It's beginning to look a lot (less) like Christmas...

Have you ever read one of those blog posts which begins "Start with a big bowl of hot soapy water"? You have? Good. Because this isn't one of them. It may well have been, as the decorations came down yesterday and that's always a cue for a big clean-up, but circumstances prevailed against me (again).

Shall I start at the beginning? There are three breakfast sittings in this house. The first one is at 5am when I get up with The Football Fanatic who starts work at 6am. Actually, she doesn't have any breakfast (don't let this worry you, she more than makes up for it throughout the day). I walk with her to the end of the road where she gets a lift (yes, I know how old she is, but it's pitch black at that time in the morning and you never know who's about), and get back with just enough time to enjoy a cup of tea while it's quiet, before the second sitting.

6.30am sees the arrival of The Singer and The Fixer. I make their breakfast, their packed lunches, find shoes, blazers, lost items of PE kit, provide them with breaktime drinks and snacks and see them off to the bus stop at 7.30am.

The third sitting is a moveable feast and the rising time of The Peacemaker and The Noise depends on what level of volume I can reach before 8 o'clock. If anyone remembers Peggy Mount, then you have a fair idea. This morning, however, The Peacemaker arrived all listless, with tears in her eyes and earache, which apparantly had been waking her up, on and off all night. The Noise was heard to mutter something about 'just wanting another day off school' but a quick survey of the situation revealed it to be genuine and I sent her back to bed. This was further borne out when she didn't make a Lourdes style recovery as soon as the school gates had closed, which sometimes happens.

So, instead of a day doing this:

I had a day doing this:

No contest!

And the big clean-up? Well, as Scarlett O'Hara would say, 'I'll think about it tomorrow. That's what I'll do'.