very quickly...

a new record has been set in the flat. carys has been my favourite child for the last five days. in a row. no one has achieved that goal ever. the previous record was set by sebastian back in 2005.

to be fair, it is not exactly what carys is doing right, more that the others are doing masses WRONG. sebastian comes out with sentences like, "i am only hugging you because my daddy told me to" and "if you don't obey me (ie: obey request to drink ribena rather than water), then i am not going to obey you." charming.

jasper, oh give me a break. he bit me on the playground yesterday, sank his teeth into my leg. my crime? i was holding sela and therefore could not pick HIM up. and he has this way of looking at you and saying, "NO". not to mention that he has decided he is afraid of the dark and wakes up screaming in the middle of the night which means i have to sleep with the door open and the hall light on and i am a dark room person.

sela is still crying over any possible slight, imagined or real. she refuses to drink her milk, and preemies need their milk. she has the loudest scream, when she lets loose i watch her tongue and epiglottis wiggle...she reduces glass to shards. and she has decided that she loves lita and the rest of us are nothing. this does not do much for my ego. on the other hand, it is pretty nice to only have to worry about three kids. seriously, she trots after lita, cries if lita leaves the room, rushes to lita if she is crying...basically turning to lita for all the comforts mummies are meant to give.

the lita thing i can deal with. lita is a great helper and does her job so well. she doesn't seek sela out, she doesn't condescend to me or act like sela isn't preferring her right now. i know i am lucky to have lita, and her dignity and humour in this situation makes me appreciate her more. but sela is an inconsiderate cow. or a child.

carys, despite her streaming nose, is number one right now. she has learned to say, "i love you" and she will say, "mum-eh" in her little hoarse voice, and i will say, "yes, carys" and she will respond, "i wubbuuuuh." and my heart goes crack. she is very happy to hold my hand and doesn't bite me. she is happy drinking water and doesn't request ribena. she tries very hard and races around. her hair is incorrigible, she has maybe three crowns, and it is floppy and straight, fine and fair. she crinkles her nose and is good humoured. and she can still pull off those crocodile tears.

so, will carys make it to a sixth day? or will the others conspire and vote her off the most favoured island? tune in.

oh, tomorrow i might be writing about feminine protection. be warned, and send in requests of topics you want me to touch on.

Comments

[Mum aka Mo (grandmother) aka Maureen Lyons]

Oh Tess! I have just read your blog for the second time in a few short hours - it is so funny and poignant and true. I have a lot of questions about kids when God and I meet face to face!! Hang in there, my darling girl - you are doing a fantastic job and believe it or not right now, they ALL love you :-)

Mo xox

[Tertia]

Feminine protection? What is that?

I am going to reply to your email right away. It will be short though, am v tired.

Re the favourite thing - so funny! I also have my favourites. At the moment it is Adam, but only because Kate is being SUCH a pain that Adam appears almost angelic in comparison.

xx

[joeinvegas]

Write about anything. You're doing a good job.

But what happens when things change, and nobody is #1?

[Karen]

Way to go Carys!!!
You will go faaaaaaar by being sweet to your Mum.

[knobody]

wait? i get to be #1? how did that happen?

so, it's almost noon there. is carys extending her already monumental record? is some bit of stubborness cut her record short so that it can be more easily surpassed by her usurping siblings? inquiring minds want to know!

[Auntie Pammie]

Carys, YOU GO GIRL!!!
JJ, Quit biting
Sela, well you know
Seb...no comment.
Love to you all !!
Auntie P xoxo

[AngelaM]

OOhh. They are so wicked sometimes, the little stinkers. Good things we are such nice moms that we still love them anyways. ;)

[Karen]

What an entertaining blog!
I read it before my morning coffee, and had a smile on my face...this is rare!
Thanks for sharing your reality with us Tess. I love it. I humors
me,but more then that, it touches the 'mommy' section of my heart really deep down!
Thanks, Love you,
Karen

[Kara]

Tess, how about the one about the breast feeding babe testing out his new found teeth....right now, I don't like ANYBODY in my family so I prefer to choose ME! to be my favorite! I do like my cat, feral one named Denny Crane. Did like my kitty(a female named Bill Murray) but my doofus Dog, Tiger, mauled it and I think he is a murdering poo-eater. So, yeah, just me and Denny Crane for now, thankyew verry much. ;)

[Jennifer]

Tess! I love, love, love your honesty. We are only a few months behind you, so this entry has me very nervous. I am starting to see glimpses of 2 year old antics from all of mine...I have been debating whether it is better for them to all go through their little toddler rebellion simultaneously or space it out. I am thinking spacing it out would be nice, so I can at least enjoy being around somebody at any given moment. :-)