Oh my

Not yet six in the morning, and Elsa is already up and running, as always. Not a word of "Not so loud, grandma and grandpa are still asleep!" heard from downstairs, on the contrary, son and daughter-in-law are loudly discussing their trip back home and where they'll make a stop to have a coffee and cake and whatever break, while they bring out their breakfast from the kitchen area to the dining table. Blessedly I 'forgot' to clean the small kitchen table from the remnants of yesterday's Halloween party, or I'd have a life link to their conversation, with our kitchen having no doors! Usually six in the morning is also the time I often go back to sleep again after being awake from three in the morning on. Not a chance today, Elsa is wreaking havoc, and she is very good at it! I in her parents position would have bought one of those fabulous clocks for her, where a rising sun announces the moment children are allowed to get up and leave the room. Reading, playing silently in bed is allowed, but no shouting and running free. Oscar and Xaver have one of those clocks each, and it works wonders! After many years having Oscar up at five in the morning each day and his younger brother following his idol, their parents have finally found a way to keep their offspring in line. I am so tempted to buy such a clock for Elsa and have them bring it with them when they are in for another visit!

Now we are free...

Yesterday´s party was fun, plenty of food, and what did not get eaten ended on our plates for lunch. Aunt Lil joined the fun in a video conference, where she was all ohs and ahs about the new edition to the family. Cassian got all teary when she finally said goodbye. His tiny brother surely has to be afraid of me, the moment I get near him he closes his eyes. Never saw the little one with eyes open.
Elsa and family left at nine in the morning. And since our number four went back to Graz the day before, we are free now for the next few weeks. At the second weekend of Advent stress will start anew, when son and family will come to pick up the deer riffle he ordered in a local gun shop. But maybe it won´t be that bad then, because hubby saw the errors he had made today morning, when son number three left. Elsa can be sheer terror when she does not get what she wants, and the helpless parents always give in. If not, she gives everybody a superb performance of how a toddler should not behave. Yesterday it had been five minutes of very angry howling and throwing things that kept us on our toes. But instead of taking her to the guestroom and close the door (I said close, not lock, Elsa is tall enough to open it on her own though she´d surely be so preoccupied with howling that she´d stay in the room for a while), to give her time to cool down a bit. And her pa´s clothing would not have gotten dirty because the little lady wanted to put the cats in her father´s suitcase. Today it was a splash of water on her brandnew t-shirt, clean water from the faucet, not some dirty one! A wet shirt is not a cause to snap one should think. For Elsa it is. She howled, she began to throw things again, and mum ran out to the car already packed for travelling, to bring in a new shirt, which she promptly soiled not even five minutes later. Just when she was about to throw another tantrum grandpa chided her not so gently. I did not even know that my husband can talk with a booming voice! Or maybe I am deaf when he tries this stunt on me! I still do not know if son and his wife were impressed or appalled. At least their daughter was subdued until they left, so well done, husband mine!
Weather was fine until midday, with strong warm winds from south and leaves sailing around like mad. Winds got stronger during afternoon, and that it changed direction, coming from north now. It has started to rain then. Not that cold yet, which is fine for me. I do not like late autumn. I do not want cold. Most likely I won´t get what I want...