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ailbheWe overslept slightly, but had breakfast and Rob got to work in good time. I managed to tidy downstairs and do a mountain of washing up before leaving for Tigger's Toddlers at 9:30. Actually, we left the house at 09:20 and it took ten minutes to load the trike and lower the saddle, etc. Then it took twenty minutes to get there, though more than ten of that was getting as far as the top of the Evil Hill, which involves pushing. That's comparable to the time it took to walk with the buggy before I was very pregnant.
Anyway, we arrived at Tigglers Togglers practically on time, for a change, and had a lovely time there. Then we headed into town for lunch and to meet up with two other mothers and toddlers.
I took a new route to town, having checked out the cycling map (shows quiet roads as well as cyclepaths). It looked simple enough until one large roundabout, but at that time there is almost no traffic, so I wasn't that worried - what I had to do at the roundabout was totally simple anyway. So I arrived at the traffic lights to let me onto the roundabout, which were red, which is good as it gives me time to see what's going on. Then they went green, I pushed off, and Linnea took her arms out of the shoulder-straps of her seat harness and tried to stand up.
Luckily I knew someone who'd had something similar happen in a car once, so I wasn't entirely lost. I just about shouted at her to put her arms back in the straps NOW, without stopping since I was dealing with being on a roundabout, and once she'd done that I swore until I got off the roundabout and found a reasonably safe space to stop - a bus-stop, which normally I wouldn't do but this was eceptional. At the bus-stop I put her back in the straps and tightened them as much as physically possible, then got back on teh bike and got us to a genuinely safe parking spot. Then I got off the bike and basically collapsed. After a few minutes I was together enough to call Rob and ask him to come meet us for lunch because I was shaking too much to get back on the bike. He did.
I did speak very very firmly to Linnea about never, ever taking her straps off; she looked shocked but not defiant. And she didn't try it again today. But I won't risk serious junctions again for a while.
Rob calmed me down and we all went to the park for lunch. Then Rob went back to work and Linnea and I picked daisies in the sunshine, until the first people we were meeting came. They hadn't eaten, so we went to the cafe int eh park, and they got lunch and Linnea and I got a Calippo each, which Linnea declared Very Nummy and I declared extremely sticky.
At one point, Linnea addressed the other toddler: "Freya, 'Nea crisp please?" and then "Thank you bey much."
It was sunny enough that we all applied sunscreen, and then we went for a walk around the fountain, and after a bit we went to the library, and then the shoe department at John Lewis - Linnea has still not quite outgrown her current shoes. We met the third mother and toddler and infant there, and then we all three went our seperate ways for a bit and reconvened for coffee.
Linnea and I went to the toyshop and bought a baby doll with nappies. Pretty much everywhere we went today I carried her at my hip in the ring sling. It's far easier than having her walk with reins, or carrying her without a sling. She likes it, too - it's snuggly. In the library I was able to use the self-checking to get books out, with her in the sling handing me things; in the toyshop she was able to help me complete the transaction by removing my card from the chip and pin reader. It's a good height for her to be at, except when she wants to lean down and go to sleep; she can't quite manage that because she's too tall and I'm too short. She hooks the spare fabric over her head as a hood and dozes a bit, though.
There was rain and thunder today; we missed the worst of the downpour but saw some lovely warm rain and heard some fantastic ripples of thunder, so we sang the thunder song.
Rob met us in the cafe just as the other mothers were ready to leave. He cycled us home on the trike, leaving his bike in the town centre, and Linnea fell asleep. In all she napped from about 5:30 to about 7 pm.
While she napped I sneaked her tiny toys - animal figures, little cars, etc - into a set of clear plastic "office filing" drawers. They may now stay tidy for more than two seconds at a time. After she woke we ate, then it was quiet play, Teletubbies DVD, bath, book, and at 22:16 Rob took Linnea up to bed. He came back down at 22:30. That's 14 minutes. I think it might be working. I'll have to try doing it myself tomorrow.
I'm tired; my shoulder aches a bit from the unaccustomed slinging; I hope never to have another eperience like a child trying to stand up in a moving vehicle; it's definitely time to pare down the changing kit for summer.
