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Archives for November 2014

Michael at 9

30 November, 2014
Posted in: Boys, Michael

Obviously, being twins, Michael and Daniel celebrate their birthday on the same day. So, Michael’s birthday post is two months late also.

Michael is skinnier than 99.7% of children his age in Ireland. That’s what the doctor told us so we know it’s true. He has soft brown hair, beautiful skin and a really amazing ability to look cute like the cat in Shrek. He is the shortest child in the family and often points out that he is the youngest and the smallest. He is only the youngest by 20 minutes but that does not stop him entirely inhabiting the role of youngest child.

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Things Michael will eat/drink: Knorr Chicken noodle soup, rashers, sausages, rice krispies and milk, Tayto crisps, orange flavoured chupa chups lollipops, Yorkshire puddings, pizza, Club Orange, water, chicken (leg only), innocent smoothies, cheese, sliced pan, popcorn.

Things Michael will not eat/drink: everything else including sweets and chocolate.

There is a reason why he is thinner than 99.7% of children in Ireland.

Regrettably, he has recently stopped saying “May you cut my pizza?” which I used to really enjoy. Ndow thanks to the efforts of his sister he says “Oh no, grammatical error, can you cut my pizza?”

Michael hates to leave the house. If he was left to his own devices, he would spend all his time at home. It was only recently I noticed that unlike his brother and sister he participates in no extra curricular activities. This has been rectified as of this month; I am cruel like this. He is doing an art class. It is alright apparently.

He has clothes that he likes to wear and he wears them until they fall apart. Last Christmas he got a long-sleeved green stripy t-shirt and a fleecy blue Gap jumper and he has worn both constantly only changing into something else when they were in the wash. The Gap jumper disappeared in mysterious circumstances but he is still wearing the green t-shirt. He is very faithful to his clothes and toys and they can never under any circumstances be recycled or given away. He is very keen to watch “The Muppets’ Christmas Carol” in the run up to Christmas, just like we did last year. He still reminisces about the old house. His father says that he is the world’s most nostalgic nine year old.

Michael is an extraordinarily sensitive and charming child. He is much more likely to think of what others than you might reasonably expect from someone his age. When I am about to lose my temper, he comes up and pats me on the head. This is surprisingly disarming. When he wants something he asks winsomely and he takes rejection manfully not crying or even looking put out. In consequence he is much more likely to get what he wants than his siblings and is often put up to ask for joint treats. He is generally very biddable, falling in easily with other people’s plans and wishes. However, occasionally, he does not want to do something and then it is absolutely pointless to try to persuade him. He has a will of iron and it is extraordinary to see someone so willowy possessed of absolute and unwavering resolution. If Michael is determined to do or not to do something then generally the rest of us fall in with his wishes. It’s a power he uses relatively rarely but we all recognise it when we see it.

He has no real interest in school work and thinks it is largely pointless but he does it because it is harder to resist and he is, as I say, easygoing. He generally doesn’t make much of an effort. It is pointless to indicate what other people might expect as he is absolutely indifferent to the views of others. He does care about their feelings but he is not working to anyone’s agenda but his own. He has an independence of mind which I find amazing and very admirable.

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I do worry sometimes that his lack of interest in school may be because he is the youngest in his class (only by 20 minutes and my control sample indicates that this is not necessarily an issue). After his brother the next youngest child is three months older than him and some of the children are a full year older than him. His teachers have always said that he is fine though so I suppose it is a bit of a spurious concern but something has to keep me awake at night.

Michael is not interested in Irish or French and has made far less effort to engage with both than either of his siblings. He doesn’t really see the point. Although he did offer to read a book in French the other day in exchange for some monetary reward, so he may be beginning to see a use for languages other than English. When I think that when we came back to Ireland first he used to speak French to Daniel rather than English. Oh well.

