This and that

Jack is in respite tonight and tomorrow. His seizures remain the same so I am just waiting to hear from the Neurologist to discuss the new epilepsy medicine.

I am a "sad little fairy" according to Holly. Fairy is her pet name for me because I am small and dinky (in her eyes) and I remind her of the little people like Leprechauns, Fairies and Sprites! Funny funny girl. But she is right, I have struggled to smile this past week as the stress has been getting to me a bit and the huge responsibility for Jack's well being has weighed heavy on me.

I rarely think about it normally but when it seems like everything is happening at once, something has to give. So I am being kind to myself during this respite by doing very little and spending quite a few hours curled up on the sofa watching lots of day time TV and old movies.

Holly got a lovely surprise through the post this week....

Woo hoo!!!

I didn't know that they got a certificate! Holly knew but she had forgotten about it. Along with the certificate came a letter explaining that there were 3 levels to the graduation: pass, merit and distinction, so we were mega excited that she got the highest accolade. I will admit, since I know you wont tell anyone, that I did a wee dance and ran around the house whooping and hollering much to Holly and Jack's amusement.

I am getting a lodger on Friday. She is a foreign student who is coming to our local college from September to January. In preparation for her coming, I had a new carpet put into her room and had quite a bit left over. As I was going to bed the other night, I came across Holly trying to walk the length of it, trapeze like so we spent the next 5 mins having such a laugh messing around on top of it.

the poor unsuspecting carpet

the trapeze artist

I believe I can fly!!!

Oh dear, what can I say? Little pleases little minds!

One of my friends got married a week and a half ago. Congrats to Jeanette and Ian who, I think, had a lovely day.  I didn't get a lot of photos as I had Jack with me and my time was spent seeing to him but here are a few.

each table was named after a jar of sweeties...we were the Heart breakers

Balloons on the tables

Jack with his trendy neckerchief on

Glamour puss!

Double Trouble

Jack behaved himself until it came to the speeches. He waited til the Groom was half way through his speech and then he had a cracker of a seizure during which he was jerking so much that he ended up diagonally across his wheelchair, was sick and doubly incontinent. I had to take him out of the hall as I didn't want everyone to see him like that.  I took him home after, as Granny Mac was babysitting for him so that Holly and I could go back for the dancing at night.  It was a really good laugh. Good food, good company and my feet hurt by the end of the night with all the dancing!

Or was it the shoes?  Apparently they were the talk of the wedding. The photo doesn't do them justice but believe me when I tell you they were gorgeous!

The three of us just after the service. As you can see, I don't do dresses!

Have a lovely day my little gigglers.

A trip to Oxford

When I was in London I had arranged to meet up with some friends.

One of them, Melissa, lived in Oxford which was an hour and a half away on the bus. That didn't sound too long but by the time I dropped Holly off at the Guildhall, took a tube across London, walked the ten minutes to the bus station and stood in the queue to buy my ticket for 20 minutes, it was nearly 11am.

I enjoyed the bus journey as it was quiet until the bus driver made a stop, opened the door and in flew a wasp. Now for everyone who knows me, I HATE wasps and am totally terrified of them. As my seat was right behind the driver, I got a birds eye view of him driving and trying to swot the damn thing with his newspaper which was just getting the wasp more pissed off!

Cartoon by Dave Simmer of Blogography and is used in accordance with  his Creative Commons Licence

After dive bombing him numerous times, it took off across to the other side of the window and buzzed in a very pissed off way by the door. The next thing, the guy in the seat opposite me, hangs over the railing and just grabs the wasps in his fingers, crushes it and flings it away! MY HERO!

My face is a picture and I must have been looking at him admiringly cos the next thing, he caught my eye and smiled. I smiled back, wondering how he'd acquired that skill. The spell was broken when his phone rang and he started yabbering in Spanish at the top of his voice to the caller who must have been deaf!

I finally arrived in Oxford at 12.30. I'd to find the Starbucks there where Jo and Lawrence were meeting me to take me up to Melissa's house.

