Taxi (Photo credit: twicepix)

Campaign update: Day 3 – Operations abandoned due to serious casualty this morning requiring onsite paramedic assistance (middle child sustained nasty gash to head after a skirmish resulted in his head becoming too closely acquainted with a door lock).  This has put an end to his active service for the next couple of days which has inevitably resulted in the reinstatement of TV viewing rights.

So life has returned to normal in this house. I have abandoned my role as commander-in-chief and returned to my civilian duties – cook, cleaner, childcare, taxi driving.  However, I appear to have acquired a new job in addition to my already onerous duties: Family Events Manager and Co-ordinator.  Now I didn’t realise when I signed up to this mothering job that it would involve so many varied skillsets and a quick read of my CV does not reveal any relevant past experience in events management.  Latin – tick, ancient Greek – tick, finance – tick, events management – well, a couple of badly-managed birthday parties for marauding 4/5/6 year olds???

So how did I acquire this new position you may well ask?  Well, I just sort of fell into it.  Over the weekend, my children have asked me upwards of 10 times what I have got planned for them this week (the first week of the school holidays) and when I reply “nothing”, they look utterly horrified and say in a slightly desperate way, “but what are we going to DO all week?” The first couple of times I resorted to my stock answer of “well when I was your age we played games and entertained ourselves…” which was met the first time with a glazed-over expression on their faces (the “here she goes again” expression) and then more insultingly with one of them making that mouth opening and shutting gesture with his hand and mouthing “blah, blah, blah” to his brother.

This got me thinking – am I being a bit unfair?  Did we really play and entertain ourselves all the time when we were young?  Or is that just my rose-tinted glasses view of my childhood? I do believe this generation of children is the most pampered and over-indulged yet but actually I did have some wonderful treats and trips when I was a child and although I maintain that I definitely entertained myself far more than my children seem capable of doing, perhaps I should not begrudge this new job title I have been afforded.  After all, Family Events Manager and Co-ordinator actually does sound rather exciting compared to some of my more mundane duties.  I am going to throw myself into my new role with real energy and commitment and if nothing else I can add it to my CV (2012 – present: Events Manager and Co-ordinator for a team with widely varied and diverse needs and interests).

So, kids, you are in luck – so far I have planned two events for this week:  a trip to John Lewis tomorrow to see how much we can break in the glass department in a 10 minute period and then a mass trip to the optician on Tuesday for back-to-back eye tests.  I think they may regret appointing me to this role but I am sure as I settle into my new job I shall attempt ever more exciting and challenging events – the possibilities are endless.

Time to switch hats again now…time to come down from the elevated heights of Family Events Manager…taxi driver required followed by dinner for five.