing, she was allergic to the second set and I refused a third and insisted on a paediatricians appointment for her. Thanks to the choose and book system I was able to book an appt for shortly after a feed and, as I hoped, she barfed beautifully for the paediatrician who diagnosed reflux on the spot. The lump turned out to be a cavernous haemangioma and totally benign (it has now all but disappeared!). Thankfully the reflux and the rash calmed down once she hit 6 months and we started weaning.
We had a nice normal 6 months then, Phoebe was a late mover (no rolling, no crawling until 10 months etc) but nothing out of the ordinary and she was all caught up by the time she was 12 months old. We were so proud of our little toddler that at first it didn't register that she didn't babble at all. She made noises yes, shrieks etc but no Dada or Mamas. She said her first word "shoes" but then forgot and didn't say anything for a long time. When we got to 2 I was concerned but was assured she was "normal" by the HV and it was only just before she went to preschool (a few months before her 3rd birthday) that she was referred to the speech therapy for lack or talking. At that point she had maybe 8 - 10 words. Once she was at preschool she picked up language fairly quickly from the other children around her. It was wonderful to communicate with her without the aide of signs. I remember being nearly in tears at my sister's wedding when the staff thought she was deaf because she signed what she wanted rather than said it. Once speech started coming properly though it came thick and fast and again she caught up so I didn't think too much more about it except for a few pronunciation problems.
Phoebe loved preschool and LOVED her teacher Becky. But she never came home talking about who she played with or who her best friend was. It turned out she mostly played with the boys which was fine and she was happy so again I didn't think anything more of it other than it was a bit sad that she didn't seem to be making friends. She was doing well in everything else and coming out with some corking phrases. I took her on playdates with Mummy friends and I was told that their children always remembered the girls and asked to see them again, I returned the compliments but Phoebe never ever mentioned anyone she had met or asked to see them again. The one exception was Rowan and Lexi but I think that is mostly because she had seen them so often and loved their house almost as a second home! Throughout this period she would watch programmes to the point of obsession, her first one was Brum. She absolutely ADORED that little yellow car and her constant refrain was "More Bum?!". Others included Come Outside, Cars and Horses.
When Phoebe graduated out of Preschool and into Primary I sensed there would be problems as the school was moving at half term. I already knew then that Phoebe did not do change, it upset her and her behaviour deteriorated rapidly if she wasn't prepared properly. I was assured that it would be ok but it wasn't. As soon as the school moved to the new location she started getting warnings and time outs like nobodies business. Teachers were confused and it took about 2 weeks to sort this out. Then they changed the discipline system and we were back to warnings and time outs through the nose! This had thankfully settled by Christmas. Over the break we kept seeing Phoebe watching TV and her eye falling in. We also noticed she had no patience for reading or any other close up work. So we took her to the optician where it turned out that she was hideously long sighted (+6.5 & +7). The difference in her as soon as she wore glasses was amazing.
From the age of 20 months Phoebe got her sister Clara. We always joked "There is something about Clara" as she was just so much more personable than Phoebe was. She smiled easily, she talked early (oh boy did she talk...) and she would come home from Preschool with tales of who she played with and who was her best friend etc. It started occurring to us that actually there wasn't something about Clara, more that there was something about Phoebe. She just wasn't like other little girls her age who were already having the girly dramas of friendships. I bought this up with her reception teacher who assured me she was ok and it was probably because she was so intelligent. I buttoned my lip for a while and watched her. I raised it again with her Yr 1 teacher who said no she didn't have specific friends and flitted between groups of children and really enjoyed doing her work often begging for more!
All the while Paul and I kept talking to each other with our worries about how Phoebe just wasn't like any other 6 yr olds we knew (and there are a fair few!). The thought of going to the docs got more and more necessary. She is obsessed with Harry Potter, doesn't really like making eye contact and most importantly shows no desire to play with other girls her age. She still had made no friends except those that I have cultivated for her. At friend's parties she could usually be found with an iphone sitting quietly in the corner perfectly happy. At her own party she was happiest watching Harry Potter in the living room whilst wearing eardefenders and ignoring her party guests who were all running around screeching as little girls are want to do. We started to suspect that maybe she had Aspergers Syndrome and started to research it. I had watched a program ages ago about Aspie children and, knowing my friend's little boy Lexi who has Autism, I knew it a, manifested differently in girls and b, that Phoebe wasn't autistic in the traditional sense. After discussing things with Paul we both agreed it was sounding more and more likely that this was the "something".
