Monday, October 30, 2006

moan moan moan itch itch itch moan moan moan

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Thank God for an hour or two to collect my thoughts, drink more tea, think about what the hell I'm teaching at 1.00, do a bit of de-littering around the house, drink more tea. Thank God the clocks went back not forwards on Sat. night.

More tea.

LG was still awake at 12.30 Sat. night (after being "quite demanding" earlier in the day) with EXTREMELY itchy scratchy legs: dry skin, mosquito bites, an allergic reaction to something I think...(possibly Veet, she is getting very self-conscious about hairy legs)... hysteria set in ... red welts and puffiness... she put rather wet flannels on them to cool them down. Bed change and mattress turning at 11.30 because of wet patch (after about 10 minutes persuading her to move to let me change the bed).
Bugger, no piriton in the house. She'd been slathering herself with a cunning mixture of aqueous cream, antisan, aloe vera, E45, conotrane... i'm sure there were a few more... calamine and witch-hazel, diprobase ... anything she could get her hands on really... and having no nails (due to the gnawing which is one of her major hobbies) she scratches her legs with any handy edged object. She'll kill me if she ever knows I have written this on the WORLD WIDE web. I may have to delete it later.

She thought her quilt was making her itch and so wouldn't have any covers and was shivering with cold.

M. was out for the evening.

Where the hell do the resources come from to stay calm and loving (on the outside) and not slam the front door and run away?

I think she was asleep by about 12.30. I sat on her bed (clean sheets, alternative quilt, inappropriate drugs hoping for placebo effect) stroking her hair and listening to Artemis Fowl. And then managed to drag myself to bed.

I think I might have been dozing off some time later when M. texted to say he was staying overnight with his mates.

I think I might have been dozing off some time later when M. texted to make sure I didn't forget about the clock-change.

Stupid, stupid, stupid not to have turned my phone off.

Then not so much of the dozing.

I know I looked at the clock at about 3.00. Can't remember whether that was 3.00 BST or GMT. And 5.00 ish. And 6.00 ish. Managed to avoid immediate panic about recurrence of bad insomniac problems earlier this year. I did sleep, a bit.

So thank God the clocks were going back not forward. Because despite it being Sunday morning, I had to get up and out for 9.15, being booked into a weekend workshop on paper-spinning. Which I could have just missed of course, but that would have been SO miserable.

It was a great workshop, a lovely tutor, a fascinating and ancient (but also contemporary) Japanese textile technique, therapeutic and relaxing to do something different with new people. Interrupted only by a phone call from LG, itchy legs, Dad doesn't care (yes, he came home again), he's just going on about homework etc. ..... My bloody day off and I'm phoning in mediation between the two of them. You can maybe guess how that enhanced my day.

I'd texted him to buy E45 anti-itch cream and piroton on his way home.
He'd bought the cream. Forgot the piriton. (????****????!!!!)

Returned home to find her having got not very far with cutting out and painting wings (ready for Halloween costume) which she'd had all afternoon to do [on the lounge carpet with paint!!! "dad said it was ok"] so I made tea and then sat and painted with her. Red and black, LARGE demon wings.

Itchy scalps all round. An ealier nit infestation obviously wasn't quite cleared - she wouldn't let me comb any more once it stopped itching - and now we've all got them back again. In flocks. Hordes. Deluges. So multiple combings before bed.

Brief row over whether or not wet hair should be dried before bed.

And up at 6.30 this morning, she's back to school after a week's holiday and already very tired. Fuckity fuckity fuck.

And now my back really hurts after sneaking another heavy bowl of rubble into the wheelie bin.



What a moany old rant.

I'm so sorry to subject you to all that, in fact I hope you stopped reading long ago near the top.

I must go and remind myself what I am teaching today.

After some more tea.

15 comments:

Identikit said...

No, I didn't stop reading although I had to pop out midway for a wee because of all that tea you kept serving up!!!

