Two sides to every coin

Many bad things happened today:

1. I took Emily to nursery, but she threw up half way through the afternoon and had to be collected early.
2. I put my phone down on the garden table unaware that I'd put it into a puddle of water, and it then stopped working.
3. I blew up 30 balloons for Isabel's party and now my fingers hurt from tying knots in the tops of them.
4. I spent 2 hours weeding the front and back gardens so that the house looks nice and tidy for the party, and none of those blinkin' kids is going to appreciate my efforts. Plus I got stung through my gardening gloves by a stinging nettle and it still hurts some 6 hours later. If only some of the weeds had been dock leaves.
5. I read Isabel a long chapter from the Pippi Longstocking book which was illustrated by Lauren Child, and that amount of reading out loud made my unfeasibly large mouth ulcer really hurt.
   

But then again:

1. Emily spent at least some of the day at nursery, enabling me to get on with some jobs like making party bags and wrapping pass the parcel with Isabel, and generally getting ourselves into the party mood.
2. My phone recovered after a few hours in the airing cupboard.
3. At least I blew the balloons up with a pump and not by breathing, thereby avoiding hyperventilation.
4. The garden does look very nice and tidy, and some of the mums and dads might notice, even if the kids don't. And it gave me some exercise, and some time outdoors.
5. The Pippi Longstocking book is marvellous, and the chapter was so long that Isabel fell asleep reading her own book afterwards, so I could creep in, turn her light out, and give her a sneaky soppy Mummy kiss and an I Love You.

On balance, I think we're even!