Well, not really a whinge, to be honest.
More a lament (wow, that sounds Biblical...)
And, an attitude of gratitude for what I have, where I live, and the bubble I get to inhabit.
I took 1st and 2ndSister to London for the day on the train on Saturday, to see the amazing Matilda the Musical. The girls were scarily well behaved, especially as one was fighting off an illness, and a good time was had by all. Yet, yet...
The day was MARRED by other people!
Not by the delightful hospitality representative at the Cambridge Theatre, who greeted us at 2pm, who were by this time breathless from navigating and negotiating our way through the busiest and most ignorant crowds I've know, seated us in our VIP area and provided us with drinks, sweets and programmes. Not by the guy who wrapped up the small souvenirs the girls chose in separate bags. Not by the friendly northern people on the overground train, or the one solitary person on the tube who was sympathetic and chatty.
NO, THE DAY WAS MARRED BY EVERY SINGLE OTHER PERSON IN THE CAPITAL WHO JUST HAD BLINKERS ON AND WAS OBLIVIOUS TO A PREGNANT WOMAN AND TWO CHILDREN STRUGGLING AMONGST THE CROWDS!!!!
I know, I know, it's London in the run-up to Christmas and I should have expected it. Standing-room-only on the Underground, and people who clearly aren't pregnant (or even awake) in the priority seats for pregnant women, happens all year round. It used to disconcert me when I visited London in my youth/before kids, but it was still an adventure. Now, 1stSister, a talented artist who, you never know, one day might aspire to art college in the capital, is NEVER GOING BACK. "It's freaky."
It was freaky, compared to our relatively sheltered existence in a small town. But she's been to London before, and it was fine. Same with Paris. And Newcastle upon Tyne. (And Hull.) It just wasn't manic, like on Saturday. SO MUCH HUSTLE AND BUSTLE! Virtually impossible to keep 2 girls aged 8 and 6 by my side, AND protect my clearly visible bump. I forgot how much time it takes to get from train to Underground, from Underground to street, from street to theatre. How you have to jostle into a lift. How when it gets ridiculously busy, you're exhausted at the end of the day and just want to get to some hot food and the train home, and they stagger the number of people into the tube station, it brings out the mother hen/wolf instinct in a person....
....I pushed in, in the end. I got called on it, fair enough. And I probably gave a terrible impression of a pregnant mother with children. But safety was at stake. And, as I told the complainant (an older woman, as it happened), I knew I would have to stand on a crowded tube train, so there was no way I was going to stand in heaving crowd, pregnant and with two young girls. But I also told her, as she'd complained passive-aggressively (in a "who does she think she is?" way to those around her, which my 8 year old was astonished at and found rude), that if she had a problem with my behaviour, she should address me, rather than make snide comments to other people. Yes, I know there's a queue. No, I don't want to faint or cause danger to my unborn child and existing children. Badly behaved all round, perhaps, on my part, according to London etiquette....
....but I found everyone else's behaviour appalling, quite frankly. Yes, we're all in rush! Yes, we all have a destination, an issue, a problem, a hunger, a tiredness, an illness, whatever - but does that entitle us to be rude and bump and brush past each other, almost denying that other people exist, that other humans are worth our time and energy and attention?! Perhaps I was locked in a slow-down-it's-Advent bubble (and de-mob happy to be out without 2 year old 3rdSister to see some musical theatre), but the city of London was crazy-busy and those who were out there largely had no regard for anyone but themselves.
I like to think that the lovely, comfortable, comforting people were tucked up at home doing the sensible thing, and that there were a large number of tourists hustling and bustling through Covent Garden and King's Cross as well as locals out for the day. And I think I was misguided that I could just take a day trip to the capital in December and expect it to be straightforward, and I probably wouldn't do it again. But why do families and pregnant women have to be frightened off a beautiful, historic and wonderful city just because the majority of people are rushing through at a crazy pace, oblivious to the needs of others? We have a right to enjoy ourselves, and travel without feeling like we're in danger.
While I'm at it, it wasn't of course just the other people in London who burst my bubble - as soon as we got on the train, I discovered someone in our pre-booked seats (with table, and at least one seat travelling forward to prevent sickness), and said I was sorry, but they were our seats and could she move. "Are we in FIRST CLASS?" she thundered. "No, but we've booked these seats." Disgruntled, she barged off. HONESTLY, people, there's just no need for it, whatever your religion, or lack of it.
In closing, can I just say that Matilda the Musical was AMAZING (it just won another clutch of awards today), continues in London into the new year and opens on Broadway in 2013, so if anyone in the States who reads my blog finds NYC easy to navigate, take any children you have aged 6+. Me, I'm holing up until 4thSister is born in the spring, only venturing out to see perhaps my favouritest musical EVER, Les Miserables - at the local cinema down the road.
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
Friday, 9 November 2012
7 Quick Takes: 9 November
1.
In case any of you (none?) are desperate for a potty training update, despite me scaling way back in this area due to 3rdSister I having a virus last weekend, she is enthusiastically counting to ten and, um, performing when I sit her on the toilet, as well as asking to come to the toilet after she has done something in her pants. To me, this is progress enough at the moment!
2.