Jo and Lawrence in 2009

Now I met Melissa at a Unique support group conference held near Birmingham. We had to fly there whereas for Melissa it was an hour's journey in the car. How jealous was I? We hit it off straight away and we spent the first evening sharing a red wine or two in the hotel bar. The next night we set the dance floor alight (Melissa, Holly and I) til the early hours and having consumed more red wine we staggered up to bed.

Melissa and Joseph in 2009

This was the start of a beautiful friendship. She has been up to Scotland to visit, we've gone on holiday with the kids together and that's how I met her friend Jo and son Lawrence.

Arriving at Melissa's house there were lots of hugs and she had lunch all ready and waiting for us. Her little boy Joseph has grown so so much since I last saw him and he is walking better and speaking better and has made great improvements. Joseph showed me some pics and videos on the laptop and then Melissa showed me pics of her new house, which she moves into in September.

I was only there for two hours as I had to leave by 3pm to have any chance of getting back into London on time for collecting Holly from the Guildhall. It was the quickest 2 hours ever and I had a lovely time catching up with them all.  It was Jo's birthday the next day and I was reminded of our holiday 2 years ago when she celebrated it while on holiday with us and we chatted about the house we'd stayed in and the fun we had.

Before I knew it, it was time to go and I was sad to leave but for all the time it took to get there, it was totally worth it.

There is another conference coming up in April so I hope to see her then, if all goes to plan.

As I got on the bus to go back, it was the same driver and he said "that was a short visit" and I laughed and said "yeah, short but sweet".

Stop the bus, I wanna get off!

Sunday morning and I am sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet.

It has been some week!

Jack has had a hell of a lot of seizures this week. Monday morning I had to go into the school and explain his new epilepsy protocol to them and answer their many questions.

I had only just got back into the house and Holly was dropped home by the school nurse cos of stomach pains related to that time of the month. She looked awful so I gave her painkillers, filled up the hot water bottle she handed me and left her to moan and writhe about on the floor til it finally passed.

During this, I had a phone call from the school saying that Jack had to have rescue meds for his seizures and that they were now worried about his breathing so could I come. So off I went, bringing Jack's pep mask with me.

Straight away I could see that he was struggling to breathe but all that he needed to clear his airway was to cough. That's what the mask is for, it shortens the airway and therefore he has to breathe deeper and this causes the phlegm to move up his lungs and makes him cough.  I spent 20 minutes there and he was a lot better by the time I left.

Jack's rescue meds

In between all this activity I had also been in contact with Jack's epilepsy nurse explaining that his seizures were no better considering that his meds had been put up to the maximum dose and that maybe this was just a blip we are going through, that it might settle on it's own but just needed advice. She said she would talk to the Neurologist and call me back later.

Tuesday Jack had to have more rescue meds and then Crossroads called to say that Jack's carer was in hospital so therefore no care for me this week. My first thought was about poor Marion but as the day wore on, I started realising that this was no good as I am exhausted already!

Wednesday and Thursday was spent jumping every time the phone rang thinking it was the school re Jack requiring more rescue meds.

I picked him up on Thursday lunchtime to take him to Craniosacral Therapy and even arrived early! Believe me, that never happens cos usually the school is running late or I am!  Joanna was most impressed but cos I was early it meant she'd to run about getting things ready for us sooner than expected. LOL

Jack enjoyed his session although he had 2 small seizures while there. Joanna certainly put him through his paces but Jack is so funny sometimes cos if he doesn't want to do something, he just wont!

I also heard from Marion, Jack's carer, who texted me and said that it was her gall bladder that was playing up and that she would be home from hospital at the weekend but off work for a further two weeks. Poor girl, she must have been in such pain. Hope she feels better soon.

image from here

Friday the epilepsy nurse called to say they planned to add another medication to the two that Jack is already taking and she gave me the name of it so that I could look it up and check out the side effects etc. and then the Neurologist would call me next week to discuss.