The crunch point came last week. Our lovely rabbit Turvey died suddenly and I found him dead in his hutch. I bought the body in and told the girls the bad news. Clara took it as you would expect with tears and demands of "WHY?!" but Phoebe was very calm and detached, she stroked his body and then asked to look in his eyes to make sure he was really gone. She was able to tell me that her heart turned over and broke a little but she seemed unable to connect this to an actual emotion. I made the call and booked an appt to see her GP. That night Paul and I wrote a list of her "quirks" and we made it to 2 sides of A4 paper with them. I took them with me to the appt and went through them with the GP who agreed it sounded very likely and that she would refer her to CAMHS.
So this is where we are today. Waiting to find out if CAMHS will accept the referral for diagnosis. We have been clear that this does not change her at all. She is still our funny, happy Phoebe who we love all the more for all her quirks! She is so bright and intelligent and usually an utter joy to be around. I love how she speaks in grown up sentences that just don't seem right when they come from a 6 yr old, it makes people stop and laugh. She is the top reader in her class and top in almost all of the subjects they do! She loves to do homework and read books. She loves listening to Harry Potter audio books and playing with her HP lego. There isn't one teacher who knows Phoebe in a negative light at school, I have been sought out to be told how fabulous she is in the past! Her Preschool keyworker is still one of her biggest fans! We have a few problems with her over reactions to silly things but if dealt with calmly they don't last long and thanks to careful managing we don't see many of them.
You may wonder why if we don't have any problems now are we seeking the diagnosis. Well cast your mind back to your own puberty. Remember how hard it was and how confused you were? Imagine that but with a "something" about you that sets you apart a little bit. Harder right? We want Phoebe to understand who she is as she grows up and we think that identifying this part of it will help her do that and enable us to help her manage it in a way that opens more doors for her. It is not a label as such, more an tool we can use as and when we need it.
So this is the start of our journey into a hopeful diagnosis. The first steps on what is hopefully a relatively straight forward path!
When she was born we had problems with breastfeeding and she screamed and screamed when presented with the breast. After just a few days of this we ended up moving to formula. It nearly destroyed me as breastfeeding seemed as natural as breathing to me and I couldn't do it. I didn't fathom that Phoebe didn't have the tone in her mouth to be able to do it effectively. Then she was on formula and it became evident she suffered from reflux, badly. When a 3 week old can get her toes wet with sick whilst lying on her back it is fairly obvious there is a problem. The GP's wouldn't help though as she was gaining weight. Then there was this weird rash on her cheeks... my research suggested it might be cows milk intolerance but again no one listened. Then one morning I was changing Phoebe and felt a lump on her back... we were at the walk in centre within minutes and seen quickly. They prescribed antibiotics as they thought it was an infected sting. The first set did nothing, she was allergic to the second set and I refused a third and insisted on a paediatricians appointment for her. Thanks to the choose and book system I was able to book an appt for shortly after a feed and, as I hoped, she barfed beautifully for the paediatrician who diagnosed reflux on the spot. The lump turned out to be a cavernous haemangioma and totally benign (it has now all but disappeared!). Thankfully the reflux and the rash calmed down once she hit 6 months and we started weaning.
We had a nice normal 6 months then, Phoebe was a late mover (no rolling, no crawling until 10 months etc) but nothing out of the ordinary and she was all caught up by the time she was 12 months old. We were so proud of our little toddler that at first it didn't register that she didn't babble at all. She made noises yes, shrieks etc but no Dada or Mamas. She said her first word "shoes" but then forgot and didn't say anything for a long time. When we got to 2 I was concerned but was assured she was "normal" by the HV and it was only just before she went to preschool (a few months before her 3rd birthday) that she was referred to the speech therapy for lack or talking. At that point she had maybe 8 - 10 words. Once she was at preschool she picked up language fairly quickly from the other children around her. It was wonderful to communicate with her without the aide of signs. I remember being nearly in tears at my sister's wedding when the staff thought she was deaf because she signed what she wanted rather than said it. Once speech started coming properly though it came thick and fast and again she caught up so I didn't think too much more about it except for a few pronunciation problems.
