The Christmas Fairy and the Advent Calendar

Little Miss is 3 now, so, for the first time (ever in my life, in fact) I'm trying to assemble an activity advent calendar thingy. The advent calendar, as far as Little Miss is aware, is filled with treats and fun things to do by the Christmas fairies, who come down the chimney on November 30th...

Only I'm Chief Christmas Fairy...and I haven't got a arty/craft bone in my body. Still, I'm ploughing on regardless...

...but I've got to day 15 and I've run out of ideas.

So, er, Help! Ideas, please?

Singing

When I was little I wanted to be a rock star, à la Pat Benetar, clad in leather belting out rock ballads down a mike.

I soon gave up on this ambition, largely due to the fact that well, I can't sing.

But since I've had children I've been able to sing quite a bit. Lullabys, mostly, when they were babies and needed soothing to sleep. Nursery Rhymes and the like since then. And I was singing to the Duke this morning...Old Macdonald, I think it was.

And the Duke, who, bear in mind, can only just about string a two-word sentence together (and even then it doesn't really come out as a sentence but rather two words stuck together: "More. Bread." "Have. It.") looked me in the eye and said: "No. Sing."

Playtime

It's a refrain you often hear from parents of toddlers: "They just won't play by themselves."

Well, I've got the answer.

Assemble:
Plastic weighing scales
Plastic bowl that accompanies weighing scales
Bag of large pasta shapes (dried)
Several implements: measuring cup, bowl, spoons, etc.

Stand back and watch (or make a cup of tea/check emails/hang out in Facebook...)

Groundhog Day

This is why, come the end of the day, I am exhausted..!

Duke.. don't touch the washing machine. DO NOT touch the washing machine. DO NOT TOUCH.

Right! That's it! OUT of the kitchen.

No... don't touch the computer please. DO NOT touch the computer. DO NOT TOUCH.

Right! That's it! OUT of the lounge.

No... don't touch the toilet. DO NOT touch the toilet. DO NOT PUT YOUR HAND DOWN THE TOILET!

RIGHT! That's IT. OUT of the bathroom..

Tomatoes

Thanks to Little Miss's fondness for the vegetable (or is that fruit?) and the fact that she just LOVES doing the cherry tomato pick 'n' mix at the supermarket, I now have about a THOUSAND tomatoes in my fridge. Any ideas what to do with them please people?

Favourite comment of the week

No, Mummy, THIS is how you hoover

Flavour of the Month

Daddy's been off for a week.

Which means he's Flavour of the Month.

"Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy"

All. Day. Long.

Mummy is relegated to The Person who Cooks Meals and Stuff.

Daddy went back to work this morning.

The Sunshine Duke burst into tears.

Little Miss asked: "When is Daddy coming back?"

10 minutes later: "Is Daddy coming back yet?"

Coming back in the car: "Is Daddy back yet?"

Sunshine Duke says: "Daddy? Daddy?"

All. Day. Long.

Day 2.
It's a school day. Maybe, things will get back to normal...

Daddy goes to work.

The Sunshine Duke bursts into tears.

Little Miss asks "When is Daddy coming back?"

Sunshine Duke says: "Daddy? Daddy?"

I pick Little Miss up from school where, normally, she is pleased to see me.

She isn't pleased to see me.

She says: "Where's Daddy?"

Sunshine Duke says: "Daddy? Daddy?"

Day 3.
Another school day.

Daddy goes to work.

The Sunshine Duke bursts into tears.

Little Miss asks: "When is Daddy coming back?"

I'm penning a resignation letter in my head.

But then, I pick her up from school and she flings her arms around me and I think, yay! I'm back!

Then she steps back and says: "Is Daddy home yet?"