BAD MOVE! I have forgotten just how awful the side effects of these drugs are when you read from a list of things that can happen. Logically I know that Jack has rarely had a side effect from his meds but reading the list was giving me palpitations!

I also was on the phone to Jack's social worker telling her that I could not go 2-3 weeks without a carer and that I am getting desperate now for the promised help, morning and night, that I had been given the funding for over 3 months ago! She thinks that she has found a company who can do home care for children....at last....and she will get back to them. I know that she is busy but FFS!!!!

When Jack came home on Friday from school, I assumed all had been well but no, he'd had to have rescue meds again. My stress levels were getting higher by the minute.

Saturday Holly and I took off to the pictures while Jack was being looked after by his Granny Mac. We went to see Mr Poppers Penguins which was a lot of fun and very much a feel good movie. I felt better when I came out of there. Then we stopped for lunch on our way back and then went for a wander around the Findhorn Foundation shop before heading to this lady's house who was selling second hand children's books.

I let Holly choose them as we needed some more stories to read to Jack and we came out of there with over twenty books!

just a selection

We headed home to be greeted by Granny Mac with the news that Jack had to have rescue meds AGAIN!
Four times in one week! That hasn't happened in a long time so that makes the decision about adding another epilepsy medicine into the mix so much easier.

He was awake when we arrived home so Holly read one of his new books to him. It was so good that we all stopped to listen and were chuckling away listening to Spud the dog's adventures. Jack was the most impressed of all and he was riveted, never taking his eyes of his sister. It was lovely to watch.

Later that evening I spent training another carer so that if Marion is off sick again, or on holiday, at least I will now have a back up.

So last night, I just fell into my bed and I am hoping today will be a calmer one as my stress levels are pretty high at the moment. Jackyboy is trying his best to go to hospital to see his favourite nurses and I am trying my best to keep him the hell out of there!

Not sure I am gonna win this one :)

Look what I've got to look forward to...

For years I couldn't get Holly to spend any time in her room. As a toddler her separation issues were at night and I would usually have to pretend to go to my bed in order to get her to sleep! By the time she was 6 things had eased up a bit but I still wasn't allowed to shut her bedroom door or the living room door as she needed to hear me going about while she was upstairs.

Then when her Dad and I separated, she became a permanent fixture in my bed until about 5 years ago when, in desperation, I bought her a double bed for her room. Finally she slept in her own bed and in the last two years has spent more and more time in her bedroom, with the door shut. WTF?

Lately, she has been coming home from school, having her dinner then either disappearing upstairs to her bedroom or shutting herself in the kitchen, singing away at the top of her voice.

Then when it's bedtime, she decides that she has so much to tell me and I am bombarded with information and stories that she just has to tell me at that exact moment.

Last night was no exception. I have been trying to go to bed earlier because I am feeling pretty exhausted so at 10pm I told her it was bed time and tramped up the stairs to my bed.

No sooner had I gotten into the room than in she comes, full of beans and wanting to talk as if her life depended on it! The first comment out of her mouth was " god, you are so small without your wedges on! You're like a Oompa Loompa!" as she kills herself laughing.

I am spluttering with indignation at this comment coming from the girl who is about 5ft 7 or so, with legs up to her armpits and who has towered over me for at least 4 years now. I am all of 5ft 3 and a half and have always hated being small! Then she added "soon Jack will be taller than you and when you lift him he will tower over you!". This is causing her no end of amusement and as I mutter under my breath she comes around the side of the bed, grabs me in a hug and launches us both on the bed.

As we are lying there giggling like a pair of school kids, I moaned that " oh god, as I age, I am only gonna get smaller and my mum's mum was a dinky little old lady and we thought she was so cute. Oh no I am going to turn into Mrs Pepperpot! ". At this point, Holly blurted out " ha ha, when I have kids, they'll have to get out of their buggy to let you in cos you will be so little by then that I'll be able to fit you in my bag!!!"

I used to love these books as a kid

As we howled with laughter at this, my face suddenly became very serious and I blurted out "oh god, what am I gonna do when I can no longer wear wedges? Aaaah I am gonna have to be someone who wears sensible shoes! I'm gonna be a frump! A little dumpy old lady ".

