Why do posts need titles anyway?

As this is going to be a brain dump of random thoughts and stuff, I really wonder how a word or two can possibly sum things up as well as be related.

I struggled yesterday. It seems that there is a real difficulty when one has the job of 'mother'. Attempts at carrying out all that is required can often be thwarted by others, leaving one with a feeling of failure despite all her best efforts. I pondered this when I couldn't get the ham hock I wanted (seems everyone wanted to make ham and pea soup on this wild and windy weekend), nor the gluten free bread. It seemed so disappointing to me, that after leaving an upset baby at home to fulfill the needs of the pantry I couldn't manage it. Fail.

Then trying to deal with housebound children in the form of one sassy, relentless, teasing five year old, a crying, whining three year old, and a 'won't have anyone but mama' post new tooth 9.5 mo old. Fail.

Of course, there is only so much I can do about my children's personalities, choices, temperaments on any given day. But as 'mother', I do feel somehow responsibility for the chaos or the calm that can ensue. I don't actually know how to let that attachment go, but I suspect I'd better do it sooner rather than later, as it wreaks havoc with my general mental health.

So enough of the philosophising. This is what a reaction to the varicella jab I had on Tuesday looks like! (Somehow I manage to have no immunity, and having been recently exposed to chicken pox, I felt I'd do what I can to avoid getting it myself). It was SORE, and ITCHY. I'm still not a big fan of routine vaccinations to be honest - but I'm a big scaredy cat and really don't want to get the chicken pox as an adult.



PS: The bird saga contined throughout the week. I captured the bird as I feared for its welfare, took it to a store so they would look after it and subsequently had bird advocates begging me to pick up the bird as it would only be sold by the store without an attempt to find the owner. In the end a well known animal rescue identity picked up the bird and will house it while searching for its rightful owner. It was a wee bit stressful, but added some spice to my otherwise boring life. It is a lovely bird, and we will be offered to keep it if the owner is not found - but I suspect someone will come forward as these birds are very valuable and must surely be missed.