Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Wow!  The start of my third year doing Monthly Munches!  Hope you're still enjoying hearing what we've been up to.  Sooo... this month, I feel, has mostly been a sorting out kind of one.  I've been doing some new year house cleaning, Graham and I have been figuring out what to do for some kind of gainful employment.  Toby has been practising on his new bike and scooter, and Theo has been learning to talk and going to bed awfully late. Toby - had his first 'Forest School' day at school, and came home happily plastered in mud. - built a snowman with friends and dubbed it Mr Chillyman Coldhead. - "I want to draw something.  What shall I draw?" is a constant refrain. - had a great time at our New Year's Day party, having a "chocolate party" with the other kids up in his bedroom. - is getting better at dealing with things that scare him. Theo - is learning numbers ("free, four, free, four") and colours ("

To a child, everything is normal. Who knows what is normal for an egg? As a parent, this presents us with quite a responsibility.  Because we very quickly realise that whatever - whatever - we do will be regarded as the way things are.  From bedtime routines to parents arguing, from TV time to what we eat - everything is normal for our child.  They have nothing else to compare it to. And even when they do get old enough to realise that not everyone lives like we do, it's still the other people that are different.  Not us.  Not for a long time.  Perhaps, for certain things, even for the rest of our lives, even when we know better. No, this is normal.  Really. The problem is, as adults, we are still, most of us, trying to work out what's normal.  Especially when we have children, and suddenly a whole host of things become normal that never were before.  Like feeding a baby five times in the night, or negotiating with a screaming toddler in the supermarket, or expl

That's Theo's attempt at Happy Birthday To You, if you can't quite make it out.  He's got the tune down to a T, so we'll give him some leeway on the consonants.  He's had plenty of opportunity to sing it, as it was my birthday recently.  Breakfast in bed seems to have become the custom, so I was proudly presented with cereal, toast and a boiled egg.  I managed the cereal in bed but thought the rest might be safer eaten downstairs.  Toby also drew me two very nice birthday cards. So, apart from having to figure out your age when people ask you (what year is it again?), how do you know you've reached your mid-thirties?  Well, one reliable indicator is that you are actually pleased - possibly even delighted - to receive a vacuum cleaner as a birthday present.  Graham has already been gently mocking me for enjoying my new toy so much, but look!  It actually picks the dirt up!  And my stairs don't have dust in the corners for the first time in two years!

The sixth of January marks the Feast of Epiphany, otherwise known as Twelfth Night, or the end of the Christmas season.  It is the day when we celebrate the visit of the three wise men to Jesus, and traditionally the day when Christmas decorations are taken down.  So we ate galette des rois for dessert and then proceeded to undecorate the house. The two taken together made a kind of solemn celebration; almost an anti-festivity.  The sweet French pie consists of layers of puff pastry surrounding an almond filling.  Its light flakiness is the opposite of the dense richness of Christmas cake; its plain burnished finish so different to colourful icing. Likewise, as our living room shed its lights and tinsel and returned to its everyday state - as everyone helped to remove baubles, gently wrap the precious ornaments, and wind up the strings of lights - I found myself reflecting on the ritual.  I'd never thought of the taking-down being as important as the putting-up, but some

It really does seem to have been a month of Christmas stuff!  Nativity plays and Christmas parties, wrapping presents and writing cards, mince pies and Christmas cake, driving north and driving south and celebrating with family.  Thanks to everyone who hosted us! Seeing the lights at Calke Abbey Toby   - wrote all his own Christmas cards to give to his school friends - enjoyed a school trip to the Snowdome at Tamworth (real snow!) but was a bit fearful about going to see Beauty and the Beast pantomime. - showed off his new scooter at the Christmas Day church service. - isn't quite sure what to think about Santa Claus, but was very excited about presents! Theo   - is very tidy-minded.  He likes putting cups on coasters, and finds a cloth to wipe up if he spills something. - made it up and down a small but steep hill on his own two legs. - was grabbed by my Dad in the nick of time when a wave came in a little further than expected! - liked