That our family of seven is crowded into a three bedroom house (with a small sleep out) is never more obvious than on school holidays. Or more specifically, at the end of the school holidays.
“What’s all this noise about?” I demanded as I strode into the girls’ bedroom.
Tracey was getting the kids into bed and all except Miss2, who was already asleep in her cot, were going off their tree and talking at the same time.
“It’s okay,” said Tracey to me. “Just the usual back to school shenanigans.”
Can you believe that? About 12 weeks holidays a year and they still complain about going to school. I shook my head.
“You kids love school. All your friends are there and you get to play soccer at lunchtime.” I threw in my trump card. “I’ve even got mandarins for your lunchboxes.”
“That’s not what this is about,” Tracey told me.
“I know it’s not about the mandarins,” I whispered to her. “I’m just trying to talk things up.”
The holidays have been great, and not just for the kids. No routine. No uniforms. No lunches. No homework. What there has been is Xbox. It’s easy to forget just how hectic getting the kids to school can be when you’re all lulled into a false sense of stupidity by Minecraft and Awesomenauts.
Which is why, on the last night of a four day weekend, I pictured myself sitting on the balcony drinking a beer and gazing up at the stars…or in the windows of neighbours, depending on cloud cover. Not that I’d been totally useless today. I had attempted to start the mower. And when that didn’t work I hired the guy who was mowing a neighbour’s yard to come do ours.
But my beer was going to have to wait.
“So what’s the racket about?” I asked the kids, and the answer melted my heart a little bit.
“We have to sleep in our own beds,” moaned Miss6.
I love how much our kids want to be with each other at these ages. Every night is an adventure, a chance to chat about the day and the opportunity to try kick your brother in the peanuts.
“Don’t worry,” I heard Master9 saying to his little sister, Miss4. “It’s only for three days because there’s a long weekend.” He gave her a hug. “You can top and tail with me on Thursday night.”
We dream of a house where our kids all have their own room, but I know they don’t. They dream of sleepovers in each others rooms.
🙂 please share 🙂
“Raising a family on little more than laughs.”
That’s so sweet. We have one boy and one girl… our daughter is always saying how she wants a sister so she can share her room, or even to share her room with her brother….
Could you please tell me where you got those bunks from. Or were the specially made? I have bub number 5 one the way and I’m going to have to invest in something like this lol