Christmas Cake in progress
3.
I'm also using the advent of Advent to re-focus on my prayer life, which dwindled when I was sick for a couple of months. I always take the 6am slot to sit with tea and toast and read scripture. I'm now trying to re-introduce a morning prayer time, using Angela Ashwin's Woven into Prayer collection, accompanied by my Prayer Journal (which I last filled in on 8 August!) I truly feel it sets me up for the day, and I benefit from the discipline.
4.
I have to say, however, that today all 3Sisters were up at 6am today, two of them writing Christmas cards (don't say a word!) and chattering around me and sometimes to me. I was clearly sat in the computer corner, reading aloud from a book, sitting with God - and you know, it is lovely to have a reminder of how prayer and life aren't separate, but I would have liked things to be a little more still. I reminded 1st and 2ndSister about how we visited the Wesley rectory in Epworth a few years ago, and recounted how Susanna Wesley used to put a teatowel over her head to signal her time in prayer. "Can you think of a way I could signal to you children that I am praying?" I asked. Well, apparently it would be a good idea to wear my dressing gown, or put the fish tank on my head. This may require some thought.
5.
Yesterday I attended the first of three sessions with half of our new Pastoral Visiting Team. This is a new thing set up by our priest, and although it coincides with me becoming a Lay Minister in pastoral care, I've been very much taking a back seat due to illness, and what with having a baby in a few months, I'm kind of along with everyone else for the ride. I didn't learn a lot in terms of the material, but it was good to revise it and spend some time getting to know the new team. It feels very strange returning to work after more than two months away - it was great, and inspiring, and getting back to feed the girls snacks, remind about piano practice, supervise homework on the computer, get 2ndSister ready for dancing, make dinner and bath 1st and 3rdSister was not the rest I needed afterwards, but that's life!
6.
Further potty training update - while writing this, 3rdSister came up and told me she needed the toilet. And went! There is hope...
7.
Something a little gratuitous, because I'm otherwise uninspired. 1stSister finished the book of The Hobbit recently and wants to see the film which comes out shortly before Christmas (something we'll allow unless it's a 15 Certificate)....we got to see the 3D trailer at the cinema recently and it all looks well worth it - especially the dwarf Thorin Oakenshield, who I really should marry as he's around the same height as me, and looks almost as lovely as the actor who plays him did as Guy of Gisborne in the BBC Robin Hood series. When looking for a picture to try and convey this, I stumbled across a blogger who is even more obsessed with Richard Armitage as Thorin than I am - can you believe it!
* with thanks to Jen Fulwiler @ ConversionDiary.com for hosting - head over there now and read a whole load of other Quick Takes!
Friday, 2 November 2012
7 EXTREMELY Quick Takes
1.
I've been working in 15 minute increments this past couple of days. Potty training. I hope I don't need to say more. I can now get 3rdSister to happily sit and have stories on the toilet, and not leap up in horror if anything emerges from her nether regions. Believe me, this is progress!
2.
We're using pull-ups as well as knickers though, so I have been having some respite from timed toilet visits and unscheduled accidents-on-the-lounge-floor (we knew not to ask for the standard cream-coloured carpets when we moved into our new build houseast December.)
3.
And this morning it's swim nappy time, as after a long hiatus, 3rdSister gets to splash around and play in the local swimming pool. We call this 'swimming'. It's not. But it's exercise, and different to being in the bath.
4.
Yesterday all the ingredients for my Christmas cakes arrived, from organic fruit to brandy. Now I've just got to schedule in time to watch the oven while they bake, at a time that's conveniently after a slot where they could soak overnight, presuming I have had enough time to weigh and measure the ingredients. (I probably won't measure the brandy, mind you, just glug it in there.)
5.
One of our favourite charities, Compassion, through which we sponsor a young Guatemalan child, reminded us this week that if we wanted GuatemalanSister to get a photograph of us all in our Christmas card to her, it needed doing by 1st November. Cue a hasty 'Christmas' family photo from folks dressed variously, including as St Rose of Lima and in dark colours for a Halloween-type party. And 3rdSister, in her pyjamas and not knowing what was going on, refused to smile. The result is not too bad though - I think it'll do for sending with our Christmas cards anyway.
6.
Speaking of which, yesterday was the date I pencilled in for starting to write Christmas cards. But I'm still finishing off sending out birthday thankyous from 1stSister (October) and 3rdSister (August.) Still, big girls & Daddy are off to watch fireworks this evening (I always get much more excited about Bonfire Night than Halloween!) so if I'm not collapsed comatose after 7.30pm tonight, you can guess what I'll be doing.
7.
These are longer than I thought! What else has been happening other than potty training? There are other things, although it does not seem like it. Hmmmm.....we also sent 3 shoeboxes off to Operation Christmas Child this week (you can understand why I'm early for Christmas - all this sending overseas needs to start early don't you know!). If you aren't shoeboxing, consider donating instead. Some of the videos of kids opening their shoeboxes show that what they get really is a gift, and it's a great way for our little ones to learn about giving to and thinking of others.
* with thanks to Jen Fulwiler @ ConversionDiary.com for hosting - head over there now and read a whole load of other Quick Takes!
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