Well, that was Easter. Ebony has been off school for two whole weeks and it has been lovely. We've been to museums, we've met up with friends, we've had barbecues, we've baked Easter nests, we even managed a trip to Liverpool. You can follow all of our adventures on Instagram here, if you aren't already. I got ill and then Ember got ill and even that didn't stop us having fun, though we may have slumped on the sofa watched a couple of movies when everyone was under the weather. I have had the nicest break from real life and really enjoyed having both my girls together. Ember has been thrilled to have Ebony to play with all day, though she's been manic from lack of sleep because it's just too damn loud in the house when your big sister is home.
The long weekend has been perfect too, it's always nice to have a little extra time as a complete family with Laurie off work as well. There's nothing Ebony loves more than having all of us together doing the same thing. She loves eating as a family, something we rarely get to do because Laurie doesn't usually get home until after bedtime. And she loves getting to choose who will put her to bed because we're both around. And, when she picks me, I get to put her to bed properly rather than sitting next to her trying to wrestle the world's noisiest and most awake baby into submission.
But now it's back to reality. It's time to dig out (and dust off) the ironing board to get her school uniform ready. It's time to make sure her clothing labels are still present and her new PE shoes are neatly labeled. It's time to open her school bag and smirk at the homework we haven't bothered to do. It's time to pin her down and brush her hair. Her usual feral locks won't cut it at school where there are nits-a-plenty. It's time to shine her shoes and... just kidding, I'm not a shoe shining sort of a person.
It's time to try and bring bedtime back to a workable hour. The hazy evenings and slow bedtimes of recent weeks need to be cast aside to make way for a military routine that ensures everyone gets enough sleep (apart from Laurie, he never gets enough sleep). It's time to disturb Ember's dreams once again to snatch her from the warmth of the bed and bundle her into the sling so we can get Ebony to school. It's time to curse the damn school shoes that have once again gone missing (who hides them? WHO??). Tomorrow, we'll be running out of the front door as the school bell sounds, me dragging Ebony along with one arm as she eats breakfast with the other (her second breakfast, I might add, that kid loves to eat).
Tomorrow morning, I'll walk her to school, lean down so she can plant a kiss on her baby's sister's head and then watch the girl who made me a mother march through the school gates. Then I'll walk home, enjoying, for the first time in weeks, not having to urge anyone to keep up with me or slow down or not walk so close to the road. And then I'll unlock the front door, step inside and be met by a deafening silence. And, yes, I'll get some work done whilst Ember sleeps and I'll enjoy some one-on-one time with my littlest girl, but it'll take a while for me to readjust to the calm and quiet of her sister being back in school again.
This is a collaborative post.
