Peace at Last

I have a new favourite moment of the day. It comes sometime between 6.30pm and 7.00pm. The new moment is blissful, peaceful and so full of love I could just eat it. Can you eat a moment? I want to eat this one.

Firstly, Duck goes to bed. Somehow, largely thanks to my hard working husband, the 11 month old whose sleep patterns nearly killed me has turned into a 1 year old whose sleep patterns are edging towards actual real-life normality. He goes to bed. Just like that. Then he's asleep. It's weird to be honest. I love it. But that's not the moment. After I lay a 'sleepy but awake' Duck  (check me out, just like the books say!) down next to his huge Iggle Piggle (a cuddly toy that is almost as big as him), I come downstairs.

I find my big grown up, pant-wearing (as yet unsuccessfully) Bambi watching TV. None of your babyish shows for him anymore, oh no, now he's all about Gigglebiz, which is a bit like the Fast Show... a lot like the Fast Show, but with Mr Tumble in. Next to him is my husband who always, ALWAYS, gets tired when it's the boys' bedtimes. I like to think my mood-lighting and bedtime routine voice is just so soporific that even adults can't resist its charms. They are lying together on the floor, Bambi is awake, Daddy is more often than not, asleep. That's pretty cute, but it's not my new favourite moment.

Perfect play date!

Sometimes when you arrange a play date out of town the journeys are stressful, the timings don't work with your kids' naps, the children are grumpy, badly behaved or embarassing and you just wish you hadn't bothered.

But increasingly now that is not the case! Today's out of town play date was perfection!

The traffic was a bit heavy on the way but it turned out to be JUST bad enough for Duck to have a satisfactory nap and us to arrive bang on time. The journey home was like clockwork too, a sleeping baby and a chilled out chatty Bambi made the M4 almost a pleasure and I arrived home with two happy, rested little souls.