Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Donegal Daydreams 3

They are indeed daydreams now. The bubble has burst and reality is seeping back in. Home and happy and determined to keep my Donegal Spirit alive -more living, less letting the minuite cast a shadow over the big picture. But I miss it already... the expanse of sky, the length of laughter, the long days, the fire-warmed nights. I felt like I was in some weird parenting programme, living those experience you think are what parenting is all about before you actually become one and realise that parenting is really about crap, vomit and crying at 3am.
No, we actually made sandcastles, clambered over rocks, went on nature hunts, ate chocolate early in the morning, and read books about ballerinas in front of a turf fire. Poppy even provided the classic parenting bad hair day... as hubby and I sat toasting our toes with fire and our bellies with wine, Poppy came into the room with a large smile and a larger handful of hair in her hand. She'd taken the scissors to her glorious long locks. Looking like something from a bad 1980's orphanage, we eventually had to take her to a hairdresser to make some sort of sense of her cutting style. Just another notch on the parenting headboard - no doubt to be eclipsed in time by tattoos, pink hair and piercings (all by Poppy I have no doubt either.)
For four weeks I lived the parenting daydream..... and now reality has woken me up and I can only try and hold onto the feeling as long as possible.... and count the weeks until I am back.... 47 to go.

5 comments:

  1. Wow Alana, it sounds like absolute bliss. Wonderful. Hope it was balm for the soul. We are off camping today with even 6 month old Abbey destined for the tent - so excited and slightly terrified too! But marshmallows already packedfor the fire. Rachel x

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  2. Sounds fabulous. Did you take an entire 4 weeks off? I guess it's summer holidays on your side of the world. Lucky you!! We're in the late winter and thou we've had some nice weather today, it basically cold. Hey - someone told me the other day that in the UK if the temp goes over 28 degrees it's a heat wave. Is that right?

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  3. Bless little Poppy's cotton socks, it is so cute when kids do that... though maybe not for their Mama's :o/ I believe it is very common too, the hairdressers would be used to doing repair jobs on badly chopped hair!
    Your holiday sounded blissful and I can completely understand you starting the countdown til the next one now! I have always found holidays bring out the best in us too... if only the every day was filled with so much joy. Great to see a post from you :o) xo

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  4. sounds marvelous...we're off to do more camping after retrieving my boys tomorrow. forecast is all rain and we are in tents...

    i still have the preschool pic of k taken the day after i had just gotten him his first pro instead of mom cut, and that morning in preschool, he decided to test the scissors on his hair.

    honestly, it's among the top three cutest pics of his childhood.

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  5. Bless Poppy. Hope you managed to do something with her hair! Your holiday sounds perfect. Hope you are able to keep the Donegal Spirit alive. In fact I think you should bottle it and sell it :)

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