Rediscovering the 'Me' in 'Mumeeeeeee'

'I have always thought that there is no more fruitful source of family discontent than a housewife’s badly-cooked dinners and untidy ways'. (Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, 1861)

January 9, 2010

The Icemum Cometh

Brrrrr. Grrrrrr. Brrrrrrr. Grrrrrrr. I am very bloody cold and very bloody frustrated.

Without wishing to bang on too much about the 'cold-snap' (COLD SNAP?!! Mini Ice age more like), I feel compelled to write about it because it has left me and my family as refugees; displaced from our home; floundering in temporary accommodation (aka 'the in-laws'). The 'cold-snap' (grrrr) has left us without heating or water - not ideal conditions in which to inhabit a home when it is minus 12 outside. Technically, our home is now classified as an igloo so we have abandoned it to head for the more temperate regions of Dublin city which is a balmy minus 3.
OK, so we didn't exactly have to trek across barren wastelands for weeks with our posessions strapped to our backs, but still, it's not very bleedin' convenient.

People may look outside their toasty warm homes at the picture postcard, winter wonderland scenes but believe me, it soon loses it's charm when you can't walk across your kitchen floor without sealskin and whale blubber padding on your feet.
I'm not sure at what point it is acceptable to admit that you are actually bored of the snow but, putting aside the fact that I am in the advanced stages of cabin fever and have reached and gone past Wits End with the children under my feet 24/7 for nearly 4 weeks solid now, I am declaring myself as officially fed up.

"Make paper snowflakes", the more resilient parents out there cry, "Bake cookies, weave baskets, have an indoor snowball fight, grind fairtrade coffee beans with your little toes". While I have total admiration for anyone who is that creative and would like to pretend that I can summon up the enthusiasm to do these things, I just can't at the moment.

All I want to do is curl up in my own bed with one of the eight books sitting hopefully on my bedside table on the off-chance that I may get time to read them someday, and wait until spring time. Sadly, the truth of the matter is that I will have to grit my teeth (while I wait for the council to grit the roads), thank my in-laws for their hospitality and hope that this ice age decides to have a meltdown before I do.

Brrrrr. Grrrrrr. Brrrrrr. Grrrrr.

p.s. I am thinking of changing my name to Cold Cross Mum. Much more seasonal don't you think?

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27 comments:

  1. I sympathise. Am hoping the highways people get their act together and grit the roads by Monday, so the children can get back to school - I need to get back to work! You have a fantastic igloo there, by the way - did you build it yourselves?

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  2. Looks like we will have it till at least Thursday. I can not imagine it without heating though, so I am sending warming thoughts. We are lucky that the school manages to open regardless of the fact that the snow is now higher than the boys wellies

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  3. I know I shouldn't laugh at another's misery - but that was such a funny post!

    Hell fire though, with all that's happened, no wonder the patience is wearing thin now. I would have shut myself under the stairs with a book by now... or quite possibly the igloo...

    Hope you get home soon

    Love Lydia

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  4. Sounds awful HCM, I am also feeling the cabin fever! Both men of the house have had a bug and I have had to be a bad-tempered Florence Nightingale all week. We've not got much snow but the pavements are sheet ice so a bit dangerous to go out anyway! Hope you get back home to your book soon!

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  5. Oh my god, that looks like my Mini which is still abandoned somewhere down the lane!!! Your winter hell sounds awful - I thought I detected a simmering fury at the freezing weather from your comment on mine! Huge sympathies on all counts. At least you don't have to do housework or, possibly, cooking whilst house guests?!! x

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  6. I know I have been quite enthusiastic about the snow lately, but I haven't had to go through what you are. It sounds terrible. I hope it is going to get better soon. All the schools are closed until Thursday and I am starting to get a bit of cabin fever myself. And my car won't start anymore! I hope you get to go home soon. Warm wishes

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  7. Brrrrrr! Grrrrrr!

    Feeling your misery but thankfully still in my own home. Stuck indoors with two children hanging on to the fraying threads of my sanity. Think I need some knitting needles before I get competely unravelled!

    Roll on spring!

    :D

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  8. Oh thanks all for your collective voices of warming support. Glad I'm not the only mammy to be frozen to the point of frazzled tethers! Ho hum. At least Creme Eggs are back in the shops. Must stockpile some tomorrow.

