We can make it if we try...

Childhood Beatrix Potter mobile adorning Reed's crib

The calvary have all returned home. The house full of grandparents we enjoyed so much for the month of July has returned to its normal semi-chaotic state. Our children must now make due with their bleary eyed parents while we all adjust to being a family of five.

This has been my first week totally on my own...12-14 hours per day with all three kids while Chef Grant churns out new menus and dinner service. Goodness, I hope for his sake that he is slightly more on his toes than I am these days. Working with knives and fire on 3 hrs of sleep seems harrowing at best.

I realise that it is going to take some time to find our rhythm as a family, to fall into a routine that works for all of us. For now, I am trying to lift some of the pressure off of my shoulders by acknowledging that things cannot be perfect all of the time, and by accepting that things may very well be imperfect for longer than I am comfortable. In general, I have a difficult time of letting go, mostly because when I do not feel organised or on top of things, I feel as though things fall apart (with eternal gratitude to Yeats and Achebe for that appropriate phrase). It's not merely 'a place for everything and everything in its place,' but the ability to feel positioned to confront whatever it is that may arise, to stave off anxiety and to feel prepared. Prepared. What a quixotic word.

In my newly found 'it can wait til later' mode, we have created a great mess, from boxes of old we-haven't-seen-these-in-a-while-toys, to tearing apart the walk-in storage closet (such a lot of things and gear for such a tiny baby!), watched lots of Olympic competition and played an inordinate amount of dress up and pretend. All the while, we've been laughing a great deal and enjoying each other's company.

I know I'm a day late for Friday Favourites (#FF), but I thought I'd add them here anyway. I cannot get to the computer as often as I'd like, so please bear with me!

London 2012 Olympics

What a spectacular Olympics it has been thus far! From Michael Phelps' crowning achievement as the greatest Olympian to athletes giving their all in the true spirit of the games, Week 1 has been so very exciting! Most inspiring: Oscar Pistorius.  He is a double amputee from South Africa, competing in the 400m (Track & Field). Most significant is that he is the first double amputee to do so- to compete with two prosthetic legs in what ostensibly is an 'able-bodied' race.  I'm in awe.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/sports/olympics/oscar-pistorius-advances-to-400-meter-semifinals.html?_r=1&hp&pagewanted=all

There's an app for that!
Aesop's Fables for Children from the Library of Congress
http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2012/07/aesops-fables-the-library-of-congress-has-a-free-app-for-that/

Happy Saturday to all!

XO,
N&N