If you want blood

Forget official tests for literacy. There should be a marker in a child's development for when they realise, as Sean did on Tuesday walking into school, that "I can make TOILET from TO LET by putting an I in between the TO and the LET."

I had an introduction to Sharon's hectic life yesterday as she was up at Dundee on PC business so I had the joys of the multiple school drops and pick-ups, all with Rowan in tow. Having a cold didn't help but at least the boys were all in decent form. I even managed to take Rowan and Finn to Bonnyrigg soft play in between preparing a fish pie and strawberry and apple crumble for tea, putting away and hanging washings, making bread for myself and lunch for Finn, Rowan and myself. A house-husband's work is never done! And that was without trying to take PC phone calls and answer the odd e-mail.

Sean got one more sticker at swimming on Monday and was working very hard doing about eight 10m return swims from the deep end. Finn got his second merit star home from nursery, having completed his ten stickers for good behaviour. Rowan is still talking nineteen to the dozen. It was interesting to see who would come out the winner between him and Marie: I reckon Rowan shaded it.

Sean was off school yesterday with the cold that laid Finn low last week and has been running out my nose for the last couple of days. As ever, Sean was not the most gracious of patients but even he was deserving of sympathy this morning as he woke up with a horrendous nose-bleed. Finn summoned me as Sean had blood running from his nose, covering his sheets and pillow. He was sick too as we reached the sink, having swallowed a fair bit of blood. Mercifully the flow eventually stopped and he calmed down enough to go to school but it was a bad bleed.