Art, assault

[ailbhe]

Emer and I picked blackberries as I hung out the washing this morning. Then I trimmed the hair at the back of my neck (I can't see it but it feels better...) and we made a clafouti. Our visitors arrived while we were doing that so I supervised two four-year-olds making clafouti, which was fun. Linnea got two new books in the post; I think her birthday money is almost gone now. Most of the day went well enough but there was a problem later on...

I think where things really went wrong was Astrid's nap. I fell asleep too and when I woke I was shivering and cranky, probably hungry. Anyway, Linnea went all Linnea-ish and ended up doing a sort of keep-your-distance fighting dance with fists and kicks, not aimed to hit me just aimed to keep me away. And Astrid crawled in and got kicked in the face. Linnea was horrified and ran into the garden furious with herself and in considerable mental pain, visibly, but I couldn't do anything about it because of calming Astrid down. Astrid's gums bled a little but not much and I called a friend and then NHS direct and it was fine, she calmed down quickly and less than 15 minutes after the incident she was playing happily. Linnea took ages to come down from her fright though.

Bedtime was more fraught than I'd hoped, but they had a bedtime story read by Rob over the miracle of online video chat, and I sang them to sleep. I actually had to put Astrid to bed and then go back and cuddle with Linnea for a bit and help her calm down again, but it was ok really.

And then I came down and sat in front of a laptop feeling weird and numb. I am lonely and tired and I can't figure out how to read a book any more; I don't feel able to get into them as I am always alert to be interrupted and usually with justification. It's very sad really because books used to be my absolute THING. But I haven't read a fiction book for ages, unless reading it aloud to someone, and I've hardly read much non-fiction either. If I sit down with a book though I get all... antsy and fidgety and can't get into it. I think I might need more leisure time in my life.

And to do that, we need to continue my improvements in re kids' bedtimes. If they get enough sleep everything becomes more possible.

Comments

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I can't figure out how to read a book any more; I don't feel able to get into them as I am always alert to be interrupted and usually with justification.

I hear you. I've been having the same problem.

*sends you strength*

[gloriap.livejournal.com]

Although I know it doesn't feel like it at the moment, this too shall pass.

Have you tried warm milk with a bit of vanilla or cinnamon before the girls' bedtime?

[ailbhe]

Dairy intolerance! I would like to create a sleep association with a final drink at bedtime but it doesn't work when we're a two-parent household.

[gloriap.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I forgot about the dairy. I was trying to introduce tryptophan for sleepiness.

[juliet]

Would soya milk with a little vanilla work? (I find that warm soya milk, e.g. when making hot chocolate, tastes a bit too bean-y, but putting a drop of vanilla in magically gets rid of the bean-y-ness. That discovery was a glorious day as I had really missed hot chocolate since I went vegan.)

May not work anyway if the final-drink thing doesn't for other reasons, but I thought I'd mention it as I use soya-milk hot chocolate myself sometimes for sleep-encouraging.

Sorry that the tough parts of the day were so tough.

[nitoda]

Further to the comment above about tryptophan, here is a link to a page with a list of foods containing high levels of tryptophan, hope it's useful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryptophan#Turkey_meat_and_drowsiness