Phoebe loved preschool and LOVED her teacher Becky. But she never came home talking about who she played with or who her best friend was. It turned out she mostly played with the boys which was fine and she was happy so again I didn't think anything more of it other than it was a bit sad that she didn't seem to be making friends. She was doing well in everything else and coming out with some corking phrases. I took her on playdates with Mummy friends and I was told that their children always remembered the girls and asked to see them again, I returned the compliments but Phoebe never ever mentioned anyone she had met or asked to see them again. The one exception was Rowan and Lexi but I think that is mostly because she had seen them so often and loved their house almost as a second home! Throughout this period she would watch programmes to the point of obsession, her first one was Brum. She absolutely ADORED that little yellow car and her constant refrain was "More Bum?!". Others included Come Outside, Cars and Horses.
When Phoebe graduated out of Preschool and into Primary I sensed there would be problems as the school was moving at half term. I already knew then that Phoebe did not do change, it upset her and her behaviour deteriorated rapidly if she wasn't prepared properly. I was assured that it would be ok but it wasn't. As soon as the school moved to the new location she started getting warnings and time outs like nobodies business. Teachers were confused and it took about 2 weeks to sort this out. Then they changed the discipline system and we were back to warnings and time outs through the nose! This had thankfully settled by Christmas. Over the break we kept seeing Phoebe watching TV and her eye falling in. We also noticed she had no patience for reading or any other close up work. So we took her to the optician where it turned out that she was hideously long sighted (+6.5 & +7). The difference in her as soon as she wore glasses was amazing.
From the age of 20 months Phoebe got her sister Clara. We always joked "There is something about Clara" as she was just so much more personable than Phoebe was. She smiled easily, she talked early (oh boy did she talk...) and she would come home from Preschool with tales of who she played with and who was her best friend etc. It started occurring to us that actually there wasn't something about Clara, more that there was something about Phoebe. She just wasn't like other little girls her age who were already having the girly dramas of friendships. I bought this up with her reception teacher who assured me she was ok and it was probably because she was so intelligent. I buttoned my lip for a while and watched her. I raised it again with her Yr 1 teacher who said no she didn't have specific friends and flitted between groups of children and really enjoyed doing her work often begging for more!
All the while Paul and I kept talking to each other with our worries about how Phoebe just wasn't like any other 6 yr olds we knew (and there are a fair few!). The thought of going to the docs got more and more necessary. She is obsessed with Harry Potter, doesn't really like making eye contact and most importantly shows no desire to play with other girls her age. She still had made no friends except those that I have cultivated for her. At friend's parties she could usually be found with an iphone sitting quietly in the corner perfectly happy. At her own party she was happiest watching Harry Potter in the living room whilst wearing eardefenders and ignoring her party guests who were all running around screeching as little girls are want to do. We started to suspect that maybe she had Aspergers Syndrome and started to research it. I had watched a program ages ago about Aspie children and, knowing my friend's little boy Lexi who has Autism, I knew it a, manifested differently in girls and b, that Phoebe wasn't autistic in the traditional sense. After discussing things with Paul we both agreed it was sounding more and more likely that this was the "something".
The crunch point came last week. Our lovely rabbit Turvey died suddenly and I found him dead in his hutch. I bought the body in and told the girls the bad news. Clara took it as you would expect with tears and demands of "WHY?!" but Phoebe was very calm and detached, she stroked his body and then asked to look in his eyes to make sure he was really gone. She was able to tell me that her heart turned over and broke a little but she seemed unable to connect this to an actual emotion. I made the call and booked an appt to see her GP. That night Paul and I wrote a list of her "quirks" and we made it to 2 sides of A4 paper with them. I took them with me to the appt and went through them with the GP who agreed it sounded very likely and that she would refer her to CAMHS.
So this is where we are today. Waiting to find out if CAMHS will accept the referral for diagnosis. We have been clear that this does not change her at all. She is still our funny, happy Phoebe who we love all the more for all her quirks! She is so bright and intelligent and usually an utter joy to be around. I love how she speaks in grown up sentences that just don't seem right when they come from a 6 yr old, it makes people stop and laugh. She is the top reader in her class and top in almost all of the subjects they do! She loves to do homework and read books. She loves listening to Harry Potter audio books and playing with her HP lego. There isn't one teacher who knows Phoebe in a negative light at school, I have been sought out to be told how fabulous she is in the past! Her Preschool keyworker is still one of her biggest fans! We have a few problems with her over reactions to silly things but if dealt with calmly they don't last long and thanks to careful managing we don't see many of them.
