belgianwaffle

Ireland

Plumbing and Logistics


Posted in: Family, Ireland, Mr. Waffle

Our toilet is blocked. Mr. Waffle is upstairs deploying a plunger. The bathroom floor is covered with newspapers. He’s been at this since we got home at 6.30 this evening with only a brief respite for dinner. I feel I am setting a poor example for my children by making plumbing a gendered space but I just can’t face it myself.

We are facing into a logistically complex 48 hours with me going to Cork, herself going to a friend’s house miles away to sleep over (needing to be collected on Saturday morning), Michael doing a thing with scouts and Daniel with his usual Saturday morning GAA match. Today, I have made appointments with doctors and dentists and committed to sending photos to a piano tuner. A number of Christmas events are bearing down on me and I am in no position to be either a host or guest due to complete lack of organisation. Have I laid in any small tasteful presents to dole out at the appropriate moment? I think we both know the answer to that question.

Oh yes, it’s approaching the most wonderful time of the year. You will excuse me, I need to sit quietly in a darkened room while listening to peaceful suctioning noises emanating from the upstairs bathroom.

And to the Americans, happy Thanksgiving. I can only rejoice that this is not an Irish celebration. It might tip me over the edge.

Commemorating


Posted in: Dublin, Ireland, Middle Child, Twins

As part of what we are calling “The Decade of Centenaries” every primary school in the country is being given a national flag in a formal ceremony. Representatives from the Defence Forces turn up at the school; the proclamation of independence is read; and the children learn about the protocol for looking after the national flag (handy, on all sorts of occasions, I am sure). I think they then use this knowledge to hoist the flag up over every school for Easter 2016.

The boys had their flag visit today. Three of the children from the school got to read out part of the proclamation of independence during the ceremony and Daniel was one of the chosen few. He was very proud. The Irish was quite hard too. He had the bit about “cherishing all of the children of the nation equally and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past”. No prizes for guessing to whom the alien government refers. It’s all peace and reconciliation now, of course.

As part of the celebrations, they got no homework tonight. I am sure that the signatories of the proclamation would be delighted.

Stormy


Posted in: Dublin, Ireland, Middle Child, Mr. Waffle, Princess, Twins, Youngest Child

It was wet and windy today. I had a half day. Michael was home sick. Mr. Waffle minded him in the morning and I had him in the afternoon. I abandoned him to drive into school and pick up Daniel (bike in the boot) and then when I had dropped Daniel, I went in search of herself (communication continues to be challenging – the phone Santa got her for Christmas is unsatisfactory). I found her almost home, her little helmet bobbing along as she walked by the nearby shops. She had been blown off her bike. She had a bloody knee but no serious injury was sustained except to her dignity.

Mr. Waffle arrived in at 6, also windswept and disappointed that his soccer was called off. There’s enthusiasm.

45,000 homes are without electricity though thankfully not ours (although we did lose the internet there for about an hour, so, you know, we could empathise). I lit the fire and made biscuits. Now we are about to eat them.

It’s a day for staying in.

Untitled

That’s Not Right


Posted in: Dublin, Ireland, Reading etc.

At the book festival on Saturday there was a little girl about 8 or 9 behind the tea counter with two adults. I’m not sure whether they were her parents; they looked a bit on the young side but everybody looks on the young side to me now.

I asked her whether she was in charge of giving out the brownies and she said that she was. “Are they nice,” I asked, “have you tried them?” “No,” she said, “I’m on a diet.” I laughed because she was a tiny slip of a thing and only 9 to boot. She did not look amused and said to me seriously, “I’ve cut out carbs as well.”

Weekend Round-up


Posted in: Dublin, Family, Ireland

Herself has decided to enter a cookery competition. She made moules marinières on Friday with her own homemade bread rolls as practice. Pleasing.

2015-11-13 20.03.40

On Saturday, we went to the Dublin book festival where the boys quite enjoyed seeing Alan Nolan and Sarah Webb joke about animals. Although the event was billed 8-12, most of the children fell into the 6-8 or younger category. Our two 10 year olds and one 12 year old knew all the answers to the questions the authors asked and had to sit on their hands which was a less satisfactory aspect of the adventure.

Then the Princess decamped to stay overnight at her friend’s house and the boys and I went to get new shoes for Michael who discovered that his current shoes have holes in the course of a very damp and gloomy walk to school during the week.

On Saturday night Mr. Waffle and I went out to a surprise dinner (his surprise to me) in a newly opened local restaurant. I was pleased with my loving husband. Alas, although the food was good, we found the restaurant rather noisy; clearly showing our age.

This morning, mass was all about the archangel Michael which Michael rather enjoyed.

In the afternoon, we went to Dun Laoghaire where we had a walk on the pier.

2015-11-15 15.00.48

2015-11-15 15.21.15

2015-11-15 15.18.01

Usually there is ice cream available at the end of the pier but not today. We were all bitter, particularly Daniel:

2015-11-15 15.13.34

Undaunted we took ourselves to the local ice cream shop where there was quite the queue notwithstanding that today is November 15:

2015-11-15 15.56.28

Then we went to visit the grandparents and met the cousins. Now I am typing this and as soon as I have finished, I have promised the children that we will watch Dr. Who.

How was your own weekend?

Domestic Challenge


Posted in: Family, Ireland

Mr. Waffle and I like to watch University Challenge. He likes it a lot more than me as he knows more of the answers. I have forbidden him from shouting them out if he thinks I might know them and I seize control of the remote so that the bright young things on the telly can be paused and not get there before me. That way, I get to enjoy it too.

Sometimes I like to make this a family viewing opportunity. This is always a mistake. There is usually at least one round where the children know the answers and this is pleasing for them [there was one on the Horrid Henry books the other day, they are also very solid on Greek legends which is always a help]. So that is a plus. As against this, the following things usually happen:

The children can answer no other questions and get bored;
One of them starts to make noise by tossing something around the room [balloons have been a recent favourite];
Mr. Waffle gets annoyed with a child for making noise during the questions;
The child he is annoyed with stomps out of the room;
The offended child has to be lured back into the room;
The show has to be paused again so that one of the children can tell a random story from school;
Mr. Waffle gets annoyed;
The whole thing has to briefly be suspended to allow for the “everyone be quiet now and be good or it’s straight to bed” speech;
The remainder of the show is watched in surly silence by all of us.

Somewhat related: one evening Queen’s were on and I said, “We have to support the Irish university”. One of the children said, “Well, maybe they wouldn’t want us to support them, are they the English Irish or the Irish Irish?” This is why they say that Irish identity is complex.