Waiting

We are now allowed to be close to Christmas. I have done all my shopping, wrapped all the presents, organised the food for the hordes who are descending on us (lovely hordes, but still hordes!) and now we just have to wait.

And wait. And wait. And wait.

So what do we do with all the waiting? We tire out the boys as much as possible, and we rearrange their bedrooms! After all, we have nothing else to do at this time of year....!

In fear and trepidation, we moved littlest boy Jonah into the bedroom with Max, and we put biggest boy Toby in his very own bedroom. We had no idea whether this arrangement would work for Max and Jonah, but having a 3 bedroomed house with 5 people means that sometimes we will have to just learn to share! So far, we have had 2 nights where it has worked reasonably well. How Jonah has not disturbed Max when he has woken at the crack of dawn with his blood curdling screams is a complete mystery to me, but disturb him he has not.

Toby is the real winner in this scenario. As the oldest and the easiest child (and I wouldn't have believed I would be saying that when he was younger but little did I know of the stubbornness and defiance that was to come...) he often is left out because naturally our attentions go towards Jonah who climbs, drops, throws, screams, deposits in toilets and fishtanks and Max who is so volatile that sometimes you find yourself pandering to his whims just to avoid a scene (and no, I do not mean a peaceful wintry scene, I mean an epic full scale war scene). This often leaves Toby to his own devices and to give him credit, he copes well with it and is, for an 8 year old boy, mature and responsible. (You wait, just after I've posted this he'll start behaving like a 2 year old again...). I am rambling here... Oh yes, my point is that it was so gratifying to be able to watch Toby sorting and planning in his own little bedroom. To see him create his own space that he can have however he wants was so lovely. He was more than excited and did not stop wittering about it for quite some time. He can play his own music (which, scarily at the moment is JLS!), he can keep it as neat and tidy as he wants and he can display his fossils in the most satisfying way without them being spoilt!

After all the bedroom changes, what is there left to do but wait? And wait. And wait. And wait. Surely Christmas will come soon, won't it?