You may wonder why if we don't have any problems now are we seeking the diagnosis. Well cast your mind back to your own puberty. Remember how hard it was and how confused you were? Imagine that but with a "something" about you that sets you apart a little bit. Harder right? We want Phoebe to understand who she is as she grows up and we think that identifying this part of it will help her do that and enable us to help her manage it in a way that opens more doors for her. It is not a label as such, more an tool we can use as and when we need it.
So this is the start of our journey into a hopeful diagnosis. The first steps on what is hopefully a relatively straight forward path!
Monday, 26 December 2011
Skiing Avec Les Enfants.
A belated Happy Yule, Merry Christmas and a Happy Channukah to all!
We have up sticks and fled to Granny's Magic house for the festive period as Paul is long overdue a chance to kill himself by flinging himself down snow covered mountains at speed. Phoebe, aged 6, seems to be following in her father's footsteps by being desperate to try anything to get an adrenalin rush!
So, the girls and I arrived on the 22nd to help Mum and Rob, in Rob's words, throw up Christmas in the house! Much hilarity, tree decorating ensued. Mostly because Grande told them that Father Christmas was transmitting signals via the christmas tree lights which they, of course, bought hook line and sinker! This was inspired, almost as inspired as my telling them that alarm sensors in the house were Father Christmas's secret cameras!
Mum and Rob then took the girls down to St G to see Davide in the Ski Rental place to get them fitted for boots and skis. Phoebe was delighted that she had grown enough to go up to the "big kids" skis and boots (for the unaware as I am, big kids have 2 buckles on their boots and little kids only have 1) and is very proud of her Eagles whilst Clara was thrilled with Ladybird ones. Of course they also need Helmets (go on, guess what lucky Daddy got as his Christmas present!) and we are exceptionally grateful that Davide had a pink one for Clara as the tantrum ratio increases with the decrease in pink levels.
Daddy and Uncle J arrived on the 24th and were received by two small excited girls who couldn't WAIT to get to bed (most unusual but equally most welcome!). Once they had laid out the mince pies, carrots, sugar lumps and port for Father Christmas they were dispatched post haste to bed where they promptly passed out! The adults then indulged in a Seafood feast.... and lo, it was good (unless you are Paul who got Oyster's revenge the next morning!)
Ski School started on Christmas Day so we had a very hectic Christmas Morning. We had to wake the children (goes against every parenting instinct I have!) to see if Father Christmas had been, which he had! We then had a fun half an hour of stocking opening and squeals of delight as they found the things they had asked for. Phoebe was THRILLED with her Innotab, as was Clara but I think her best present was the lipstick she found. This was a late addition to the Christmas List but she banged on about it as she knows I won't buy her lipstick but Father Christmas was. Poor Paul got some funny looks asking for help in the lipstick section of Boots at Gatwick! Funny what makes a Christmas for them isn't it!
Anyway, back to Ski School. Mum came with me up the mountain for the start of ski school at 10am. We took them up, got boots and skis on them, deposited them on the astroturf path (so they can learn to walk in skis), said Bonne Chance to one of the instructors and took up position in the local hotel to wait until 12.30. As we couldn't hear Clara howling we assumed all was well and when we returned at 12.30 we found a beaming Phoebe and a soggy Clara. Yup she had apparently cried the whole lesson and didn't like skiing as it was too fast. Phoebe was as happy as the proverbial piggy and she said she loved it and went really really fast and couldn't wait for the next lesson!
Evil parent that I am the tears didn't disuade me from sending Clara today and whilst she sobbed en route once boots were done up and skis were on she was, for the most part, ok. My stubborn parenting paid off as I came back to two shining happy faces at 12.30 today. Clara told me she had been "very very brave and said WOOOOO HOOOOO" as she skied today and she enjoyed it and can't wait for tomorrow. Phoebe insisted on showing me her skills and my jaw was on the floor as I watched her ski down the hill on her own, stop and climb onto the travellater thingy-bob back up to where I was waiting! She was sooooo proud of herself and she tells me she has been put up a class away from the babies in into the blue class. I am not sure what implications this has but it is nothing but a fabulous thing!
