Being a stay at home parent is a pretty full on job.  I found this doing the rounds on the internet and I am unable to give you an original source as it has popped up on an email, on facebook and on a few blogs and websites I have seen so your guess is as good as mine to who wrote it. 

Whoever wrote it, you are spot on! 





A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.
Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.


He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?' She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?' 'Yes,' was his incredulous reply. She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.'                 

In the UK I loved our little town library.  It had a whole, separate room for the children's book with tiny chairs.  I spent many an afternoon there with my children, reading and choosing our books.  The children could pick 4 books each to take home.  They always went for the ones that made noise or lift the flap books- a hidden gem under each flap! 
Near the desk was a book trolley.  One side contained new, exciting books that had just entered our library.  The other side contained the recommended read books.  I have no idea who picked these books but I loved each of their picks.  I would not really look at what I was picking up.  I would never read the back for a quick teaser of what would be in store.  Just pick it up, take it home and read it. 

I read love stories, murders, tense thrillers and detective stories.  I know some people go for a style of book or buy everything one author has written.  I like variety in my books and am happy to flit from werewolves, yummy mummies and drunk ex-cops solving strange murders.  I am not sure why anyone would tread such a narrow path through the vast number of books out there?  A book is an extension of your imagination, so in my opinion its best to spread it as far as possible. 



I have a kindle now and am happily filling it with the amazing number of free books available out there.  Again, I have all sorts on there, ready to be read- its all very exciting! 



Recently I had a failure to launch issue with a book.  I can only remember this happening once before, so it's a rare event, but I just couldn't get into the book I was trying to read.  The writing didn't flow and I found it difficult to follow who was who and what they were doing in the plot.  I tried for 5 chapters but in the end I gave up and deleted it off my kindle.  The only other time this happened was a book set in Ireland.  The author wanted me, the reader to get the Irish twang of the characters, so words were spelled incorrectly.  The spellings were to make me sound Irish when I read them.  It just didn't work in my head.  I couldn't get the pronunciation right in my mind and I got stuck on the words rather than the sentence flowing.  I wont name names as it may put you off too!

I think books, perhaps suit some people and not others at times and that's OK.  I am just glad I don't have to read books by force rather than by choice!  I would have failed many an exam if I had just given up on books.  Perhaps being a bit choosy is just another perk of growing up! 
Have you ever had a book you just could not get into?

 

 

I have recently embarked on a garden mission.  We moved in nearly a year ago and being a brand new house, we had a big, flat empty garden at the back.  I have been busy tearing up turf and adding interesting curves.  My latest addition is an area with gravel, stones and woodchip for the table to sit on and to create a path.  My little darlings thought that this was great.  The gravel, apparently, is perfect for digging.  Bob the Builder toys were soon being pushed though the gravel, turning my once flat and even path into a building site with huge empty bits and large piles! 

So after telling them off for ruining my path and seeing their little unhappy faces holding their now redundant Bob the Builder diggers I decided that they also needed their own little area in my garden plans.  This is what I created at the weekend: