Hibiscus plants always make me think of tropical islands, which is why I have them all around my yard. 

This is the plant which caused my MIL to exclaim “But that’s marijuana!” during a tour of the house and gardens via Skype.  Actually, it is a Swamp Hibiscus, which I think is a Southern native. I found two last summer while out shopping with my mother and this is the first time they have flowered. 

Already it is the third day of summer vacation, and things are going better than expected. Thank you for asking. I have been employing the “play 30 minutes, get peace 30 minutes” tactic and it is mostly working. Obviously my peaceful 30 minutes are spent doing housework and administrative tasks while they flop around bored on the sofas, but at least there is that.

We started the week with a trip to the Public Library. No, scratch that. The plan was to start the week with a trip to the Public Library but Mommy had not done her homework and it turned out to be closed until 1pm. So we went to the Post Office instead. Where my children amazed me by standing in line for 20 minutes without incident. Of course, that was way back in the days when summer vacation was still a novelty. 

We then arrived at the library at 1pm on the dot. The spawn were delighted as we have not visited this particular sacred institution since January, when I amazed even myself by occuring $42 in late fines (I am hoping here that The Daddy does not do more than his admitted “skimming” of this blog, for a $42 fine, like a new handbag, should mostly go unnoticed). Seventeen books later we were out of there and let me tell you, those books have been a lifeline. The several hundred childrens tomes we already own count for nothing next to these shiny new baubles with their crisp covers and gluey smell. I swear, glossy new library books are like horse tranquilizer where my children are concerned, and in the intervening hours we have known silence for several minutes at a stretch as they ponder the latest adventures of Arthur or that strange talking pig whose name eludes me. 

While at the library someone made a comment which threw me a little. I am still not sure how I should take this: 

The Wictor, apparently,  looks like Linus.

Also, on the way there Baby Sister threw a mini fit because I was singing the words wrong. Belinda Carlisle’s big hit was actually “Kevin has a Place on Earth”.

So, that was Monday. Tuesday was filled up with a major supermarket shop (again, all three treated it more as an adventure than a chore and stayed in the cart the whole time, a new record), then some play, some computer time (for them, not me) and lots of glum lounging on the sofas in the afternoon. When The Daddy came home they could finally stop all that asking was it pool time now, because it was! Then I only had The Wictor to look after, while the other two jumped all over their father.

Today is Wednesday. Morning. Stupidly, I did not plan any outings and as a result have been called upon over and over and over and over to help with this or play with that.  Sure, it looks like I have been sneaking away to post but it is all smoke and mirrors. I wrote this in many, many 2 minute installments. Sigh. I feel as though I will never get uninterrupted computer time again.

But I am proud of myself, for so far I have only yelled once.  

Oh and things are looking up! We do get an outing today! To the doctors at 3.15, and then probably to the hospital next door for an X-ray. I ignored Dr Google who said call 911, because let’s face it, if my brother jumped on my foot, and it didn’t even swell up or hurt when manipulated, and neither did my knee or my toes, and it was only hurting enough for me to say “ouch” when I put weight on it and cause me to sit down, I would be waiting around for that sucker to heal, instead of wasting a doctor’s valuable time.

But seeing as how there is a child involved, and CPS who we are hoping not to get involved, and seeing as I would never forgive myself if I did nothing and it turned out to be some major fracture or something, I am thinking very hard right now about how we can present this as a Magical! Doctors Office! Adventure!

Wish us luck…

T-Bot: Mommy I am going to paint this paper, all over. And then I will put it on the windshields of all the cars. When it rains it will turn into a rainbow! Then it will be really cool!

The Mommy: T-Bot, I don’t think it will turn into a rainbow, it will just be a big slushy mess.

T-Bot: But that’s Art, Mommy. You don’t understand. It’s Art.

Artistic ambitions seemingly thwarted, he proceeds to the back yard, where experiments with a cardboard box and a hosepipe soon create a huge pile of brown pulp.

Later, the Wictor wanders out and with a “OOK Mama! Poopoo!” transforms the experiment into another, more squashed, work of art, which we are then prohibited by all from clearing away.

Until it dries and starts to smell like its namesake, then the Daddy gets mad, ignores all protests and washes it down the drain. 

With parents like us, none of them will likely grow up to be the next Damian Hirst. But in the meantime, we don’t have a yard which smells like poopoo. I think I can live with myself.