School's Out

School’s out for summer and lucky us! I don’t know about yours but, these past few weeks, mine have been little horrors.

Apparently we’re to put it down to a combination of end-of-year tiredness and the nuttiness spring inflicted.

If you take Master Seven out of the equation the twins get along fine but this week something overcame them and out broke World War Three.

Usually when the kids fight it’s contagious and can kill the best of moods but on Tuesday morning their scrapping had gone beyond that and was just plain entertaining. In fact, Master Seven who, for once, had nothing to do with it, and I actually took seats to watch.

It started when they woke up. One can never do so without waking the other. One by one, they pile into my room but three of them in the bed never works. They all want to lie next to mummy so then one has to lie on top which means clambering over a sibling to get there and this is when the battle begins.

In the end, I push them all out of bed - if one hasn’t already stormed off with the pip - and go on my way.

The next fight usually breaks out over breakfast over who gets the most yummy bits in the cereal. And so it goes on with Master Seven usually instigating it.

But this day he’d done all his chores and was sitting contently watching tv when I came upstairs to sunscreen everyone.

I’d heard a bit of commotion and found Miss Five taunting Master Five with him getting increasingly agitated. Finally he exploded and gave chase, fist raised.

Miss Five ran downstairs to their room where he must’ve lashed out. But this didn’t stop her. He returned upstairs with her hot on his heels still teasing him. In retaliation he swung, what should have been a good one, sending him spinning in a full circle before collapsing on the floor and totally missing his target. This was so unco it was comical and Master Seven and I, who had been watching on in amusement, sniggered. So then of course, Miss Five, who saw a chance for revenge, joined in.

This made an embarrassed Master Five furious and he got up and clobbered her one. Then, of course, the tears came. This doesn’t sound fair in hingsight but Master Five got sent to the naughty stair where I promptly forgot about him while I dealt with Miss Five who’d barricaded herself in her room. Because I had little sympathy, by now she was in a right fouler and this made getting her sunscreen on harder than ever. A difficult task at the best of times with her being ticklish, it got smeared all down her shirt and through her hair but by then she was giggling despite herself. Soon after, I discovered her brother still sitting on the naughty stair and he’d calmed right down too.

This was all before 8am and there’s six weeks before school re-starts. Like I said, lucky us.