Diesel vs. Unleaded

I have been certified now officially as a  ‘Creature of Habit’.

With a background in wedding planning and then being a twin mum I just have to be organised, or at least pretend to be.  I have schedules and time tables.  I need everything to run like clock-work because there is a lot I would like to do and be.  And then there’s reality.  There’s Plan B.  There’s loss of memory.  There are children falling ill.  There’s unforeseen circumstances.  AND THEN there’s diesel and unleaded!

I was running a very tight schedule this weekend, we had swimming, birthday parties, a dinner guest, a pub lunch, etc.  I had it all down and delegated between hubby & nanny while I fit in a run to the supermarket on an almost empty tank of fuel.

Hubby taking boys to the birthday party while I shopped, prepared for dinner then was meant to join him at the birthday party.  I get to the shop and realise I have his car which does not have the trolley token.  Not a big deal, I buy another one and attach it to his key bunch.  Shopping done and loaded, I’m so bang on schedule, and head to the petrol/gas station.  I agree to get my  4p off a litre from the Tesco Club points and fill away.  I put the nozzle back in the pump and s*!%… I filled Unleaded instead of Diesel!  Still calm, I messaged hubby, then proceed to sit in the car and start the engine.  I get a panic call from hubby… ‘put the engine off! don’t drive the car! call RAC ASAP!’.

Now I panic.  I have potentially damaged his E-Class MB which could be grounds for divorce or a very unhappy few months.  RAC reassure me that it should all be okay and they will send a ‘specialist recovery vehicle’ which will ‘drain the incorrect petrol and re-fill the correct one and see if any damage has been done’… BUT after 2 hours!!!  So here I am, sitting in my car at the petrol pump with a dying mobile battery and can not charge the phone since I can not turn on the engine.  Thank God for the last Evening Standard at the kiosk… which I read from end to end.

RAC shows up an hour and half later thankfully, tells me to go have a cup of coffee while they do what they need to for 1/2 an hour.  Unleaded drained, few litres of diesel filled, no immediate damage done but a chance of a future one cropping up.  Almost 3 hours later I’m home… missed the birthday party and no time to prepare dinner. BUT a car that works right now.

What I learned:

1.  Go slow.  The world is not coming to an immediate end.

2.  Engage human pilot and put auto-pilot on hold.

3.  Always ensure you have a good team – hubby and nanny – in my case – so I did not need to worry about the children.

4.  READ the cap on the gas tank.  It clearly said ‘diesel‘ but I was so running on a schedule I clearly missed it.

5.  If incorrect petrol is filled: DO NOT START THE CAR, DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR.  CALL FOR ROAD SIDE ASSISTANCE.

6.  Once you have had the tank ‘cleaned off the contamination’, fill the tank up full with the ‘correct’ petrol.  When it is half-empty, refill till the top and then run it down empty.  This should help ensure that any ‘contamination’ in the tank does not mess up the fuel system.

7.  The incorrect petrol can potentially severely damage the fuel system in the car, which would need to be replaced for some mega money.

8.  Schedules are schedules.  Stay calm, stay safe. READ.

9.  Be in the present moment. Be aware.  Take it in.  Take in that I am not in MY car.  READ.

10.  When you do something silly… share it with everyone to educate and save them from committing silliness themselves.

#TheList

Mums' Days

 

 

 

 

DPDF Series: Out and About

Since the boys were around 5 months old, I started to take them to various playgroups.  Some organised ones by companies such as Baby Sensory which lead to Toddler Sense, and others were groups friends with their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd child about the same age as my 2.  The friends groups I probably started when they were about 3-4 months old and still laid on their backs.

I didn’t always have a nanny with me, but some times I did.  With and without, I was always quite a site – 2 car seats or 2 babies in a double buggy/stroller and all the paraphernalia that came along with us – snacks for 2, milk for 2, water for 2, lunch or dinner for 2 and a gigantic diaper bag.  I actually used the ‘Wistful Weekender’ by Petunia Pickle Bottom.  Yes a ‘weekend’ bag for 1 baby was my DAILY bag for 2!  (I do highly recommend this bag as there’s a pocket for EVERYTHING! Including 4 bottles!)

Petunia Wistful Weekend

 

With an accompanying nanny, we were quite the entourage going to someone’s home!  But those were fun and special days, watching your babies grow along with their friends and the great bond that starts to develop between us mothers and between the children.  Their first friends.

I also would meet friends and their babies on ‘play dates’ at venues like Toddler World at the Hendon Leisure Centre.  A bit smelly at first (thank God they redid the place while we were still going there) but large, bright and enough to do for babies through to 3 year olds.  Ball pits, gymnastic balance beams , hoola hoops, climbing frames, a large ground trampoline, soft play areas, pilates balls,  etc. etc.

But all this is great and loads of fun with 1 child, and it’s the time either parent bonds with their child in a playful environment.  However, once the boys began crawling, then walking…. I was in BIG trouble!! I didn’t know which way to run as inevitably they both would run in different directions! Every 5 or so mins I needed to do a head count and make sure my eyes in the front were on one boy and the eyes on the back of my head were on the other.  The were times I thought I lost one, only to see that he made a friend somewhere in the large room, or found something he really liked.  Other times I was really glad the attendants, or facilitators were familiar with me and my very active boys and would help me out.  (and then I learned… dress them in the brightest of colours so I could do quick spot checks any time!)

Needless to say, it helped me keep fit as well as I would run faster than I thought I could, stretch wider than I thought I could while holding one baby with my right hand and the other with my left leg, and get exhausted by the end of that hour as if I had completed a grueling triathlon!

 

 

Splat!

Although this blog is not solely intended for mummy and me stories, my funnies are mostly about my boys and me… and that’s what keeps me smiling through the day, with a chuckle here and there.

I had invited a friend and her gorgeous son over for a play date with the boys one afternoon. Again, everything goes well… the 3 boys play well, share toys, have a few giggles and few tantrums, a bit of possessiveness, and a bit of fair play… all on queue as it should be. Dinner time comes along, the 3 get seated and we mums get to work with the feeding process. My friend with her eager toddler, and I take my place in front of the two high chairs. The boys all eating and singing and chatting. The next thing I know, I have a bowl of pasta flung on my face and I’m covered from head own in a very saucy pasta! I held the bowl too low and one of the boys while swinging his legs and singing got a good kick at the bowl and voila! A perfectly embarrassing moment! I did however wish at that moment my friend had her video mode on and captured it to be poste on UK’s funniest home videos!!!

Life is fun…it’s unpredictable… it keeps you on your toes and can keep you smiling and laughing if you allow it!

First Day Back…

5 Weeks ago I went back to work for the first time since the boys were born. Well, first time going in to an ‘office’ as opposed to attempting work from home.

So on the day, I wake up earlier than usual, so I could get myself ready before the boys wake up, and get their breakfast and snack bags ready, etc. Everything goes really smoothly, the stars are aligned and in support of my efforts. The boys wake up on queue, breakfast, and then handover to Papa to finish getting them ready and in the buggy while I get their lunch organized and notes for the nanny.

We stroll out in perfect time to school, and half way there I looked down on Yash’s dangling feet and went in to instant Panic!!! No shoes!!!

NO!!! this is not happening! It was all going so well…..!!! What happened???

A quick call to Papa…. ‘Yash has no shoes, do I turn back around?’….. then be late for school and late for work on Day 1?? Papa comes to the rescue, drives over to meet me with the shoes while we wait on the side walk… and then we continue on…. Phew!! First day back funnies!! One can never be too prepared I guess… Murphy/Sod, whatever we call that law… has to make an entrance!