Hi, it’s me and Mister C…

Hiya all! Well, Mister C started at his new school this week; it was a busy and worrying time for him (and me). After many chats together over the weekend, we were both ready for the big day. I had run around the end of the week organising new shirts and enrolment information at the school (thank-you so very much!). Mister C got up pretty early on the Monday morning, he was already dressed in his school clothes and had a big smile on his face and said, “I’m all ready for my new school Mummy, can we go now?” It was wonderful to see Mister C so happy, and willing to go to school (unlike the week before). I kept myself busy most of the day (reminded me of his first day at Kindy); Husband and I, were of course worried about how his first day would go, being in a new environment with new (but kind) people. Thankfully, Mister C did quite well; a couple of little issues, but overall he coped very well (so PROUD of our little man!). A fresh start is a good thing, particularly when your child asks for it! Overall, Mister C enjoyed his first week, he commented, ” I love my new teacher, she is very nice to me and I love the big library and the three playgrounds!”…

Too EXCITED not to mention, I have just completed the illustrations to our first story-book! (Over two months of late-night drawing going on…). I will be sending it to the format designer tomorrow; hopefully, it will be ready for publication in the coming weeks. I hope to join the super Book-Fest event at our wonderful Library, towards the end of March this year. Fingers crossed it all works out, our first story-book is coming to LIFE!

Moving along, back to January 2015 (we did move thankfully). So, the new tenants were taking the property over the Monday afternoon; we had worked hard with some family and close friends (thanks again SO much!), to clear out the remaining items, and clean up before the carpet cleaners could go through the house. We took one last small truck load (plus a few car boot loads) to our new house; showed our family and friends who had helped us move around, and then we went back to scrub the old place from head to toe on the Sunday before. I recall feeling so TIRED, my head hit the pillow after I fell asleep! It was a mad time, but so worth the upheaval to be in our glorious new TOWN. Husband commented, “Bizarre weather here; unbelievably, it has not gone over 30 degrees since I moved after the family; even though it is the middle of Summer (happy about that!). Commute okay, so far have not commuted more than two days in a row, which isn’t too bad!” Husband also went on to comment, “My legs have gotten noticeably stronger, with walking up and down the stairs at our new place- so many times a day!” I guess that says it all really! …

The girls were adjusting to our new environment really well; were loving our new bunny rabbit named ‘Twinkle’ and budgie named ‘Percy’ (who we later named ‘Sunny-boy’ as he was a bright happy yellow colour!). Husband really did not like the rabbit; he recalls, “All it did was chew on its cage and wee on the floor!” Anyway, the girls were both soon to start at their new school when the holidays were over. Mister C was enjoying his new day-care centre, the staff were lovely and very attentive. However, there was a difficult little boy in the same group that liked to bite other children! Sadly, Mister C had been bitten twice and we were very upset and worried by this (as most parents are). I recall Husband saying, “Mister C got bitten twice at day-care again, once on the first day and again a week ago. I am keeping records in case we need to lodge a full complaint!” The issue was addressed fairly well, the boy did continue to bite other children (not Mister C again thankfully); I think after several incidents, the boy was moved to another area, until the issue settled.

I had mentioned at the end of the last blog, about some strange happenings that were going on in our new house (rental). I have to admit, it did freak me out at first (as most would); it did begin the first night the kids and I slept at the house (without Dad). It is hard to describe, but there was an eerie presence downstairs in the laundry (didn’t want to spend much time in there- maybe a good thing?!) and kitchen area. I took down the old dark curtains in the living area, to let some more natural light in- that helped. However, late the first night, I thought I was hearing things; I honestly believed Husband had showed up in the middle of the night! At about eleven o’clock that night, I began to hear fairly heavy footsteps going up and down the stair-case; the stairs were carpeted (thank goodness!), but you could still hear thud sounds. This went on for well over an hour; I did, mind you finally fall asleep, after checking on the kids a few times (it was warmer upstairs) …

I dared not say a word to Husband (who joined us at the end of the week), about the strange goings on (in case he tried to use it as an excuse to return back to our old place?!). I worked out to go to bed and be asleep before eleven pm, so I didn’t have to hear the unsettling footsteps. The girls complained about their rooms, and didn’t want to spend much time in there either. I recall weeks later, Widy (eldest) complained that some of her pictures kept coming off the wall. Flossy (second) also complained about things being moved! I began to notice, every time I went to put the same picture back on the same hook in Widy’s room, the picture was soon off the wall again; not damaged but leaning against the bottom of the wall… I didn’t think much of it, until weeks later, when other strange things kept happening. Husband recalls, “Nothing weird ever happened to him; except the door-bell chiming and TV just turned on one evening by itself, but he put this down to some sort of timer being set.” (that is something mind you!). Unfortunately (whether Husband believed it or not), we did have a spirit (ghost?) living amongst us! …

Anyway, I had no choice but to tell Husband; at first, he just laughed at me (and the kids), and thought it was quite funny (and ridiculous, as spirits didn’t exist in his world!). But, as time went on, he too saw and heard the funny goings on that cohabited our new place. So, we all managed to continue with the routine of going to bed before eleven pm (some nights were hard, particularly with me studying late for Uni), so we didn’t have to hear the clumpy (and very annoying) footsteps up and down the stairs. As the months went by, we all adjusted to our spirit friend; even though it was annoying when he turned the radio up high and then low, rang the door-bell at inconvenient times (no-one was outside- ended up taking out the batteries!) and turned the TV on and off too (that really did annoy Husband!).

Unfortunately, Mister C developed a liking to ‘him’ and named him ‘Mr Chippy’ (can’t recall why he chose that name, maybe it was the voice?). Being so little, it was amusing to him to have someone to talk to in the middle of the night. A bit spooky (and crazy?) you might think; at first it was amusing; but as time went on, it did become difficult, as Mr Chippy was always in Mister C’s room and would often disturb his sleep. On many occasions, I would go in to see Mister C standing in his cot, talking to someone and he would often point to the corner of the room saying, “Mr Chippy, Mummy!” The first time Mister C did that, I have to admit it did freak me out a little! We all got used to saying, “Hello Mr Chippy, we know you’re there; you can go away now.” This helped for a while, until he started opening doors and closing them right in front of us at the dinner table and such (began to do my head in after numerous months); what were we going to DO?!…

A word from Mister C…

“Stay calm and cool, just wear your pyjamas to the shops!”…

“I was a bit nervous about starting at my new school this week. Mummy helped me to get ready and we got to school on time. I had my lucky gold coin (plastic) in my pocket all day. I met my new teacher; she was very nice to me and had a happy smile on her face. I smiled back and we went together to the assembly. I gave Mummy big hugs goodbye; I was worried about my day, but I did my best and met all the new kids in my class. When Mummy picked me up at the end of the day, I said, “I had a pretty good first day, and I did some great writing too! I am very glad I moved schools; I feel happy inside.” (Mum was very relieved too- and Dad) …

Stay tuned…

For lots more silly and heart-warming stories about zany Mister C and the girls. We meet some special people at the local park who become life-long friends; with more stories about our quirky rental house and lots of Uni, commuting and placements (eek!)…. Stay tuned for more info on our upcoming first story-book (super exciting!)…🤞😁