Today

I’ve just got back from Book Club. It’s only down the road from me but we got stranded by the torrential rain storm. It’s proper tropical rain. Only newbies try to run home in it.

Our book club was a ‘pot luck’ meeting where there is no prescribed book; instead members come with a book they’ve read recently and enjoyed and we all get the floor to talk about our choice. I like pot luck meetings.

I took ‘We Are All Made of Glue’ by Marina Lewycka. I loved it. I love the way she writes. I love that she writes about ordinary personal drama. I don’t need guns and aliens or the imminent end of the world; there’s enough drama for me in the ordinary domestic arena.

Finally, after lunch and then another natter, the rain stopped. I made for home.

In my soi, I very nearly had to swim.

The Fun is going back to Bangkok

Today is our last day. Tomorrow at the crack of dawn we start a whole day of long tailed boat/ferry/car/airplane/taxi to get home to Bangkok and back to normal life.

I do most of the weekly parenting on my own because Husband’s job keeps him busy through many time zones. Without going into too much detail life can be stressful in the midst of school life: homework, extra-curricular activities, school paperwork blah blah blah. It doesn’t sound much written down like that, but I find it challenging. Both children are so different and need such diverse approaches that single parenting can feel like fire fighting.

But, we’ve had such a fun time here these last few days that I really feel as though I’ve had a proper break. Of course I’ve still been ‘Mum’, but most importantly, without all the pressures of homework and bedtimes, I’ve had fun with the children. It turns out that Son is very funny. I kind of knew this, but was always too … knackered Mum-ish to enjoy him and his humour. Somehow it got lost in all the difficulties of daily life. He’s come out with some corking jokes while we’ve been away. We’ve talked and watched rubbish movies in the evening, kayaked during the day on the shallow sea of our bay, and swum in the pool. Daughter and I played ‘swim under the legs’ and I’ve arrived gulping bubbles of laughter to the surface because my gigantic bottom gets caught on her and pushes her off balance.

It’s quite possible though that I’ve spent too much time with a 13 and 11 year old since I seem to have developed the sense of humour of a early teen. But really, I’m most alarmed, having been trapped in our room by the rain, to have enjoyed ‘High School Musical.’ Yikes.