He absolutely loves to read. At the moment he is working his way steadily through Terry Pratchett’s offerings and since we have all read these we can talk about them together which is not the case for “Spy Dogs”. He still loves picture books and Asterix and Tintin remain firm favourites as well as Snoopy, Big Nate and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He re-reads books over and over again.

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He also loves playing Minecraft and watching endless instructional videos on the computer. He is fond of playing Skylanders on the x-box also. He loves the social aspect of interacting with other children (I hope) on these games.

He is extremely affectionate and unconditionally loves his mother. Once I inadvertently turned off the x-box and lost loads of progress on some game and he was really cross. I was very contrite but he remained cross until after lunch. I am not unused to his siblings being cross with me but it struck me forcibly that this was the most extended period of time that Michael had been cross with me. In general he is never cross with me. He is unashamed, nay delighted, to hold my hand or hug me in public.

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He is the family peacemaker and is generally trying to broker compromise between warring factions. He can, however, tease his brother and then assume a look of saintly innocence which is known, to his great chagrin as his “mischief face.” He and his sister hardly ever fight. He is not much inclined to go in for confrontation. When asked to help around the house he tends to slip quietly away. “Michael, will you unload the dishwasher please?” “No thank you,” he says sliding out the kitchen door. Alternatively he will do what you ask. He will never say, “No! It’s not fair.” He has seen that approach fail elsewhere and uses his own much more successful methods.

He is very concerned about the future of the planet. He is always turning off lights, trying to conserve water and generally environmentally conscious. In November 2013 he made us start to walk to school. Before this we drove in every morning. I am enormously grateful to him for this as walking in to school with the children in the morning is generally one of the nicest parts of my day. Without his determination, I think this would never have happened. Some way before we get to the last traffic lights before the school, he kisses me goodbye and says, “If the traffic lights are green, goodbye.” And I watch him running down the pavement, his rucksack bouncing on his back, weaving between office workers and tourists looking small but infinitely self-possessed and a part of my heart travels with him.

Daniel at 9

29 November, 2014
Posted in: Boys, Daniel

It’s just over two months since Daniel turned 9 so this is not exactly a timely birthday post but never mind.

Physically, Daniel is the sturdiest of my children, the other two tending towards willowy/super skinny.  He is taller than his brother and nearly as tall as his older sister (a source of some distress to her).  He still has the most beautiful white gold hair and occasionally I will say to him at dinner, “Your hair is lovely this evening.”  A remark which he invariably treats with withering contempt.  He really needs his glasses and reaches for them first thing in the morning without fail.  He now has grown up square glasses which is what he wants but I pine for the adorable round ones he used to have.

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Daniel is very sporty.  Unfortunately for him, no one else in his immediate family is.  He always wants to be kicking a football but there is nobody to kick a football with.  He has GAA training twice a week and a match every weekend but he is still very keen to begin rugby and soccer training (which we have steadfastly resisted on the grounds that it is hard enough for us to meet his existing sporting commitments).  He plays his heart out every time.  Last weekend, I went to watch him play.  One of the players on the other team was as broad as he was tall.  He was enormous in every way and also quite a skillful player.  Although Daniel is sturdier than his brothers and sisters, he is still on the skinnier side of average and he must have been only half the size of this child.  He marked him with unrelenting fervour.  When this boy had the ball, Daniel stuck with him like glue.  Daniel went in with his shoulder (standard GAA instruction) but it was like a pebble hitting a mountain.  Still Daniel never gave up for the whole game.  He was “man of the match”.  I was filled with pride.  One of the other parents is always a bit cross with me and Mr. Waffle as we don’t give Daniel sufficient support at home; this is true, we are never to be seen in the garden tossing around a sliotar.  Poor Daniel; cursed by his family’s uselessness.

Brasil!
Sports photography is very challenging – this is the best I could do.

