Wednesday 27th February 2013

Bethan did her first wee in her potty! Yay! :-)

Unfortunately it happened whilst I was at work, Boo! :-(

When I got Rob's text I started shouting with happiness in the English Office; I'm sure my colleagues were confused and thought I was getting overly excited about meeting my new Year 8 class. When I explained why I was so euphoric I got the customary "Aww!"

Bethan's first wee on the potty isn't just a rite of passage for her it's also a huge confidence boost for me because I had got my knickers (no pun intended) in a right twist. I had started to convince myself that there was a problem  when all I really had to do was promise Beth a trip to Snakes and Ladders at the end of her toiletry exploits and voila! It comes and goes for Bethan - she does it when she can be arsed to be honest. It's exactly the same as when we were waiting patiently (not!) for her to walk.

I suppose this is something most working mothers have to get used to. You do all of the ground work and the moment your back is turned and you are trying to explain the difference between a transitive and intransitive verb to a group of confused looking 13 year olds, your baby or toddler decides to take their first step or crawl or wee in their potty.

The kids are definitely as unsettled as I am, as is the cat but she's always pissed off to be honest. Besides the guilt of leaving them I have a) the guilt of missing important rites of passage b) the guilt of not being as entertaining as the nanny when I am off work and c) the guilt of being a Roman Catholic (I was a HUGE Alanis Morissette back in the day).

Another thing that cheesed me off today was that bloody woman famous for being on 'The Apprentice' again. Not content with offending parents who have children called Charmaine or children who have soft play birthday parties (to summarise, she is a snob and assumes these children have no academic rigour) one week later she is telling Phil and Holly and a rather large lady who is well-qualified and looking for a job, that she "would not employ a fat person because they are lazy and lack ambition". The This Morning team in their sub-heading labelled her a "fattist".

This was then followed by a commercial break where MacDonalds are claiming to be the Kofi Annan of the 21st Century non-nuclear family. Apparently all a young teenage boy needs to do is share a Big Mac with their prospective step-father and bang! Peace will reign in your household.

I give up.