When someone says a house has "character" it is often a polite way of alluding to the fact that it's a bit rough round the edges and needs some work.
Ditto children.
And, boy, do we have a renovation project on our hands.
Our "character" child, Miss Two (and a half), has started kindy.
For
our "spirited" (another euphemism) girl, we knew that some things would be a challenge.
Like sitting still for mat time. Sitting still for morning tea. Sitting still full stop.
So, on the first day it was no surprise that during the times she should have been on her bottom she was on her feet.
While the other little darlings demurely nibbled on their sandwiches and listened intently at story time, Miss Two was doing her best impersonation of a flea, flitting here, there and everywhere.
In hot pursuit, I was worn out by the end of the three-hour session.
Day Two and it was time to leave her to her own devices (or should that be vices?).
Chatting to the other mums at drop-off, I heard a distinctive scream coming from the toilets.
Red-faced, hollering and soaked to the skin, she emerged, her pigtails looking like horns.
The tap in the hand basin had got the better of her and she wanted the world to know.
I peeled off her T-shirt and went to retrieve another from her bag, but by the time I had returned she was gone.
Outside, on the obstacle course, a bare-chested heathen was running amok, invoking bemused looks from parents and teachers.
Hastily re-clothing her, I said my goodbyes and braced myself for the tears.
They didn't come.
I left feeling quietly confident.
At pick-up time, as one of the teachers approached me, I wondered if perhaps she had been a bit tearful after I left.
Yes, there had been tears. But of the tantrum kind.
Miss Two, on her very first day at kindy flying solo, had been put in timeout. Her crime? Repeatedly running off at mat time.
Unaware that I had arrived, I saw her stand up and try it on again, racing off outside.
I slinked back into the shadows and let the teachers deal it.
I'm over DIY.
I'm leaving it to the professionals.
