1. True Love
2. Little One
3. A Swell Party
Son 2 aged 23m has a hacking cough. Son 1 aged 4y 11m is sneezing and coughing. I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. It’s the end of August, and because The Man has spent the summer re-fitting and painting and sanding we’ve only been out on The Boat twice. The forecast was so-so, and worse for tomorrow. The Boat it was. Son 1 and The Man went off to get the dinghy ready. Son 2 ran after them, a sandal in each hand, “and me!” and sobbed when they left without him. I put him outside in the yard on the astroturf, naked, with a bowl of warm soapy water, some washing powder jugs and two beach buckets. I started on the sandwiches. Son 2 toddled back in carrying the empty bowl. “More wah wah!” “Who tipped out the last bowl?” I asked. “Me!” Off he went. I carried on. He came back in twice more for water. I chopped vegetables. Then he came back in and pawed at his clothes. “Dest.” “You want to get dressed?” “Yes peez.” And then “Pooo.” He pointed to the yard. There, on the sodden, soap-soaked astroturf, was a damp, squashed poo.
Son 2 was hard work. Clingy, insistent, tearful. He also kept falling over. The Man and Son 1 came back and we went down to the Yacht Club. Son 1 and Son 2 played races on the lawn. “Ready… Steady… Go!” yelled Son 1 as they pelted across it. Son 2 was still falling over. “Try ‘Ready, Steady, Lie Down.’” I said. “Ready, Steady, Sleep!” called Son 1, and they both fell down. In lifejackets. Stuck on their backs like upended tortoises.
So we took the baby with his fluey cold and balance problems and put him on a motor boat in a heavy swell. He fell over. In the cabin. Bump on the forehead. He fell over on the deck. Bump on the forehead. We had lunch, and then bribed the boys. If they went to sleep they could have a sweet when they woke up. They both slept. I read the paper, The Man and I drank coffee. When they woke up we caught crabs. The world-record for Biggest One Yet. Barely fit in the bucket. Son 1 was a stroppy, screeching pain all the way back. I did not cope well. I think that’s Three Down, and The Man in charge.
Tags: astroturf, crabbing, flu, illness, lifejackets, The Boat, water play, Yacht Club