He is very thorough in his school work which is quite spectacularly neat.  The work is easy for him I think but he is anxious to do everything right and in this he reminds me of myself as a school girl.  He worries about lots of things.  I am a constant high risk as without the slightest warning I may kiss or hug him in public possibly even near the school.  As we approach the school in the morning, he usually has a hand out to stop any unwelcome and embarrassing physical contact.

He has high standards for all of us, a developing sense of duty and a very kind nature. That can be quite a frustrating combination for him on occasion and I think he sometimes despairs of his family. This can make him quite cross and inclined to leave in what Myles na gCopaleen called that “lofty vehicle, high dudgeon.”

He is very polite and will always ask solicitously at dinner, “How was your day?” He hasn’t totally got up to speed on appearing interested in the answer yet but that will come. On the phone, he always asks, “How are you?” And waits politely for your reply.

He is thorough at home also and if asked to do a job around the house will usually do it well and complete it – perhaps not happily – but resignedly.   His instincts, I think, are tidy.  However, he leaves his shoes wherever he decides to take them off which drives me to the brink of madness as I find them by tripping over them again.  Also, his socks never seem to make it to the laundry basket and I find them in a range of unlikely places.

He loves Minecraft and plants v. zombies.  He is only allowed to play the x-box at the weekends and even as I write he is blowing things up in the room next door.  During the week when not allowed on the x-box, he uses his computer time to watch videos about minecraft of which there seem to be an everlasting supply (Dan the Diamond Mine Cart anyone?).  He and his siblings have spent the last month building Harry Potter’s world in Minecraft and on the walk to school this is sometimes all they talk about.

He likes to read but it pales in comparison to the excitement offered by electronic devices. On television, he is very taken with Dr. Who and Father Ted.  He loves Fr. Jack whom I find very dull but each to his own.  It is lovely to see him laughing hysterically because he can sometimes be a very serious child who takes injustice to heart, particularly as it relates to time on electronic devices.

He continues to be very good at picking up accents.  Five minutes with someone with a different accent and he will be speaking like that person.   He is fond of Americanisms and many things are “awesome”.  His Irish seems pretty good and he can still understand French and make the fiendishly hard vowel sounds. He has a really lovely singing voice which he largely refuses to use.  He joined the church choir for a bit but had to give up as it clashed with GAA practice.  He sings in the school choir and I think he quite enjoys it but he does find the spotlight mildly alarming.  He often says the prayer of the faithful at mass and he speaks very loudly and clearly.  I really admire his courage as he is quite nervous about speaking in front of a church full(ish) of people but grits his teeth and does it anyway.

He is interested in all kinds of things.  Last night he came down to tell us that the cat was throwing up in his room and while Mr. Waffle went to kindly deal with this domestic disaster, Daniel and I looked at maps showing the origin of European words which Mr. Waffle and I had been perusing prior to his arrival (hello, and welcome to nerdville).   Daniel seemed genuinely interested although I conceded it may just have been better than the cat getting sick but I don’t think so.  He is a strong reader of fact books and I know a lot about “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” facts thanks to him and I think this fell into a similar category.

He continues to resist eating most savoury foods.  There was great rejoicing here in Waffle Towers when the sausage was recently added to the list of acceptable foods.  Usually for dinner he has crackers or toast.  Fortunately, he likes milk, porridge and bread so I hope that this keeps him going.  After all, it worked for the medieval peasants. He also has hot chocolate which is his favourite thing.

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Like all children, he fights with his siblings, particularly his sister. He and she are quite alike and since she is two years older, she often wins by dint of superior knowledge and cunning which drives him bananas.  He is more inclined to fight physically with his brother giving him a shove rather than a verbal dig but mostly they get on very well as they have so many interests in common. I often find their conversations utterly incomprehensible as they discuss arcane aspects of Dr. Who or the advice of eyeballistic squid (?).

Despite his unwillingness to appear related to me in public he is an affectionate child in private.  It is nice to get a hug from him as like everything he does, he really puts his heart into it.  He is so keen to grow up and be big.  He can’t wait to be sixteen so that he can get “HALO”.   I hope he will still be hugging me then.

