Adventures with the puppy...

After the last post I decided to venture into an area a little less serious - that of our puppy.

She is growing and, unfortunately, she is also managing to jump even higher.

Yesterday I made a cake for the boys' tea, I placed it on the hob and turned around to close the oven door. When I turned back the puppy was already on the hob (which wasn't turned on) and eating her way into a freshly baked orange drizzle cake that must have been still close to the 180degrees that the oven was set to. She didn't seem bothered and despite my telling her off she just carried on eating.

Afterwards I surveyed the mess that was my bake off challenge and decided the best thing to do was cut the top third off, ice it and not say anything. So that's what I did. Except this being the age of social media I couldn't help but put a picture of the resulting mess up on Facebook - 153 hits later and hubby definately knew about the cake. Luckily the kids didn't and they tucked in with abandon after their evening meal.

After dinner I had to log onto to an online revision site for my upcoming exam in psychology - such fun! As I tried to listen to the lecturer and ignore the hundreds of 'chat messages' from fellow students who all wanted to be re-assured that they were indeed going to pass the exam despite having full time jobs and families, I also had to manage the puppy, who has decided she will never leave my side - or in this case my lap. Trying to type with a dog trying to leap onto you is not easy. Needless to say, I didn't take much part in the chat sessions but used the time to try and focus on the areas that need the most revision. This seemed to involve starting three weeks ago - oops!

I haven't taken a written exam since my schooldays, so I am pretty nervous but, apparently, with the right amount of revision I will be ok. Then why did they schedule the exam the day after half term? The poor boys will be spending their days at pony clubs and fottball camp whilst I try to revise.

I wonder whether the puppy can go with them?

This morning the puppy decided the boys' rabbit was her bestest friend in the world ever! The rabbit wasn't too sure, particularly when puppy managed to open rabbit's cage (I still don't know how) and had her head in the rabbit's dinner bowl (I spend a fortune on puppy food and I could easily have just shared the rabbit pellets). The rabbit wasn't too happy and hopped out and it all would have been fine if he then hadn't decided to run. The next five minutes were spent with the dog chasing the rabbit and me chasing the dog - the rabbit found a spot behind the garage and barracaded himself in. It took me twenty minutes of coaxing to get him to come out and pop him in his run (puppy safe!)

We have just come back from our walk and luckily she is worn out - as am I. Although I know it wont be for long!

Wish me luck!

Rabbit, Rabbit.....

So the children adopted their bunnies. Two gorgeous little dwarf rabbits that underwent a variety of names ranging from Vlad to Spider-Man to Halloween Monster but eventually we settled on Ginger (for the ginger rabbit) and Shadow (for the black one).

Oddly enough the kids selected rabbits that reflected their own personalities. Ginger has proven to be the bossy dominant bunny ( much like KC) whereas Shadow mirrors TJ in that he is much shyer and less happy to be handled. But the kids have been very good. I made sure they left the bunnies alone for the first couple of days and after that time had passed they sat quietly with their rabbits whilst I made sure they learned how to handle them. TJ was thrilled today when Shadow hopped to him without fear and ate the dried apple treat from the palm of his hand. No sooner had Shadow finished nibbling when TJ popped the rest of the treat into his mouth. "Mmmmm, it's lovely," he said as I looked on horrified. " Can I have this for lunch tomorrow?" I would love to be a fly on the wall when the dinner staff watch him nibbling on rabbit treats. Still it's probably healthier than crisps!

Today was one of my 'called into school' days. We have only been back a day after the half term break and in I was called. There is much concern about our older child. He is simply unable to retain information and the worrying thing is that the younger one is now overtaking the older in terms of academic ability. This, of course, has the undesired effect of reducing KC 's self esteem to a ridiculously low level. The school want to work with me to find a way to help him start to rebuild his confidence. It's hard for him as he was the main focus of his birth families abuse and therapy simply brings all those memories, the ones that he has tried to suppress, to the surface. It must be so hard to remember inconsequential things such as times tables or reading when your brain is dealing with such horrific memories.

However, in his favour, the school did comment that his dramatic skills were really good and he had a flourishing imagination, something he didn't have when she came into the school. Apparently, he was unable to have original thoughts a year ago and relied on tv for ideas. Since we cancelled satellite tv his mind has started to work independently and he is creating her own stories. I can now see the damage tv was doing to his unformed mind, it allowed him to escape his past but didn't allow him to see any positive future. That sounds a bit priggish, and I don't mean it to. I am only speaking from KC's perspective and am not judging kids who love tv. I think tv is great for children who have not suffered trauma, but in our case it was proving to cause more damage than good.

However, tonight the kids came home and both went to their rooms, not out of choice but because I grounded them. They had invented a new version of football... One that involved using my French windows as a goal!!! Normality has definitely resumed in our household......... Maybe tv isn't so bad after all!