I looked over at Holly who is crying with laughter by this time and she stated "Mum, you will never wear sensible shoes cos knowing you, you will find a way to jazz them up by gluing jewels, flowers and fairies on them and when I visit you in the mental institution, there you'll be, a little midget, gluing things on your shoes, happy as larry".

"Mental institution? WTF?" I spluttered through my tears of laughter. "what happened to the Old Folks Home?" Seems my daughter thinks I would fit in better there!

"How did we get from "you're so small to me being a dumpy little midget who glues things on her sensible shoes"? I asked and we just looked at each other and howled with laughter. Finally I managed to get a grip on myself and said in a cutey little voice "now, about this staying in your bedroom half the night lark, I don't like it". "I miss you and I am getting lonely for your company so I suggest that you are only allowed to disappear for an hour a day up there, ok?"


"Aww Mum, your really lurve me don't ya" she said as she cosied into me.  I kissed the top of her head and said "yes, more than you know". 


I just love these moments with Holly.

It's a Wicked Discrimination

While we were in London, Holly and I went to see the musical Wicked.

Holly had seen it before when she was in London with the school and had loved it. I knew of the music because the choir that I sang with sang one of the songs and it really struck a chord with me. I loved the words and it made me think of my mum, who had just died at the time and now I sing it to Jack all the time and he listens intently, never breaking eye contact.

Just before we were due to go to London I was invited to a Facebook page called Wicked Discrimination. Curious, I clicked on it and straight away recognised Gregor, who used to go to school with Jack.  Gregor who is 12 has a condition called Neuronal Migration Disorder, has Epilepsy and Autism.  Gregor is unable to speak but communicates with vowel sounds. Gregor is a very happy and loving little boy and he used to make a bee line for Holly when she passed by the playground on her way to buy lunch with her friends from the High School. He particularly liked getting hugs from her.

Gregor and his family were excited to go and see Wicked on a recent trip to London. They had been watching the show for about 15 minutes when they were approached by the Manager who suggested they be moved to the back of the stalls behind a glass partition as the Sound Engineer was complaining that Gregor was making too much noise. When the family raised their objections to this, it was suggested that they sit on the stairs, away from other theatre goers so as not to disturb them! Gregor's dad, Glyn was so disgusted that he felt that there was no option but to leave the theatre.

People around them were equally appalled as Gregor had NOT been disturbing them at all and the family day out to the theatre turned out to be a very upsetting time for Gregor and his dad who left the theatre while his wife and daughter stayed behind. What a horrific way to treat this young boy.

Having read about this it didn't put me off going to see Wicked because Glyn and his family made it clear that the cast were in no way to blame for this disgusting incident but that the management of the situation was badly handled. Plus I wanted to see for myself how something like this could possibly happen.

We loved the show. It made me laugh and cry but I couldn't help but sit there and wonder how the hell they could have singled out Gregor when Holly and I were unfortunately sitting next to a couple who spoke throughout the performance and the lady of the couple had her phone on and the light was very distracting. Behind us, another couple spent a good five minutes rummaging in a carrier bag for god knows what and the many kids in the audience were at times quite vocal. No one paid any heed to any of these distractions so how could the Sound Engineer pick out one single person in a theatre that big was beyond me.

At the end of the show, at the Merchandise stand, Holly and I were discussing it and we turned to the girl behind the counter expressed our disbelief to which she nodded her head.

The upshot of this story is that Glyn and his family have turned this distressing situation into a positive one by working together with the group who own the Theatre, ATG, to ensure that disabled people are welcomed into theatres, are able to access the Arts and that companies like ATG have a better understanding of illnesses  such as Autism.

The irony is that the show Wicked is about someone who is victimised because they are different.

This is the link to the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/greenwicked/ and this is a link to the newspaper coverage: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23974878-theatre-ejects-autistic-boy-12-for-laughing.do

There is another plus side to this story and this is it:
http://www.bankofscotlandlondon2012.co.uk/en/carrytheflame/Nomination/?nid=98a496ed-0504-4c55-84d7-0671ab352d67

I think all of these efforts by Gregor's family can only be a good thing.

