by Jane Prinsep

Created on: November 03, 2009

Today is grey, misty, damp and just a little bit depressing. Today, I have been awake since 3 am. Yesterday I did not go to bed until gone midnight.

Today was never going to be great.

My son is either teething or experiencing a growth spurt at the moment, and it is during such times that his regular selection of nicknames like "Tuft Monkey", "Cute Monkey", "Cuddle Monkey" (we like monkeys in this household) and "Noo Noo" are replaced by aliases such as "Feist Bucket", "Moody Boy", "Whinge Bucket" or just plain "Misery". (The latter is a favourite of my daughter, as she finds it easier to get her mouth around, being only two).

Last night, on perhaps one of the most vital nights that I was hoping to turn in early, he unfortunately had a "Misery Attack" and ended up emptying a "Bucket of Feist" over me until the wee small hours. I was to be up at 3 am to drive my Mother to the airport after she had been staying for a few days. Her flight wasn't until 7 am and, at that time of the morning, the journey would take under an hour. But that's another story entirely...

Three triple espressos later, after my return from the airport, the day hadn't much improved. For some time now, my kids' routine seems to have flown completely out of the window. Instead of napping in the afternoon together, the "Feist Bucket" has been conking out as early as 10 am; my daughter's most energetic time. When my daughter; the "Energizer Bunny" finally collapses into an exhausted heap, the "Feist Bucket" begins to stir from his lair. I call this phenomenon "relay sleeps" and it has been driving me insane, not to mention making me feel like I am under House Arrest.

Finally, yesterday, after months of this craziness, I managed to get them to sleep in the afternoon together again. I felt like I had conquered Everest whilst simultaneously being nominated for a Nobel Prize.

Just after lunchtime today, desperate for a bottle of milk (or something stronger) and a nap myself, I decided to put my kids into the huge bed with me. This was going against ALL of my usual hard-line principles, but what can I say, I was desperate. Just before our naptime, I was sent a link to "A Minute for Madeleine", the new appeal launched today, by Kate and Jerry McCann, Madeleine's McCann's parents, in the hope of finding their daughter, who was taken from them on 03 May 2007 whilst they were on holiday in Portugal.

To be honest, I watched it and yes, I was moved, but I would not say that it had a massive effect on me. Although

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