Day 8

We have a traitor in the ranks.

Despite my very best efforts to remain on task, organised and disciplined, one young private in the Hitchick brigade has taken it upon himself to see that I am pushed and tested to the limit at every turn. I'm not sure who he is getting his orders from, but it's clear there is a major operational conflict of interest there.

If only he was a couple of years older, I feel quite certain that Harvey would respond very nicely to some good old fashioned bribery. As it is though, the child will not be bargained with. He seems particularly unwilling to negotiate on the key matters of going to bed, staying in bed, and not making noises like a cougar having its' toenails ripped out, between the hours of 11pm and 5am. It was with extreme reluctance that I dragged myself out of bed at 7 this morning, and that was only because Dave was leaving the apartment (because frankly, I couldn't have given a rip about sixty days digging in, or sixty people slamming my blog with 'punishments', or sixty bombs going off in my house, or anything other than getting sixty minutes more sleep.)

Finn, on the other hand, is quite the perky cheerleader, and cheerfully reminds me about brushing my teeth, watering the plant, reading the Bible... and has not once in the past week asked me to take him to McDonalds, which is in itself a minor miracle. He is so conditioned to our visits there that I'm sure you could drop him at any remote location within 60 miles and the child would flawlessly navigate you to the Golden Arches without so much as a hiccup of confusion, direct you to the parking spot nearest the door, and then repeat not only his, but also Harvey's and my regular order to the cashier. McDonalds must really be feeling the pinch without Finn (and they must also be wondering why they seem to be offloading so few Happy Meal toys this week.) The fact that my Finn is the only other person around for me to talk to a lot of the time, means that there's not much fun to be had with #15, either, so I guess you could say he is helping me 'dig in' there, too.

I do not love my children different amounts, nor do I have a favourite. But if I had to pick one... ;)

Shout out to the lovely folks who sent messages or texts reminding me to drink water! Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my kidneys. M xx