There is something really lovely about your children getting to the age of five.  Actually there are lots of things like; they finally wipe their own bum, they go to school so a professional has to tell them backchat isn’t becoming, you can drop them off at a birthday party and go get a coffee somewhere civilised and once in a while, they use a fork. The something I am thinking of is that you start to remember what it was like when you were their age.  And it kind of reminds you to not panic as a parent. For the last month or so our children have stopped going to sleep the right side of 8pm.  The routine was (and would still be if we had any say in the matter at all) was bath at 6.30pm, PJ’s, clean teeth, have a little play and then to respective bedrooms for stories.  Lights out about 7.45pm and sleep would soon fall upon our sweet angels. The hot weather and light nights have royally screwed us …

Wouldn’t it be great if family life was like this all the time?  Like the photos we take, and especially the ones we share.  Where the sun is shining and the children are smiling. This photo was not taken today.  There is no way on earth this could have been taken today. Today, the neighbour brought round my children after they had snuck out the living room window and visited her, without telling me they were leaving the building! Today, my children got out almost all the cutlery we own and chopped up carrot and tomatoes and added water, a whole pot of cinnamon and fennel seeds to make soup for dinner.  And then spilt it all over the floor I’d hoovered and mopped one hour before. Today, my children decided to climb into the garden shed we’ve had locked up for two years now with some poisonous mold problem, to have a play. Today, my four and six year old children didn’t go to sleep until 9.15pm. Today, I told my children off so …