belgianwaffle

Rug


Posted in: Siblings

My sister was in India for work last week and bought me another new rug, She got me a lovely one for the hall a couple of years ago and it is lasting beautifully.

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This new one which is winging its way from India as I type is much bigger though. I am filled with excitement and suitably grateful.

She said to me that she had bought the rug but I wouldn’t get any big presents until I was 50. I was cast down (though still very grateful) but then cheered at the thought that 50 wasn’t as far away as it once was. And then cast down again at the thought that 50 wasn’t as far away as it once was. It was a roller coaster, I can tell you.

I am going to Cork at the weekend to rescue the rug and bring it back to Dublin. Photos to follow. Hold on to your hats there.

Updated to add – it arrived in Cork yesterday, impressively packed.

Annual Haircut


Posted in: Dublin, Ireland

I got my hair cut last week. My hairdresser says that in 32 years of cutting hair, he has never met anyone whose hair grows more slowly than mine. I had my last haircut in December 2014.

In the 13 months since it was last cut, it had grown out to look like this (including slightly askew glasses because now I need them to watch the television, sigh).

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A bit unruly. I wanted the hairdresser to cut it shorter than he did but he resisted. I think that, sadly, he thinks that I am too old for very short hair. He referred cheerily to the fringe he was cutting as “nature’s botox”. My hairdresser is  very trendy so I think the cut might be a bit fashion forward.  Or at least I thought so when I emerged from the hairdresser.  I only took this picture after I had washed it myself.  Is it just me, or does it look a bit early Aha?

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Well, it has a year to grow out, anyhow.

Always Watching or How We Amuse Ourselves in the Digital Age


Posted in: Princess

I brought some papers home from work recently and when they came back into the office, this scrap of paper floated on to the desk:

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It was written to emphasise that the writer did not want to miss out.

I sent an email reply as follows:

From: Me
To: Herself

Subject: Yes

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Modern Mores


Posted in: Middle Child, Twins, Youngest Child

Michael is a scout and his uncle got him a penknife for his birthday. Or a pocket knife as he calls it because, apparently, we are all Americans now.

His uncle, observing the success of Michael’s penknife got one for Daniel for Christmas. He too was very pleased notwithstanding having given himself a nasty nick when he first used it.

The other morning, just as he was about to trip into school, Daniel mentioned that he had brought in his penknife to show to his classmates. I felt best not. “Don’t you trust me?” he asked mournfully as I put it into my bag. “It’s not you, it’s all the other children,” I reassured him.

Am I being an overprotective hovering parent or am I cutting down on knife crime in schools? Who knows? At least nobody will lose an eye, I suppose.

The Glamorous Home Life of the Working Parent


Posted in: Middle Child, Mr. Waffle, Twins, Youngest Child

I arrived home from work the other night to be greeted by an urgent demand from Michael. Somehow, a DVD and a book had fallen behind the radiator and could not be got out. Before sitting down, before removing my coat, I began work on this important quest. I discovered that the bottom of the radiator was flush with the skirting board and there was no way to get them out from the bottom. Daniel, enterprisingly, got me a stick which had previously been used for flag waving. I poked unavailingly at the DVD and the book. Michael got tense. It was a library book. But of course. I got hotter and sweatier toiling in my coat over the boiling radiator.

The front door banged, Mr. Waffle had come in from work. “Come and help me,” I called. “Never mind your coat,” I added. I explained the problem but he had to establish the parameters of the issue himself (I find that this is always the case for both me and Mr. Waffle, there is no learning from experience in DIY type problems in our house, we both want to try and fail in the same way ourselves). Daniel produced another stick. Slowly, carefully Mr. Waffle and I poked the book with a stick from each end and dragged it to the top of the radiator. Just as we almost got there, it slipped free and fell down to the bottom again. Slowly, painstakingly we tried again, both pushing inwards and upwards with our sticks over the toasty radiator while wearing our coats and being egged on by the boys. About half way up, Mr. Waffle’s stick lost its grip on the book but maintained its vigourous upward trajectory and hit me smartly on the eyeball. Very painful, I can tell you.

At that point, we took a break, took off our coats and had a cup of tea. You will be pleased to hear that later in the evening both items were rescued. My eyeball is fine too. Thanks for asking.

Surprisingly Successful


Posted in: Dublin, Ireland, Middle Child, Twins, Youngest Child

We went in to see the Science Gallery exhibition a while ago and it was closed unexpectedly. Alas. I had paid for 90 minutes parking and it was lashing rain. I cast around for some alternative suitable cultural institution nearby with a cafe and a bathroom. We stood gloomily in the rain and I suggested that we could go through Trinity to the National Gallery.

It wasn’t that near and, I couldn’t help thinking, as we trudged through the rain, they weren’t going to like it much either when we got there. Much of the gallery is closed for extensive building work but the Turner exhibition was out for January and many of the gallery’s most famous paintings are crammed into a couple of exhibition rooms. I brought the children in for what I promised was a very quick look before getting a cup of tea. But the boys, in particular, were so interested, looking at the paintings and reading the captions and asking about them, that we stayed for ages.

It’s been years since I’ve brought them to an art gallery and perhaps I have left it too long. Or perhaps all the years when they were dragged unwillingly at a young age have prepared them to be engaged viewers at ten. Or perhaps, it was still lashing outside and we had nowhere else to go. Still I was very heartened and I see a whole new world opening up.