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Predictably pretty fucked this morning - I am not sure how I am going to cope with a week or so of performing a play and then still having to be a parent in the morning- but no time to dick around as I had a play rehearsal at 10am.
Parenting has become slightly easier this week as Phoebe is off on a school trip til Friday. It's absolutely emotionally devastating. She left yesterday and we saw her off at the train station. We kept out tears private, unlike that show offy sacked woman in Pret.
It's not really the fear of anything going wrong (though as a parent that's always a part of everything you ever do), but just the jolt that our child, who was a baby yesterday, is now old enough to be going on a school trip. And the fact that she was looking forward to it and didn't seem too nervous about it and was more worried about losing her Duolingo streak than not being with us, made it harder.
Don't worry. I am going to do Duolingo for her. If I forget she may leave home permanently.
It's strange for Ernie to be temporarily an only child. I am not sure that he has spent a night apart from his sister in his entire life (apart from maybe the very first night, when he hadn't met her, so it wasn't so much of a thing -also he was probably a bit distracted by being out of the womb and everything). She's had the odd sleepover with friends, I suppose, but Ernie would have seen her before and after. He has never had a protracted period of separation.
I think Phoebe might see this as another positive. Ernie seemed to be coping OK.
Until lunchtime when the school rang to say that he had a tummy ache and was asking for his mum. I was at rehearsal, so Catie went to pick him up (delaying her own trip) but then I had to leave early to look after him whilst she set off.
So not only did I have to cope with the emotional trauma of having one kid away from home (added to by photos coming in from the school of her having the time of her life) I then had the additional emotional trauma of unexpectedly having the other kid at home. It's just not fair. I want my kids to be here, though not here preferably. Just like any parent.
It was a Herring boys afternoon and evening. I'd have gone to the pub, but Ernie told me in passing that he is never going to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or take cocaine. So what's the point? I wanted to record him saying this so I could play it back to him when he's a teenager, but I decided to let it go.
I could have done with more than five hours sleep, but we negotiated the afternoon and evening well and then I settled down to listen to Rochdale lose to Southend, opening the door for York City to win the National League (as long as they win all their remaining fixtures they're up. Nothing can possibly go wrong.)
More Newsround, recorded whilst I was supposed to be caring for my ill son (but some things are more important than that).
Watch it here.