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  9. hee hee hee! We left Ireland to go to my home of Canada for the holidays. I promised my inlaws fun, frolics and freezing weather. By the time they arrived, the snow had packed up and moved to Ireland and we've been left with a balmy old winter! Home again this coming weekend so maybe will bring the end of the cold snap?

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  10. Yep, seriously pissed off here too.Nice for a couple of days but now you wake up to look outside and see the snow is still there."ooooooooooh!" is now replaced with,"oh, great!" and much sighing.Chin up, summer is round the corner.

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  11. Having lived in a cold house from Thursday until yesterday I sympathise.
    Luckily we are warm again but I now have a cold.
    BNMx

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  12. I feel your pain. I too live in kildare and had frozen pipes up until yesterday when our poor plumber spent four hours in the depths of snow thawing them out. You can see I had similar rantings
    http://lastofthemojitos.blogspot.com. Anyway hope you get home soon x

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  13. I'm with you. Down to one car last week (since I crashed the other one in the ice on Stephen's DaY) I was literally trapped in the house for 5 days. By day 5 i was beyond redemption and at one point myself, Daisy and Poppy were all sitting in different rooms! Now I hear the schools are closed for another week - aaaghhhhh! have baked, and painted and now Im just resorting to log fires and TV. Sure that's what memories are made of. Hope you get back home soon!

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  14. By the way - where are you in Du8blin? Email me if you fancy a playdate with the kids and we can have a natter!

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  15. You would think us insane for purposefully driving to find some decent stuff today amid a massive thaw in London. Not that we ever had any decent stuff. Grrrrr!

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  16. Sounds nasty! I just keep focusing on the lack of rain?!
    Congrats on being in the Sunday Times yesterday, great photo too.
    Sorry for not having commented here for ages, been having techie problems!

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  17. Oh, so now isn't the time to give a top tips on making the most of the snow, a la Telegraph today?! London has had just enough snow to be a little inconvenient (icy pavements, slippy roads), but not enough to be interesting (day off school for a snowball fight). So I was jealous, but now a bit less so!

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  18. Oh HotCrossMum I'm with you, o.k. I am not as bad as you(still in our house) but can't get out of the house, running out of food. Kids gone crackers and I have cabin fever Big Time!Hubby like a dog because pipes are bursting all over the place but there is hope....it's raining (never thought I'ld say it but Whooppieeee!!)

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  19. Oh, you have it bad! I hope your house survives while you're away.

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  20. Wow! I hope you are able to go home soon! That sure would stink! We had frozen pipes one day and were only without water for a day and I was feeling bad. So sorry for you!!! I hope it gets better soon!

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  21. Hang in there. 2010 has to start getting good soon, right?

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  22. Love the igloo. A touch of Eskimo there!!! At least your sense of humour is not yet in tatters. Your post was uplifting even as you described your angst. Hope you get a reprieve soon.

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  23. Oh cold cross mum. Come and visit. It isn't so cold here, and we have the municipality heating which means not only are we toasty warm, I sometimes find myself opening the windows and heating up the garden... I'll send some heat your way. x

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  24. I am so pleased the snow is on it way out where I live. Come on big thaw! Hope it warms up very soon and you get home.
    Mich x

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  25. I'm with you! I lived in Chicago for most of my life and it is terribly cold there for almost half of the year. There were times when I had to go to work on the train in a blizzard and trudge across downtown amidst snow drift in a suit. Meanwhile, now I live in Dallas and the bad season of the year hear is summer, cuz it is so bloody hot. Its a funny change. The winters here are awesome. Yesterday it was 59 and we went to the park. But the summers can be pretty unbearable. Funny how weather can affect so many things. I feel very grouchy in cold weather too. But I also feel irritated and pissed off in uncontrollable heat. Go figure!

    http://organicmotherhoodwithcoolwhip.com/

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  26. I sympathise - the thought of more snow later this week fills me with dread

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  27. Well said! I hope things ae improving by now :)
    My little boy is going through that phase of 'no-I-wont-come-to-bed-for-a-cuddle, cant-you-see-I-need-to-run-around-all-the-time??'
    I took to carrying my blanket and hot water bottle around with me... If I can't go to bed I can at least bring it with me!

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