Categories: uncategorized
Date: 03 April 2005 08:03:17
..from the middle of the Wightmeet. About seventeen visitors occupied a small space on the floor of my lounge last night to watch the recorded episode of Doctor Who. They reacted surprisingly calmly when I informed them that, while the time and date were set correctly on the video recorder, I'd had a little difficulty with setting the channel and hoped they wouldn't mind watching half an hour of some inane rubbish off the other side. I think I had them quite convinced ;)
It's been an absolutely lovely weekend so far, and the sun graced us with its presence too. Dad joined us for the morning on Saturday and it was lovely to know he was happily enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful setting of Calbourne Mill (a favourite place of the family) rather than sitting at home stewing about being neglected! And the Smudgelets had a whale of a time punting on the mill pond and flinging frisbees into the trees.
Tiddles found it all a bit much and I ended up carrying him kicking and screaming out of Blackgang Chine... all because he'd lost 50p out of his purse. He's still clearly not 100% and was extremely tired from the excitement and fresh air. He tantrummed quite magnificently on the carpark. I sat behind him on the floor in the middle of the carpark as he kicked and screamed and threw stones at himself, holding his wrists across his body and quietly repeating "When you're ready to get calmly into the car, tell me and I will let go. Until then I will hold you tight because I love you".... and secretly thinking "Please hurry up, it's rather embarrassing sitting here like this and we've been here half an hour already and I want to go home". But I have to admit it was fairly difficult to keep a straight face when a father came over and asked me if I needed any help. I replied, over the shouts and screams of my toddler-cum-teenager, that it was OK as he was just having a tantrum and would calm down eventually.... to which Tiddles replied indignantly "That's right. Tell the world, why don't you?" I hadn't quite realised he was trying to keep it secret! :)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Dad's clinic appointment on Thursday did not sound too promising. The cancer is far more aggresive, apparently, and I think the doctor suspects that it may have spread to the bones. Certainly that would come as no surprise to my sisters and me. I don't know whether Dad actually took in the implications of being sent to the mainland for a full-body bone scan...although he seemed not to and hopefully he didn't (indeed, he came out of the clinic thinking it was the diabetic clinic rather than the cancer one, so obviously wasn't completely sure of what was going on at all!). Needless to say, he reassured the doctor of how well he was doing and how little discomfort he was in.
We have given way over the respite as he was getting so worked up about it. Yesterday he suddenly declared that "It's not so bad, I could manage a week there if I had to. If you have any difficulty cancelling, I'd rather go ". But as, true to form for our family, the retirement home is in disarray due to the disappearance (did she jump or was she pushed?) of the manager, it's probably as well to let him go to my sister's instead - especially as she's arranged to have him for a fortnight instead of a long weekend..and thinks she can have him in August too.
Aha.. I think my visitor may be a-stirring. Peace is shattered! At least they sleep in later than the boys, and make their own breakfast! And I haven't noticed any of them having a tantrum...... yet!