Anyway, we arrived at Tigglers Togglers practically on time, for a change, and had a lovely time there. Then we headed into town for lunch and to meet up with two other mothers and toddlers.
I took a new route to town, having checked out the cycling map (shows quiet roads as well as cyclepaths). It looked simple enough until one large roundabout, but at that time there is almost no traffic, so I wasn't that worried - what I had to do at the roundabout was totally simple anyway. So I arrived at the traffic lights to let me onto the roundabout, which were red, which is good as it gives me time to see what's going on. Then they went green, I pushed off, and Linnea took her arms out of the shoulder-straps of her seat harness and tried to stand up.
Luckily I knew someone who'd had something similar happen in a car once, so I wasn't entirely lost. I just about shouted at her to put her arms back in the straps NOW, without stopping since I was dealing with being on a roundabout, and once she'd done that I swore until I got off the roundabout and found a reasonably safe space to stop - a bus-stop, which normally I wouldn't do but this was eceptional. At the bus-stop I put her back in the straps and tightened them as much as physically possible, then got back on teh bike and got us to a genuinely safe parking spot. Then I got off the bike and basically collapsed. After a few minutes I was together enough to call Rob and ask him to come meet us for lunch because I was shaking too much to get back on the bike. He did.
I did speak very very firmly to Linnea about never, ever taking her straps off; she looked shocked but not defiant. And she didn't try it again today. But I won't risk serious junctions again for a while.
Rob calmed me down and we all went to the park for lunch. Then Rob went back to work and Linnea and I picked daisies in the sunshine, until the first people we were meeting came. They hadn't eaten, so we went to the cafe int eh park, and they got lunch and Linnea and I got a Calippo each, which Linnea declared Very Nummy and I declared extremely sticky.
At one point, Linnea addressed the other toddler: "Freya, 'Nea crisp please?" and then "Thank you bey much."
It was sunny enough that we all applied sunscreen, and then we went for a walk around the fountain, and after a bit we went to the library, and then the shoe department at John Lewis - Linnea has still not quite outgrown her current shoes. We met the third mother and toddler and infant there, and then we all three went our seperate ways for a bit and reconvened for coffee.
Linnea and I went to the toyshop and bought a baby doll with nappies. Pretty much everywhere we went today I carried her at my hip in the ring sling. It's far easier than having her walk with reins, or carrying her without a sling. She likes it, too - it's snuggly. In the library I was able to use the self-checking to get books out, with her in the sling handing me things; in the toyshop she was able to help me complete the transaction by removing my card from the chip and pin reader. It's a good height for her to be at, except when she wants to lean down and go to sleep; she can't quite manage that because she's too tall and I'm too short. She hooks the spare fabric over her head as a hood and dozes a bit, though.
There was rain and thunder today; we missed the worst of the downpour but saw some lovely warm rain and heard some fantastic ripples of thunder, so we sang the thunder song.
Rob met us in the cafe just as the other mothers were ready to leave. He cycled us home on the trike, leaving his bike in the town centre, and Linnea fell asleep. In all she napped from about 5:30 to about 7 pm.
While she napped I sneaked her tiny toys - animal figures, little cars, etc - into a set of clear plastic "office filing" drawers. They may now stay tidy for more than two seconds at a time. After she woke we ate, then it was quiet play, Teletubbies DVD, bath, book, and at 22:16 Rob took Linnea up to bed. He came back down at 22:30. That's 14 minutes. I think it might be working. I'll have to try doing it myself tomorrow.
I'm tired; my shoulder aches a bit from the unaccustomed slinging; I hope never to have another eperience like a child trying to stand up in a moving vehicle; it's definitely time to pare down the changing kit for summer.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-11 03:28 pm (UTC)Can visualise your bicycle-hell; it's hard enough to negotiate roundabouts in the first place on a bike. Does one ever get past the constant-worry stage with a small child? My nephew fell off a sofa while in my care and I felt like the worst person in the world!!
N7
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-11 03:43 pm (UTC)The constant-worry stage alters. She's two now; 18 months ago falling off the sofa was a disaster, now it has to be head-first to even get sympathy, more or less.
http://pics.livejournal.com/ailbhe/pic/0008b6fd/g28 and http://pics.livejournal.com/ailbhe/pic/0008d8d0/g28 might give you a better idea :)