queasy

It's been a long time since the master bedtime plan has worked...and at the risk of jynxing it, I'll continue writing. Ben is working tonight, so he's out of the equation from 5.30pm. Dinner was served between 5pm and 5.30pm (usually Ben's domain, but not ALWAYS). A bath was had between 5.30 and 6pm. The "can we play 'nudie bums'?" request was confirmed: yes. 'Nudie bums' proceeded in the usual naughty fashion with 2 nudie bums racing around the lounge dodging my attempts to put their pyjamas on. Once dressed and giggled out, Joshka had his milk while on my lap, on the couch, after which a few stories were read together on the couch. Then it was 'teeth time' where the (usual) battle of the stool takes place ie. both Mia and Joshka want to stand on the stool while they brush their teeth. A deal is struck whereby Josh can have his toothbrush loaded and then be put upon the toilet seat (closed) to begin his brushing and Mia can then step up for hers. It's important to let Josh put back his toothbrush at the end of this ritual - not to do it yourself. Surprisingly tonight Mia requested: "Can we go to bed now?" which caught me off guard...I nearly forgot the next step: a quick sneaky wee before you get into bed. All done, and into bed Mia climbed, followed, as usual by Joshka for a bit of a faux snuggle (a wriggle and a writhe, a twist and a turn) and out he slid. Goodnight kisses all round, say goodnight, pick Joshka up, let him flick off the light switch, and commence "songs". Joshka's routine request "ba BA" starts the ball rolling (Ba ba black sheep, have you any wool...etc...except at the end: and one for the little boy, Joshka is his name) followed by Mia's inevitable demand (Moo moo Jersey cow, have you any milk? yes sir yes sir, 3 pails full.....and one for the little girl, Mia is her name). A couple of rounds of that, followed by a few 'twinkle twinkle little star's" and then the coup de grâce: "Silent night". Lower Josh into the cot, cover with blankets, while humming "Silent night". Hum a few more versus with less enthusiasm and getting quieter and slowly move your way out of the room, still humming. Down the corridor, humming. Into the computer room, humming....MADE IT!
Done and dusted and it's 7.20pm.
Check out emails, facebook, dither about, and blog. Still to do: wash the dishes, let out the bath, watch 'House' and 'Boston Legal', shower, check on the kids and go to bed.
I just hope it's not a repeat of last night when, at 9.30pm, Joshka was very sick and vomited in his cot and all down his pyjamas and on every blanket. Luckily Ben was home so one of us could clean Josh up and the other could clean up the cot and remake it (hooray for the plastic protector). We sat with him for an hour (trying to watch the final episode of 'Heroes') and he was pretty happy, but luckily we had the bowl ready for round 2 and 3. We were far better prepared for his bout than we were for Mia's which came out of the blue on the weekend, when we were up in Auckland, staying at Ben's sister's place. It's never fun to clean up and deal with vomit - even less so when it's not in the comfort of your own home. And at the ungodly hour of 3.30am, it's not a barrel of laughs for anyone.