Did I hint the other day that things in my life are about to change? Things around this household have been crazy for years, but this last few weeks have seen new priorities and big changes in the pipeline (I’m moving to a new job). The new job is going to have a major knock-on effect on the household, but none of us know how far-reaching it’ll be just yet.

The main thing is, I’ll have less time at home to see the kids. That pisses me off, for reasons I’ll make clear later.

So, this last week or so, I’ve spent a bit more time focussing on the children and our relationships. For instance, I took Rachel (and Dan, in his pram) to the library on Saturday. Our local library has recently been renovated, so it was time to go up for a nosey around and also pay a fiver’s worth of fines. Whoops! Dan fell asleep on the way to the library, so Rachel and I pottered around and chose some books. We even found the time to read on at a table and she cuddled up on my knee as we read Handsome And Gretel (she decided the name was Handsome). We took a few books home to read at bedtimes.

Rachel is a funny creature. She’s old beyond her years and fiercely independent, but sometimes you’ll get a glimpse of the little girl she really is and the beauty of those moments is hard to describe. But for a short time, maybe half-an-hour, you know that she loves you and needs you. It’s almost like seeing the werewolf in the fleeting light of a full moon (but nicer). For four delightful days, Rachel has been our little girl again.

Then Jake. I swear that child can do no wrong. So physically strong, yet so loving and vulnerable, Jake can bring tears to your eyes with just a hug.

For instance, tonight I took Rachel and Jake to the video shop and rented a couple of DVDs for us to watch together. We put on Monster House and sat sprawled across each other on the sofa. Later on, Lisa and I were reorganising Jake and Dan’s room when Jake came up to me, wrapped his arms around my leg and said “Thanks for the great DVD, Dad!” While he was initially upset that I’d vetoed the weekly Power Rangers/Star Wars selection, he loved the Monster House movie and just wanted to say so!

Dan loved Monster House too. Despite his age, he seemed to sense when the plot was getting intense and would stand up on the sofa and shout “look! look!” while pointing wildly at the television. In between times, he sat quietly on the sofa watching the movie with everyone else.

Those little moments of time out, when the family sit down together (even just to watch a DVD) are just so damned precious. I know both Lisa and I spent a fair bit of time this evening looking at the kids and each other and marvelling at our little family unit.

I am a very very bad mother. I sent my 5 year old daughter to school today without a lunch!

I had been unsure of whether or not to send her to school as she was performing in her tap dance show last night and didn’t get home until 11pm.

I let her sleep for as long as she wanted, but when she rose at 8.30am, I decided that I would send her to school since she was already awake.

We hurriedly got dressed, washed and ate breakfast and I gave Rachel her lunchbox to take to the car.

We hurried to school and she was surprisingly only ten minute late. I hurriedly kissed her goodbye then rushed to do my weekly shopping before my younger son got out of nursery.

It was only when I got home and finished unpacking my food at 1pm that I noticed her little pink lunch box on the kitchen worktop. I felt terrible, yet her lunchtime was over, so there was no point in me taking it to the school. When I picked her up at 2pm, her teacher told me that she had tried to take Rachel to the canteen for a school lunch but she cried and wouldn’t go, in the end another teacher gave her a banana and some other fruit that she didn’t like.

I feel terrible, my poor daughter was hungry all day and all because I was too busy rushing to notice that she had left her lunch behind….I will have to be more vigilant!

There’s a couple of wee moments with the kids recently that I want to write down so that we can remember them in the future. That’s what blogs are for, after all…

Rachel was recently sharing some chips with Jake one evening. As they emptied the plate, one chip remained which Rachel zoomed in on. She recoiled in horror when she discovered it was covered with ketchup. Ever helpful, Jake picked up the chip, licked the sauce off, and passed it back to Rachel. There was only a flicker of hesitation and you could see her thinking ‘What the hell‘ before wolfing it down. Yuck. I’ll be reminding them of that when they’re teenagers!

Sometimes, as a parent, you wonder if the kids are really aware of what’s going on in your life. I recently got a bit of good news, and sat Rachel down to relay it to her. To my surprise, she gave me a big hug and a kiss and congratulated me. I was gobsmacked. Even more so when she talked Lisa into having a secret party for me to celebrate. Apparently she damned near invited half her class.

The sceptic in me thought it might be an opportunity for her to get a big wedge of chocolate cake, but she seemed to love the attention for doing something so nice.

Now Daniel. Wee Dan. Not so wee any more. That’s right, he’s at the charming age when he can climb out of his cot! Cue a stair gate on his bedroom door, and a swift move to a bed - no point in keeping the cot around. Since we’re making big changes, it’s time to take away the dummies as well I think. The bedtime routine has changed as a result - Dan goes to bed first, and when he’s settled Jake follows.

He’s waking quite early in the mornings at the moment, too. Before we go to bed, we swap the stair gate across to the top of the stairs. So when he wakes in the morning, he comes in and visits us. Hooray! 5:30am starts return!