Summer holidays !!!

WELL !!! We are already half way through August..seriously...how the heck did that happen !!!....wasnt it just christmas..like last week!!!???

Well...We are around 4 weeks into the school summer holidays...and I must say...MY CHILDREN ARE CLIMBING THE WALLS !!!  You know the summer hols are too long, when even the children are desperate to go back to school !!... They are so fed up now, The weather seems to have developed schizophrenia, they have spent farrrrrr too many hours watching minecraft videos on you tube and even the trampoline, bikes, scooters, balls, skipping ropes, art stuff etc...has lost its appeal for them!!! pure and simple...they are BORED !
 Whose bright idea was it to have 6-7 weeks off through summer...and 2 weeks off at xmas...when there is an abundance of new toys to play with, selection boxes to munch through and the batteries still actually work in everything !!!!  Personally, I love spending time with my children...but sadly...4 weeks in, that time is spent more and more playing referee to my 2 eldest. breaking up fights over whose turn is next,,,he did this,,,,she did that...mum this, mum that, MUM CAN WE HAVE...and of course my favorite sentence.....'please try and keep the noise down, your dad is in bed after being in work all night' !!!!
 ...but alas...in 2 and a half weeks time, i will wave off my babies for their 1st years in years 2 and year 4...and I will feel....Empty... for these noisy, mess making, stress inducing little terrorists...they are the reason I wake each morning, they are the reason that every breath that I take is worthwhile...and simply...I will miss them painfully...for then I have to hand over my children to a stranger for 6 hours, 5 days a week...that stranger who will help them to grow, develop their minds, see them grow another year, see them bloom....and a big part of me is jealous...yes i'm jealous of my children's teachers... for they are privileged to spend time with my wonderful little people .
 I will be glad when they go back to school...not for my sake though, not coz they inconvenience me by being home...but because my children truly love school, they thrive in the classroom environment, they bloom with routine and consistency and schedule...all things difficult to achieve in a normal family household...but also, because they love to learn, they love the knowledge that they soak up day in and day out...they love to come home and tell me all their new things...and I learn from them.... they are my teachers as much as I am theirs...So come along September...I will welcome you like an old family friend and look forward to sharing school tales with my children....for soon will be christmas..and more holidays...and more lessons....but most importantly...more fun  :)

Young love and 1st heartbreaks !!!

and so the song goes....Oh its 'orrible being in love when your 8 and half !!!!

We are just home from the most wonderful holiday trip on the orkney isles...we stayed with friends, an utterly wonderful family...who open their curtains to a veiw of the beach...the veiws are spectacular, the beaches are like a dream and the locals embrace you like you have spent decades living on the island with them....what I didnt count on...was my baby boy, my 1st born, sweet, kind hearted 8 year old....falling in love! when did the years pass by to the point that here we are, with a little boy confused by all these feelings in his heart.? Its kinda cute...kinda scary too!!! not that the fact hes getting intrested in girls ...just the fact he is growing, hes still a little boy, but slowley becoming a young man, I feel rather out of my depth...am i gonna get the whole pre teen and teen phase right with him? will i find the right ballance between educating him on this aspect of life, and him feeling totally comfortable to come talk to me? I want to keep him safe, i want to protect him from these feelings that he is getting his 1st glimse of...for him, he will soon realise, that i cant protect him from every hurt...some pains, he will have to experience...and just know that I am there...I am there to hold him, there to hurt with him, there to be his friend and his constant love....I need him to know, this pain he is feeling, that will come and go through life...but the love I have fopr him will be a total constant.

Totally warms my heart though, rememebering the way he reached for her hand, sought her out, walked through a meddow on a beautiful summers day, just holding her hand, totally oblivious that this...this is the start of the next phase in his life...this litte tickle in his tummy, will one day grow, will one day be what makes him choose his partner in life, maybe the mother of his future children. these are the foundations for his manhood...i STILL remember my 1st love...probably at the same age that he is now...this is why im not so quick to laugh it off as a cute childhood happening on a wee holiday romance!...yes hes 8...but i rememeber those feelings, i rememeber those tears when the time came to leave....this feeling he has now, WILL form some structure to his future..and despite my heart hurting purely coz hes hurting...I feel honoured that he trusts me enough to share these feelings with me, trusts me enough to come to me, and whisper in my ear...that means the world and i hope with alllll my heart that continues throughout his journey of life...but for now, i have to feel immense pride in my boy. he faces so many challenges in life...yet hes turning into an amazing young man...plus who wouldnt be proud of a son that tells his girlfriend that he loves her, that holds her when shes sad, that picks her a flower to make her smile...and that buys her diamonds on minecraft...that my son, will get you very far in life. I'm very proud of you...

How cute is this. totally makes me smile every single time i look at this picture. and if by some strange fate, that his 1st love turns out to be the girl who grows into a woman and steals his heart...I would be a very very proud mother in law :)