Memento Mori

28 November, 2014
Posted in: Family

Before I brought my table back to Dublin, my father was reminiscing about having breakfast at it with an English friend many years ago.   This man used to say, I understand without irony, “I’m not conservative, but I’ve never had it and I’m quite sure I shouldn’t like it.”  This became a catch phrase in our house when I was growing up (something of a dangerous game on my parents’ part, I realise in retrospect but usefully deployed in relation to the introduction of new foods) so even though I last saw this man when I was a child, I hadn’t forgotten about him and when my father mentioned him, I knew who he meant.

We talked for a bit about this man, his family and his habits.  “Where is he now?” I asked.   My father didn’t know; they had lost touch over the years.  I found his obituary after two seconds on the internet.  As I read it out, my father he nodded sagely there was a lot he knew already but there were also all kinds of facts my father hadn’t known at all, including that this man’s first wife died tragically.  He never spoke of it.  I’m not quite sure what point I’m making here; the amazing qualities of the internet which can tell you facts about old friends that you never knew when they were alive; the end of privacy; or the fact that when you are very old (my father is 89), if someone has slipped off your radar, odds on he or she is likely to be dead.  It’s all a bit depressing.  On the plus side, I was at the dentist the other day and he tells me that his mother (also 89) who was in college with my father is very well thanks for asking.

All Drama

27 November, 2014
Posted in: Dublin, Family, Ireland

Did I tell you about when my sister-in-law came to visit last month?

She got the bus and it took ages. It turned out that she had been caught up in an unannounced Ebola test run: closed streets, guards, hazmat suits. She said it was very exciting and mildly alarming as nobody told the bus passengers that it was only a trial.

Today is, of course, Thanksgiving, in far off America. I was thinking of doing one of those winsome “I’m thankful” posts that Americans go for but although I am thankful for many things, I don’t have the energy to be winsome. I’m thankful that no one in Ireland has Ebola. Really, I am. That will have to do.

This whole NaBloPoMo thing is killing me. How are you finding it?

Domestic Administration or Would You Care to Watch Some Paint Dry?

26 November, 2014
Posted in: Reading etc.

Achieved this evening:

  • Updated excel spreadsheet and printed off childminder’s payslip.
  • Filed away bills and bank statements and notice of derisory dividend arising from unwise share purchase of many years ago.
  • Signed up to electricity supplier’s online billing on the basis that I would get €20 off my shopping.  The voucher does not appear to have materialised.  Signed up to electricity supplier’s rewards scheme.  Apparently, I will get money off my electricity bill just by shopping in my usual supermarket. On both occasions I needed to give them my name, account number, meter number, date of birth and two different passwords, lest anyone hack my account and pay my bill for me or take away my exciting rewards.
  • Tried and failed to work out what is covered as set out in my healthcare cover renewal letter and filed it away lest it become clearer at a later point.
  • Did online shopping for delivery on Friday.  Noted that I have shopped in my usual supermarket and no electricity money off voucher appeared to be forthcoming.
  • Agonised about the use of full stops in a bulleted list.
  • Realised it was NaBloPoMo and posted this.

And how was your own exciting Wednesday evening?

The Advantages of Bible Study

25 November, 2014
Posted in: Princess

They had a quiz in the Princess’s class at school. They were asked who is the disciple who is called “doubting”? Conversation in her team of 4 went as follows:

Child 1: It’s Judas.
Children 2 & 3: Yes!
Herself: No, it’s Thomas.
Others: No it’s definitely Judas. Who is Thomas, anyway?
Herself: The one that’s known as Doubting Thomas. I swear I am right. I know I am, I really do.
Others: Nah.
Herself: I totally am right, please, please can we put Thomas?
Others [reluctantly]: Alright, but it’s wrong.

I despair. She was quite pleased though, her team won the quiz.

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