A blah day. And the new you-cannot-deliver-mail-naked rule.

Today is R U OK? Day. What a great day to share some quality complaining about my day. Yes, I would love to be the person who is always positive and finds joy in everything. But sometimes, I'm just not. Like most people, we know that the blah things that happen to us are really nothing compared to the huge, terrible stuff that is happening in others lives, so we stay silent. We end up feeling we are the only ones having blah days as a result. How about I get the ball rolling? Then for this day, since the question has been asked about a million times on Facebook, we can say how our day really was. Even if it is just whinging.

So, I'm done with today. Craig was answering a barrage of but-how-do-you-know-the-hot-plate-is-still-hot?-shouldn't-we-test-it? questions as he served up dinner and I hid around the corner in the study to start writing this. Because I was already done.

It's just been such a blah day, and I promised I would write about the good and the bad and the in-between bits. This is an in-between. It's not like it was the most terrible day ever. But I really need sleep, many hours (or even 6) in a row. And for my children to wake up tomorrow with the desire to acknowledge that I have spoken. I think I may in fact have been invisible today. Or maybe my voice had just been temporarily muted and I am the only one unaware.

I was completely prepared for the usual punishment I receive from Daisy following work (all the kids have done it), but I wasn't ready for them all to have a laugh-about-everything-be-silly-&-ignore-mummy day. The extra what-do-you-think-you-are-doing antics were a real bonus. I don't often have completely head-shaking days, but today was definitely one of them. Here's why.

Hands up anyone who has had to use the words "it is not okay to tie your brother up with skipping ropes while he is on the trampoline!! EVEN if he is the one who thought of it and asked you to!! No not even for science!!!!!" Anyone? No? And to make matters worse the older kids are not even allowed to be on the trampoline with the younger kids anyway. Just in case anyone is wondering, like Mr H, it is possible to still jump on a trampoline with arms and legs tied together. I'm glad that we have put that question to bed and he requires no further investigation. My banning of trampoline use for the rest of the day as a result didn't even stick. Ten minutes later I was putting this decision back into affect, met with fake-but-we-didn't-know looks.

I've also been given the opportunity to invent a new rule today. It is: you cannot deliver mail to anyone while you are naked. Henry decided he had to write and deliver mail to Isabel immediately. Getting dressed for bed was of no importance. Hence the rule. And yes, he did try to talk us out of the rule, but with a second parent in agreement offering to hold the mail, he caved. Mail is to be delivered with clothes on. Always a good rule to learn early.

When I add in the burping competition, the 2hr+appointment waiting with Miss D and Mr H, the sleep that didn't happen last night, and the flu that just doesn't want to leave me alone, defeat and sighs followed.

So when taking Lucy to the shops on the way home from dancing I already had a bad attitude. Then Lucy said something to stop me in my tracks. She looked up brightly at me as we crossed the car park on the roof of the shopping centre, and said, "Mummy! We get to see the sunset! How special!" I hadn't even noticed. Stuck in my hazy, bad mood I couldn't see the beauty before me. She asked to have her picture taken. I did this, grateful for a good moment among the blah. I wish I could say my mood brightened, but it didn't. Sometimes it's just hard to get out of that mood when I'm in it. Sometimes I don't even care to try. Waiting for the day to be over and start again is just so much easier.

So am I okay? Yes, I'm fine. Blah days come and go. Yes, I am so happy that they are all sleeping now and I get to have a new fresh day tomorrow. Having a few hours of uninterrupted sleep between now and then really wouldn't hurt, but whatever mood I wake in, and they wake in, we will be all in it together. That makes me smile. Perhaps I will resolve to try harder to make the best of it and chose to look for the good tomorrow, even if the good involves trampolines, mail, sighs and science experiments. Who knows. Right now, I choose honesty and say: there was good, bad, and for the most part in-between-blah today.

How was your day? Complaining about trivial things is completely allowed and encouraged. Sometimes we just need to have a conversation. And be real. It's the point of today after all. I look forward to hearing all about your day.