What an itch of a weekend. Have you tried giving her (oh shit, now my mind has gone completely blank and I can't remember the name of the stuff. Poo! I'll remember it later when I am sitting in a meeting and will say it instead of INSET Day or something )

Right I'm wandering off to try to remember.

Don't worry about moaning. That's one of the things blogs are for. I love to listen to a good moan. And that was a very good one! Well done!

Anonymous said...

Yes - excellent moan indeed. You outdid yourself. :o)

LG should start waxing her legs - by the time she hits 30 she won't need to anymore. I knew a girl who did it from that age...she had such nice smooth skin and she was truly quite a hairy little thing.

Nice use of the triple 'F', btw.

Anonymous said...

Yes - excellent moan indeed. You outdid yourself. :o)

LG should start waxing her legs - by the time she hits 30 she won't need to anymore. I knew a girl who did it from that age...she had such nice smooth skin and she was truly quite a hairy little thing.

Nice use of the triple 'F', btw.

Anonymous said...

Oh looky - either Blogger is gobbling our comments..or else double posting them..nice one, Blogger!

And there's no little dustbin to delete it. Pah!

Identikit said...

Oh yes, I only ever had my legs waxed once, when I was about 17 and I have never had to do it since. Weird. The hairs obviously got the message.

Anyway, the reason I came back was cos I remembered the name of that medicine that I take - http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/healthfitness/health_advice/netdoctor/archive/100000785.html dimotane. It is THE stuff. I am allergic to the insulin I take (lucky eh) and if I don't take dimotane then I would scratch all day and all night.

I think for some reason doctors are a bit reluctant to prescribe it but it works and it doesn't seem to have any side effects (she says twitching!!).

Anonymous said...

Excellent moan there Lettuce!
I read it all too!
I just kept repeating
'Oh dear' alot while I was reading it!

Oh dear!
x

Dizzy said...

Dizzy lands from afar....

I think you need to escape from this world and transport yourself. Its amazing how it helps to forget all other worrys and problems. You can wear ear plugs to distract from the calls of Muuummmm.

PS for your other readers, don't worry no alcohol or narcotics involved!

The fabric of my life said...

Oh poor poor you. At least you got to escape for a brief respite from the demanding pair! I had Paul phone me at 1am on Saturday (I WAS asleep) to ask me if I knew what Jazz was doing. Uh she went out with HIM. So that was the end of restful sleep for me for the rest of the night until both were safely tucked up in their beds. Oh sorry now I'm moaning and it's your perogative to moan on your own blog :-)

Bird said...

oh heavens - this sounds so familiar! but tea helps everything.

but i am flabberghasted that you Brits (whom I thought were so SENSIBLE) do this ridiculous fall back/spring forward malarkey just like us! i know i'm displaying my ignorance - but i thought this was merely a stupid American custom.

What rationales do you folks have for this silly mucking-about with time?

Tanya said...

Letty moan away about your two demanding demanders... I will demand next week, at least 20 cuppas....I feel a good poke in the eye always sorts out the demanders!!

Only joking of course !!


hahaha

lettuce said...

oh its so nice that you are all so appreciative of a good moan!

It did help to get all that out in the ether before getting on with my day.
Thanks for the drugs tips, Tess. I'll check it out. We've got piriton (doesn't make her drowsy tho, worst luck) and some other pink gunk which seems to help.

Much less moany now all round now we've caught up on sleep a bit.

thanks for the poke in the eye tip Tat, I will be trying that.

Pod said...

i love a good moan! homeopathic apis is great for that type of itching. look after your back!

ramblingwoman said...

Yes, a good moan is great ...really gets it off your chest.

Veet eh? At her age? That's very sophisticated! And very chemical. Definitely Waxing - the best thing. (If she can stand the discomfort - note I said, NOT the pain) and definitely NO shaving.

Hope you are more rested now!

joyce said...

tee hee.
Lets run away together, shall we?

Bertram said...

It will not succeed in reality, that's exactly what I think.
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