Time to chill out
THERE are varying levels of cleanliness in our house, and without wishing to gender-stereotype, the boys can get rather smelly at times.
However, there’s nothing like the sudden unavailability of hot water to make people realise just how whiffy they’ve become and how reliant we’ve become on the shower.
When our hot water pipes froze over the weekend I wondered whether we’d ever be accepted into polite society again.
One of our sons has worked out that short daily showers before school keeps the spots under some control, while another will only shower after sport, and there hasn’t been much of that recently due to the weather.
Another son would happily go a week without a wash if he were allowed to. Daughter will take ages over any type of washing, but is also happy to accept a wet-wipe over the face and hands if time is of the essence.
Thankfully, this is one of the few areas of life she’s not too fussy about.
We didn’t realise the hot water had gone until quite late in the day on Saturday because, well, it was the first Saturday in ages we hadn’t had to be anywhere or do anything.
So we were all slobbing about in our pyjamas until lunchtime, and our basement kitchen taps had been working perfectly.
Our hot water pipes froze during last winter’s snow, but had thawed out after I’d scrambled about on my hands and knees for a few hours under sinks, armed with hot water bottles and a hairdryer.
Not this time. Not so much as a drip. Now any normal person might have called it quits and accepted that the pipes were going to stay frozen for at least 24 hours.
A normal person may have boiled a couple of kettles for a wash. A normal person might have continued to slob out for the day watching the Saints and England rugby matches on TV.
But no, I had to try to beat the pipes. We needed to have showers.
I drove to Argos and spent £40 and probably a lot more electricity on two fan heaters, and by the time the kids had gone to bed – filthy – the house was like a sauna and the pipes were still frozen.
Bloke knows there’s often little point trying to deter me from a determined quest.
But he gave me a look. It said: “The kids are in bed. No one is going to have a shower tonight. The pipes will freeze again overnight. Is it time to give up?”
We turned off the heaters, made some hot water bottles and went to bed. I lay awake trying to think up a Plan B.
We’d get up early, go to the Mounts swimming baths and have a shower.
Like people used to do when their loos were still outside and baths were copper and placed in front of open fires.
The next morning, early, I woke up to the sound of running water. Hot water. Running. No need for Plan B after all.
By lunchtime everyone was clean and we were all slobbing out watching the rugby. Sometimes I think I worry too much.
SOMETIMES being a parent can be baffling. Our four are constantly throwing us curved balls.
The older two talk in riddles, and when they do deign to speak to us they seem to miss off the beginning and end of every sentence.
Bonnie has decided that every mealtime is mucking-about time. She knows perfectly well how to sit at a table and use a knife and fork. But lately she’s given up all table manners, eats with her fingers, keeps her mouth open when chewing and gets up and down from the table several times. And she shouts “tomato sauce” at everyone regardless of what’s on her plate.
Little Bill has taken to drawing everything and writing notes. Not unusual for an eight year old, you might think, but as well as lovely messages like ‘I love you Mum’ left on my side table, or portraits of everyone stuck to bedroom doors, if he’s told off or is in a grumpy mood, he writes lists of ‘things he should be happy about’ or draws pictures of himself looking sad. Or captions describing himself ‘mean’.
It’s heartbreaking, and when we ask him about it, he brushes it off as just something he likes to do.
We’ve worried that he’s feeling he’s not getting enough time with us, what with the constant demands of four offspring with differing demands, especially his little sister.
As he usually seems pretty content and good at getting himself up and dressed and ready for anything, maybe we’ve not given him as much attention.
It’s something we’re now trying to remedy.
Still, he’s better than the rest of us at art already.
WE all like a good story, and to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Grimm’s Tales, Royal & Derngate are hosting a series of Fairytale Family Fun Days this week.
From Thursday to Saturday the theatre will have a range of themed play areas and a variety of craft activities stationed around the building, which families can join in with completely free of charge throughout the day from 10am to 3pm.
Every day at 11am there will be a storytelling performance, and at 2pm there will be a family workshop.
The drop-in craft and play activities are free, and the performances and workshops are £5 per person. To book tickets call Royal & Derngate Box Office on 01604 624811 or go online at www.royalandderngate.co.uk
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Weather for Northampton
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
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Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
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