So so true...

This is one of my newest purchases. It makes me laugh every time I read it. Apologies for the photo quality as I took it on my mobile but you get the gist.

Have a great day my little gigglers.

Back to normal

I got Jack home yesterday afternoon and he is still speaking to me! It was such a lovely day that after dinner we all went out for a walk. Jack showed how unimpressed he was by this by having 2 seizures, one after the other, within 5 minutes of leaving the house.

I think he thought I would turn back but once he'd recovered we just kept going. Eventually he grabbed the dogs lead and was holding on to it so tightly that Holly let go of the lead to see what would happen. As soon as the dogs realised that Holly wasn't holding onto them, they tried to move off but Jack had a good tight hold on them and he reigned them back in! He did this for about 15 minutes before he got fed up. Holly and I couldn't stop laughing and telling him how clever he was. It totally brightened my day.

He'd had a rough night in respite. Six seizures through the night and quite a few during the day so I have upped his meds again. This puberty lark is really taking it's toll on him.

London already seems a lifetime ago but our many adventures still make me smile. We met lots of different people some in particular had us laughing all the way home.

We were on the tube heading home one night when this group of older guys got on.  Holly and I had been chatting away and one of the guys started chatting to us. They were all a bit tipsy and were laughing about the fact that one of their friends who was further down the carriage, had forgotten his wedding anniversary and he was now panicking about going home empty handed.

Seconds after he had told us this, his friend spotted a young couple sitting in the same carriage and the lady of the couple was carrying a bunch of flowers. He staggered over to her and told her his sob story and offered to buy her flowers from her for £20! or even more if she was willing. All his friends were laughing hysterically as were Holly and I but the young lady, all pink cheeked with embarrassment, would not part with her flowers and kept shaking her head.

It was obvious that her boyfriend had bought them for her and nothing was going to make her part with them which I thought was so very sweet. Me, I'd have charged him £50 for the flowers and laughed all the way home! You can tell I am a Scot eh, any chance to make money! Tee hee hee.

This made our night cos believe me when I tell you that NO ONE speaks to you on the tube.

Another night we were at Piccadilly and Holly spotted these artists who were drawing people. She wanted to get her portrait done so we struck up a deal with a lovely, very colourful Egyptian man. Holly was very good sitting for the 15 mins it took and while she was being drawn, I got chatting to a lovely couple who stopped to admire his drawing. Turns out they were from Palestine and they were staying in London because their daughter had given birth to their first grandchild, a little boy. The husband commented that Holly is beautiful but her mum was much more so and I was delighted but embarrassed at the same time cos I don't see myself in that way at all, never have.

They chatted with me almost the whole 15 mins that Holly was being drawn and they were so interesting!

Then it was my turn and the artist (he did tell me is name but I can't remember it!) said this was the drawing he was most looking forward to as my face was so open, friendly and full of character.  Holly was laughing at this and winking, saying afterwards that "he really fancied you Mum!" While he was drawing me, I couldn't take my eyes off his face cos the expressions that flitted across it were quite mesmerising.  This was a true artist at work. What a character!

this was the end result

So what do you think? I think it turned out pretty good.

Home sweet home

Hi honey, I'm home!

Greetings from sunny Scotland, where all the children are back at school and all the mothers have collapsed in a heap. Or is that just me?

Holly and I flew back from London yesterday. My dad picked us up from the airport and we went in by Kathy's house for a cup of tea before heading home. Holly wasn't even in the door minutes and David arrived to get his fix. He brought me a little present, a drawing of Jack. It's really good, I was so touched.

Jack, wearing his winter hat, asleep.

Five minutes later, Holly's best friend Diz arrived and there was lots of screaming and laughter and the house that had been quiet for all of a few short minutes was filled with noise, just like it always is!

