Room

Many months ago, I blogged about how Big J had taken to sleeping on the floor of his bedroom so we had taken his bed out of his room and put a mattress down for him to sleep on. I think he quite liked sleeping on the mattress on the floor and it certainly made it easier when we went camping as he was already used to it!

While attempting to clear out the garage, I came across Big J's bed and thought maybe it was about time he stop sleeping on the floor.

We assembled the bed. It wouldn't fit! The bed he used to sleep in was a child's bed. This was a full size one and just an inch too long for the space we wanted it to go into. Bum!

We had already broken the already flimsy wardrobe by moving it. Now we had to move it again. Larry was getting frustrated to say the least with my constant flow of suggestions as to how to solve the problem and it was getting closer to Big J's bedtime. It was looking increasingly like Big J was going to be sleeping on the floor again.

Finally, we managed to find a place for the bed, the wardrobe and the toy box leaving just about enough room to swing a goldfish.

Tuesday saw a necessary trip to The Range (Hardware etc. store) to buy some storage boxes to go under his bed. These replaced the toy box which is now going to take the bed's place in the garage (I'm sure there is some kind of logic here?! Please let me know if you spot it!) We also found a cute pop up storage panda, which we filled with all his soft toys. At last we could see some floor space.



This morning, after hearing some banging from Big J's room, I anxiously called to him to ask what he was doing. "I'm Hiding in my polar bear!". So much for buying a cute storage solution. He thought it was a tent! No sooner do I put the toys into the panda, than he has taken them all out again so that he can climb into it.



And the floor space has gone again! Oh well, easy come, easy go!

Sally Settles

Just a quick update on the goldfish situation. We have moved the pump so she cannot wedge herself behind it as she seemed to be doing to hide from her tankmate. She still tries to hide behind the plants and to the side of the pump, but I think she is settling in. She is swimming around more and I think she is getting used to co-habiting with a monster. Well, we all have to come to terms with that!

Hiding

I am a bit worried about our new fish. She(?)keeps hiding in the corner just above the filter pump. I am wondering if she is a bit scared of the big fish. There is a significant difference in size. I don't know if fish do get scared of bigger fish like that. I will give it one more day and see how she settles in. I have a smaller tank I could put her into, but then that sort of defeats the object of getting a new one to keep the old one company. I never knew Goldfish could be so complicated!

Swim, Sally, Swim!

A few weeks ago (actually it may be longer than that but I have a memory like a... oops, I've forgotten!) our pet goldfish died. We'd had him for about four years so he was quite old. Little Z was unconsolable (as she generally is about anything!) whereas Big J wasn't really bothered by it. He just kept saying "Our fish died" to random people.

Big J and I found ourselves in the petshop this afternoon after I had picked him up from day nursery. Pets At Home is next to Halfords where we had to go to buy a couple of Easter pressies for the kids (alternatives to chocolate from their Granny & Granddad). We only went into the petshop to look at the rabbits. He has not stopped talking about bunnies since visiting Toby my friend Sarah's house bunny.

We started off by looking at the rabbits and guinea pigs, when a little girl came along and shoved Big J out of the way. I was secretly hoping he would shove her back, but he decided to do the sensible thing (good job I can rely on my 2 year old to do the right thing!) and walk away to look at something else. We had a look at a few other animals before ending up by the aquariums where we found the horrid little girl with her (pregnant!)mum. (What will she do when her horrid little girl kicks off after she's had the baby!!!!). Big J was looking at a catfish stuck to the side of the tank. He was saying, "It's not working". The little girl came up to the tank and Big J pointed to the catfish saying, "Look. It's not swimming." Well, I think she was trying to agree with him, but had misheard what he had said, so, to my great amusement and in front of her mum and the shop assistant who was helping them buy a goldfish, horrid girl replied to Big J, "It hasn't got a willy!" I grinned even more when my lovely son replied. "No, it hasn't got a willy!" This was an opportunity I could not miss. I turned to the mum and shop assistant and said, "Goodness, where do they learn to talk like that?" The mother looked horrified. Well, she had better get used to it as I am sure she has worse to come. During my PGCE I read in a book that however annoying a child is you should remember he or she is someones precious son or daughter. I can do it in the classroom, but in my own time when I'm not being paid to do it, it's just not that easy, is it?

Anyway, Big J and I went over to the goldfish and decided to buy one for our big lonely goldfish at home. He looked quite a big one in the shop and we took the advice of the "pet shop man" who said it would be okay to put a young goldfish in with an older and bigger one. When we got it home we introduced it to the tank following the instructions they had given us. The old fish is massive in comparison to the new one. I hope they will be okay together.

I made the mistake (as I have before!) of letting the children decide what to call the fish. Big J had sort of decided on "Doodles" (the dog from the Tweenies) when Little Z talked him in to calling it Sally! Oh dear! So, 'Sally' it has to be.