Madeleine blows the lights out on 7 - can another year have gone by? (I give Sonnet a kiss for being a great mother). Neither of us realise the impending over-night where the real work begins. The six kids, including Eitan, have ongoing boundless energy. They spread their kit on the top floor and hunker down for a night of .. screeching. Jumping. Wrestling and so on and so forth. Sonnet or I may bark occasionally but otherwise we are resigned for a wakeful evening, oh, boy. Finally, Madeleine too tired to continue and begs for her bed. A scuffle breaks out re who will join her room and I command: enough! and send each to his quarters. The separation seems to work and I hear only whispers (Madeleine to Jackson: "Don't lie too close to the radiator because you might catch on fire."). By 1AM, all is quiet. Home free, I think.
Bang! the first pops awake. It is .. 7AM. God damnit, I mutter, but Sonnet up and gone. The little animals wander downstairs and Sonnet prepares a kip of sausages, morning cake, eggs and fruit. The boys and Madeleine discuss their sleep time - general consensus 3AM or beyond. The later the more macho, of course. Around the table it is all chatter, chatter, chatter. I drink my coffee and listen silently. It is a wonderful sound, really - the kids compare favourite foods, cartoons, teachers... girls are just on the fringe and soon will make an appearance but this seems like years from now. And our birthday girl? She is interested in the opposite sex for a good rough housing but nothing else. Soon parents arrive for the pick-ups leaving Madeleine with the blues. We talk about this for a bit then the sure-all remedy: The Muppet Movie, which she watches for like the umpteenth time.
Eitan: "I am going to talk like Yoda."
Me:
Eitan: "Long the journey will be, Luke."
Me: "Backyard chores you be doing, Eitan."
"Movin' right along (doog-a-doon doog-a-doon)
We're truly birds of a feather,
We're in this together and we know where we're going.
Movie stars with flashy cars and life with the top down.
We're storming the big town"
--The Muppets
Madeleine blows the lights out on 7 - can another year have gone by? (I give Sonnet a kiss for being a great mother). Neither of us realise the impending over-night where the real work begins. The six kids, including Eitan, have ongoing boundless energy. They spread their kit on the top floor and hunker down for a night of .. screeching. Jumping. Wrestling and so on and so forth. Sonnet or I may bark occasionally but otherwise we are resigned for a wakeful evening, oh, boy. Finally, Madeleine too tired to continue and begs for her bed. A scuffle breaks out re who will join her room and I command: enough! and send each to his quarters. The separation seems to work and I hear only whispers (Madeleine to Jackson: "Don't lie too close to the radiator because you might catch on fire."). By 1AM, all is quiet. Home free, I think. 