Later that evening the respite unit called to ask for some meds that I had forgotten to put into his box, so off I went up with them. I wanted to get a wee glimpse of my lovely boy since I hadn't seen him in a week. He hadn't been in bed long but he was still awake and when I came around the side of the bed and spoke to him, his eyes opened wider and he wouldn't take his eyes off of me.

I wasn't expecting this at all cos usually, if I have been away, he doesn't take me on, in any shape or form. He wont even look at me! This time he was so happy to see me, giving me lots of smiles, making lots of noise and  letting me give him lots of kisses. He is such a funny wee man.

Instead, according to Kathy and Emma, he gave them the silent treatment and he certainly put them through their paces this time! Within 24 hours of us leaving, they had to give him rescue meds after a big seizure and they'd to call the fire station to fix one of my fire alarms as they'd fitted them and one was misbehaving!

I was so jealous when they told me that the Firemen had arrived, cos well, I have a thing for Firemen. I insisted on a picture and the Firemen dutifully posed for it, with Jack who was sleeping off the rescue meds!  It wasn't just a few Firemen who arrived either, it was a whole fire engine full but only two came to the door. Tee hee hee. Guess who will be taking the batteries out of the other two alarms if that is what I am gonna get appearing at my door!

Meet William and Simon and of course my lovely boy...zonked!

I like going on holiday but the best thing about being away is coming home. As we drove up the street to our house, Holly said "there's our house, isn't it lovely?" and I couldn't agree more. It's good to see things with new eyes. Once inside, after getting an excited welcome from the two mad dogs, I walked from room to room, getting re-acquainted with all my lovely things and then I lay down on Jack's bed just to be close to him. I do this every time I am away from home for a while cos I love my house and I forget why sometimes, so it's nice to see it with fresh eyes.

You will be pleased to know that we managed to avoid the riots in London but there were a few dodgy moments. One in particular, during which Oxford Street shut down early and there were police cars and police vans everywhere so we decided it was time to get out of there. Heading down to the tube we were followed by a gang of youths who were talking about the rioting and looting and were laughing about it. I dare not turn round and willed Holly not to either and I must admit that this was the first time that I didn't feel safe in London. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when we got back to our hotel.

Every morning that I dropped Holly off to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama she would tell me to keep safe and watch where I was going. My poor paranoid daughter would breathe a sigh of relief when I was there to pick her up every night!

Despite this, we had a great time in London and I have lots more stories to tell but for now, I am just glad to be home, chilling and spending the day doing very little. Oh bliss. Saying that, I will be catching up on all your news, since I missed most of it while I was away and I am delighted that Sush and Bouncin' Barb received my blogaversary give-away parcels as I wasn't sure how long it would take to get there!

Have a nice day my little gigglers.

We're off....again!

Well today is the day we fly to London.

I will be AWOL from Blogger for a week or so unless I find an internet café where I can secretly stalk you all from.

It is a dark dreich day here in Scotland so I am hoping that London will be a bit sunnier.

Have a great week my little gigglers and I will fill you in on all my news when I get back.

Nights out, exam results and the usual chaos

It has been another busy week.

I have managed to fit in two nights out. One was in Inverness, organised by the ladies who run the Hospice at Home service. It was an opportunity to meet some of the other mums who use the service. It was a lovely evening, the meal was superb and the company was great.

The other night was a Trivial Pursuit night at my sister's friends house. I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it as I am not a lover of that kind of games. The reason for this is that I was always led to believe by my ex (Father of the Year) that I was not very clever and he was often telling me that I didn't know what I was talking about. The one and only time I have played trivial pursuit before was with him and I don't think I moved on that board once cos he was so clever that he didn't get a question wrong!

Fast forward to last Saturday night and I was a bit nervous bout this game cos I make a point of avoiding board games like the plague but after a glass or two of wine, I relaxed. No one batted an eye when I got a question wrong so I started to enjoy it and I WON!!!!! I was so chuffed that I did a wee happy dance much to their amusement.

