Thursday now. No littlest one for a few days. Its a strange morning here without her.

The other two - being teenagers - are of course comatose in the beds. My normal summer routine has been... Get out of the bed around 8.50 and stumble into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and bring it back to bed with my book.

Then shortly after that the little whirlwind that is Líadán charges from her room straight into my bed. She then leaps on you - from the edge of the bed...screaming "Snuggle Time!!!!!!!!!"

Its the best ten minutes of the day.

And I can highly recommend starting your morning that way. It does mean you almost always have to drink cold tea, and hardly ever get all the way into a chapter without being interupted, but its worth it.

Now this morning - my tea was hot - and four chapters read with ease. Have gotten up and had another cup of tea and bread with no other company but the radio.

You would think this could be bliss..........but for such a small person she leaves a big hole!!

I am reliably informed by the teenagers that there is nothing to eat in this house. Translated it means there is nothing they will eat in the house. But you know its bad when Seán wont eat any of the breakfast cereals of choice in the house, and there are usually at least four different types, not counting my porridge.

Get this - he wants me to wake him up early today - one to get back into some sort of routine before school restarts and two to come and help me with the food shopping. This from the boy who got up at 5.40 - in the afternoon - the other day. And the boy who I had to bully out of the bed by three every other day this week.

It scares me when he says sensible stuff too...

Also means if he comes food shopping with me I can easily add on another fifty euro !! The last time he went to Tesco with me he had the mohawk in his hair, and the stares he got. It amazed me... you could see people stoping and staring at him all around the shop. Just for his hair. I was speachless - of course he was not. Teenagers ... big big kids is all they are.