Now I know they are enjoying it I may try some stealth photography tomorrow to see if I can catch them in the act and show them off!
Paul is also enjoying skiing and is delighted that a, he has "advanced" skis this year and b, he is good enough to keep up with Mum, Rob and J! I am told he underplays his skills and is more than capable of just keeping up!
I am enjoying hiding out in the restaurant drinking Vin Chaud and watching movies on Mum's ipad with my new earmuff headphones!
Happy Days
xx
We have up sticks and fled to Granny's Magic house for the festive period as Paul is long overdue a chance to kill himself by flinging himself down snow covered mountains at speed. Phoebe, aged 6, seems to be following in her father's footsteps by being desperate to try anything to get an adrenalin rush!
So, the girls and I arrived on the 22nd to help Mum and Rob, in Rob's words, throw up Christmas in the house! Much hilarity, tree decorating ensued. Mostly because Grande told them that Father Christmas was transmitting signals via the christmas tree lights which they, of course, bought hook line and sinker! This was inspired, almost as inspired as my telling them that alarm sensors in the house were Father Christmas's secret cameras!
Mum and Rob then took the girls down to St G to see Davide in the Ski Rental place to get them fitted for boots and skis. Phoebe was delighted that she had grown enough to go up to the "big kids" skis and boots (for the unaware as I am, big kids have 2 buckles on their boots and little kids only have 1) and is very proud of her Eagles whilst Clara was thrilled with Ladybird ones. Of course they also need Helmets (go on, guess what lucky Daddy got as his Christmas present!) and we are exceptionally grateful that Davide had a pink one for Clara as the tantrum ratio increases with the decrease in pink levels.
Daddy and Uncle J arrived on the 24th and were received by two small excited girls who couldn't WAIT to get to bed (most unusual but equally most welcome!). Once they had laid out the mince pies, carrots, sugar lumps and port for Father Christmas they were dispatched post haste to bed where they promptly passed out! The adults then indulged in a Seafood feast.... and lo, it was good (unless you are Paul who got Oyster's revenge the next morning!)
Ski School started on Christmas Day so we had a very hectic Christmas Morning. We had to wake the children (goes against every parenting instinct I have!) to see if Father Christmas had been, which he had! We then had a fun half an hour of stocking opening and squeals of delight as they found the things they had asked for. Phoebe was THRILLED with her Innotab, as was Clara but I think her best present was the lipstick she found. This was a late addition to the Christmas List but she banged on about it as she knows I won't buy her lipstick but Father Christmas was. Poor Paul got some funny looks asking for help in the lipstick section of Boots at Gatwick! Funny what makes a Christmas for them isn't it!
Anyway, back to Ski School. Mum came with me up the mountain for the start of ski school at 10am. We took them up, got boots and skis on them, deposited them on the astroturf path (so they can learn to walk in skis), said Bonne Chance to one of the instructors and took up position in the local hotel to wait until 12.30. As we couldn't hear Clara howling we assumed all was well and when we returned at 12.30 we found a beaming Phoebe and a soggy Clara. Yup she had apparently cried the whole lesson and didn't like skiing as it was too fast. Phoebe was as happy as the proverbial piggy and she said she loved it and went really really fast and couldn't wait for the next lesson!
Evil parent that I am the tears didn't disuade me from sending Clara today and whilst she sobbed en route once boots were done up and skis were on she was, for the most part, ok. My stubborn parenting paid off as I came back to two shining happy faces at 12.30 today. Clara told me she had been "very very brave and said WOOOOO HOOOOO" as she skied today and she enjoyed it and can't wait for tomorrow. Phoebe insisted on showing me her skills and my jaw was on the floor as I watched her ski down the hill on her own, stop and climb onto the travellater thingy-bob back up to where I was waiting! She was sooooo proud of herself and she tells me she has been put up a class away from the babies in into the blue class. I am not sure what implications this has but it is nothing but a fabulous thing!
Now I know they are enjoying it I may try some stealth photography tomorrow to see if I can catch them in the act and show them off!
Paul is also enjoying skiing and is delighted that a, he has "advanced" skis this year and b, he is good enough to keep up with Mum, Rob and J! I am told he underplays his skills and is more than capable of just keeping up!
I am enjoying hiding out in the restaurant drinking Vin Chaud and watching movies on Mum's ipad with my new earmuff headphones!
Happy Days
xx
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