Category: Family Matters

**Crash**
…I stop typing to see if there’s any wailing…
“wail, wail, wail, wail”
….I hold my breath to see if this wailing will stop on its own, as it usually does. Footsteps on the stairs…
“Mummy, Robert really hurt himself.”
…I get to the bottom of the stairs, where I find a crumpled heap of Robert ~ naturally I am expecting something truly horrible, like his leg is sticking out at an unnatural angle, or the top of his head is missing. There appears to be no blood, however, nor are there any visible bones.
Robert sits up, moans a little…
I ask “what happened?”, as we mothers are wont to do. In fact, I think it’s probably a safe bet to say that “what happened” is the question most frequently asked by parents.
This is what happened: Robert bruised his shin because, while he and Colin were taking turns “catching” each other at the bottom of the stairs, Robert failed to catch Colin and bumped his leg.
Oy.

We’re home…
…home to a rainy day, so we don’t miss England so much, after all. Thanks, weather people!
…home to a lot of laundry, but a remarkably clean house, thanks to Dr. T., who so thoughtfully scoured the place top to bottom before he left to join us in the UK.
…home to some very thirsty plants.
…home without our cat, who’s still away at my mother’s summer camp for felines.
…home to our own beds! Not to mention our own kitchen, our own laundry machines (and don’t even get me started on English washing machines), our own car, our own Internet set-up, etc., etc.
…home.
We were all sad to leave England, where we spent a wonderful, peaceful, familial month. Colin was particularly upset about leaving – while we were there, he picked up a British inflection and a love of tea; frankly I think he’d adapt faster than the rest of us if we were to relocate. He’s born to be British, it seems. Maybe we’ll send him to work with Bill Bryson.
We had a better time than I could have imagined – even if I did, in the end, fall off a horse! We were blessed to be there when Marley arrived, and Moor Wood and Milton Keynes really do feel like home, albeit without the aforementioned beds, kitchen, and so on. I will miss being horsey, and I will miss the World’s Greatest In-Laws more than I can express.
Having said that, I am also relieved to feel really happy to be home – I’ve been walking around the house – MY house – with a huge grin on my face all morning. I’m looking forward to being urban again after a month of going country. I’m anxious to get reacquainted with the cat, and to see my parents and my friends – for whom I have chocolate, as added incentive to get together sooner rather than later. I have really enjoyed the culinary expertise of the WGMiL for the past month – as the added two pounds will attest – but I’m looking forward to preparing my own menus and cooking in my own kitchen. I know where everything is!
Oh, and since the vacation is officially over, I can get back into planning my fall courses. I’ve been predictably remiss in working on work for the past month, but I am genuinely excited about this term’s courses, so hi-ho, hi-ho, here we go.
We’re home.

This afternoon at ten to five, Small arrived.
He is very calm and happy, as are his parents. The cats are not quite as calm or happy, but you can’t please everyone.
Small, whose name is yet to be firmly decided, weighed 8 lbs 10 oz at birth ~ and hasn’t stopped eating since!
Thanks for the supportive sentiments you’ve asked me to pass along to Nicole and Adam. They were much appreciated.
More photos (no doubt) in the coming days.

There is a stork circling overhead…
Nicole is in labour, and Small is expected to make an appearance very soon. Updates (and possibly pictures) to follow.

Yesterday we made our season passes to Laronde worth it with a second trip. In the last few months, Colin has become addicted to RollerCoaster Tycoon II, which is something like the Sims games, but based on Six Flags amusements parks (and the marketing genius of this boggles the mind). The last time we went, Colin said he wanted to ride the Monster, the huge wooden rollercoaster, and one of the few really big rides that he’s tall enough to ride. So we headed over to line up, but as soon as he got close and realized just how big the thing really is, he changed his mind. We went through a few “I want to ride it … never mind”s, and eventually decided that he’d try it ‘next time.’

Colin and I ride the Monster for the first ~ and last ~ time
To his credit, this time he did not waver, even during the 50-minute line-up (an experience richly enhanced by the frickin’ idiot who kept wrestling with his frickin’ idiot girlfriend, crashing into me no less than FOUR times). During the ride itself, he was too terrified to even scream; he just clung to the safety bar, a look of absolute terror on his face the whole time. When we got off the ride, we bought the photo as proof that this time, he did it.
Next time, the Boomerang!

This weekend was one of those that renews my love affair with this city – Montreal is home no matter what the weather, but when the skies are blue and the air is warm, the city sparkles and makes me fall in love all over again.
On Saturday, Colin and I hopped on the Metro and rode all the way to Laval, to check out the three new stations that make the upper island accessible to us downtowners.

We stopped at Atwater on the way home and bought Colin a new spring jacket, and then had to have Dr. T. pick us up, as the Metro system was SNAFU, thanks to a fire at Lionel Groulx*.
We got home in plenty of time to get ready for our first official barbecue of the season, with T&I along for the experience – nothing says “summer” quite like barbecued burgers, skewered veggies, and a cool glass of rose. We’re choosing to attribute the fact that we ate inside to our ‘new’ dining room furniture, and not to the fact that it was still, really, too chilly to eat outside comfortably.
Yesterday was even more summery – Colin and I went for a bike ride, to see if the nearby ice cream stand was open for the season yet (it was), and explore a few trails we missed last year. Then, after lunch, we took both boys downtown for a haircut, then stopped at the sports equipment store and picked me up my first real pair of rollerblades. As soon as we got home, we all strapped on our blades, and sped (kind of) off to the ice cream place, and rewarded ourselves with the first cones of the season.
Yay presqu’summer!
*the Metro SNAFU was not part of the “why I love this city” theme ~ nor is the impending transit strike ~ but I choose to see such events as the bitter counterpoints required to enhance the sweetness of the good things. Yeah, that’s it.

We got a call from the boys’ school this morning because Colin couldn’t find his lunchbox. Considering that said lunchbox was safely hidden in plain sight beside the front door, I can see why he couldn’t find it.
When I picked him up this afternoon, he was sulking because, he said, no one reminded him to bring his lunchbox. Now, while it’s true that no one reminded again, it’s also true that Dr. T handed him the lunchbox and told him to put it in his schoolbag.
Which explains, obviously, how it ended up on the hallway table by the front door.
Lest you think the child starved, rest assured that the school has an emergency supply of sandwiches for just such an emergency. His was tuna.

Robert’s music teacher is teaching the kids the anti-war song “Last Night I had the Strangest Dream.” Robert’s favourite part is the verse about ‘the unicorns all splattered on the ground.’
Giggle.

My little brother has just been named as one of the players representing Concordia on the provincial all-star rugby team.

Colin’s medieval castle project
Building materials include tiles from the dollar store, tomato boxes, a Jacob’s Creek wine box, a shoe box, moss from my mother’s garden, a paper-towel insert, and, since it’s a Canadian medieval castle, duct tape.