Island Trip Part 10

Had a lovely evening last night with some Islanders, who cooked a veggie feast of deliciousness. We probably outstayed our welcome, as our host eventually just put down a firm hand and said:

"Right! Off you go!"

It was 1.30am at this point, and we'd been trying to leave for about an hour - but when we first announced we were off, the hostess returned with an enormous plate of cheese. Then people kept engaging us in interesting conversation, so we couldn't just get up and walk off! Well, I suppose we could have done, but then we wouldn't have got any cheese. And that would have been terrible.

Anyway, we were turfed out and went home to be in bed by 2am ... only to remember that the clocks had changed and it was actually 3am. We were to be up for 8am to help with the boys. 5 hours sleep. Not great, but not insurmountable by any means.

Then I discovered that I'd been given crab to eat. I discovered this by dint of the fact my feet suddenly swelled up and became burning hot, with the sensation of pinpricks crawling up my shins. I had an extremely restless night, up 4 times, but with all the goodness of her heart Fisher let me sleep until 9, and went and did the kiddies herself. God bless her and all who sail in her. Sister is not well at present, so needs all the help she can get, so me being unwell is just the worst possible timing.

Yesterday the boys were on very good form. Sister had a very poor night's sleep so we took them to Red Rocks beach and gave them a run so that she could take the time to nap. I think this must be one of the most invaluable things for a new mother - or, rather, a mother of a new baby. Having someone to cover for you when your eyes just won't open any more and your body is screaming out for sleep means you can actually function from one day to the next. Grabbing that extra hour might be the difference between providing a calm, healthy supper and whacking a frozen batch of fish fingers down in front of them whilst completely losing your rag.

I know that first time parents often want to do things all by themselves. I can honestly say that, from an observer's perspective, refusing ANY decent help at all is an act of utter foolhardiness. Kids are exhausting. I mean - they are beyond exhausting. And I don't just mean toddlers. Babies are quite tiring enough on their own. If you can have someone around who'll take your wean out for a spin in its pram while you grab some kip, embracing it with both hands seems the only sensible course of action. In fact, grabbing any source of relaxation when offered, even if you don't think you feel like it at the time, seems the only way forward.

Observation over. Blog over - for the moment.