I totally, at this point, in my half pissed state, had to resist the urge to phone up Father of the Year and gloat down the phone. Imagine that? Nana nana nah nah. I know childish but what can I say, he brings it out in me.

To add to the fun, there was a prize. A trivial pursuit necklace and earring set. Woo hoo.

you can buy them here

My bathroom is taking so long to finish. I finally got some wet wall around the shower and some flooring but the shower is still not usable so I had to take Jack up to the respite unit for a shower yesterday. I had been giving him bed baths and had struggled to wash his hair with him lying across the bed and his head hanging over but it wasn't really getting it clean at all. I can tell you that in my opinion he felt better for it but by the grumpy look on his face afterwards in the car on the way home my boy was not amused. His expression during the shower said it all. I mean wtf? What a cheek I had showering him, a teenager at 4 o,clock in the afternoon. For god's sake woman, I am a boy, I like to be dirty!!!!

Holly took this photo of him in the car on the way home.....

he is being propped up by a cushion under one arm

My boy was so not amused! Holly and I were in hysterics. I kept telling him that he smelt gorgeous but he didn't take me on.

So the bathroom now looks like this.

I have flooring!

and wet wall

and no more facings on hall opening

They have widened the hall opening by taking off the chunky facings and now I am waiting for a plasterer to come and make it look pretty! That could be quite some time.....Grrr. On the plus side it means that the hall opening is now the same width as all the other doors that I have to get Jack's chair through so that should be a huge help.

Holly got her exam results yesterday and she got an A in Higher Drama, A in Higher English, B in Higher Art and a C in Higher Business Management. She failed her maths which we kind of expected but she is delighted with the results and so am I.

I am trying to get the house in order cos Kathy and Emma are coming to look after Jack next week while Holly and I are in London. Holly is going to the West End Theatre summer school for the week and on the Sunday she gets to perform in Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End. She is so excited and she will be working hard from 10-5 each day with Saturday off and I will get the opportunity to meet up with a few friends.

So it's crazy here as usual. Have a great day my little gigglers.

It's totally tragic.

Mumbles died last week after a very tragic accident.  Holly was traumatised!

He had been with us for a number of years, was loved by both Jack and Holly and always made us smile with his funny ways.

That came to an abrupt end last week when the carer (Marion) accidentally sat on him and crushed him.  Holly was devastated and traumatised. The first I knew of this tragedy was when I came through and Holly was trying valiantly to bring him back to life.

But it was too late as his head had been crushed and was lolling on top of his body. She tried her very best but it was not to be. Mumbles was gonna mumble no more.

mumbles before his demise

You should have seen Holly's face. She looked so forlorn and sad that I burst out laughing! "So how did that happen?" I asked. "His head was under the sofa and when Marion sat down you just heard this almighty crack!" she mumbled (pardon the pun).  Then it was my turn to look bemused cos there is very little that you can get under my sofa as it is so low, least of all a penguin's head!

"So how did Mumbles get under there all by himself" I asked?" To which she just shook her head, all the while trying to put his head back on! "Well he didn't get there by himself and you were the last one touching him cos you took his batteries out for using on the Wii remote" I stated "so it must have been you who inadvertently got him trapped under there".

I stood there looking at her sternly, hands on hips and a wee tear trickled down her face and I said in a very evil voice "you toy murderer!!!" and laughed so hard I nearly peed myself. Meanwhile Holly is really crying now saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry but it wasn't me who sat on his head". Through my tears of mirth I managed to splutter "no but you got him stuck under the sofa so it is your fault" as she howled forlornly. Then to really drive it home I added "and how are you gonna explain to Jack that you killed his Mumbles?".

Now she was mortally wounded at this accusation and told me "I'd gone too far!" as I rolled around on the swirly chair, absolutely dying with laughter. The more devastated she looked the funnier it was and all I could think was "but it's a toy!".


Eventually I persuaded her to part with him and to put him in the bin cos he was beyond help. Really, truly he was.

For the rest of the week, every time I looked at her, I would crack up laughing and imitate a Happy Feet dance. My daughter was not amused.