Back Down To Earth

It's been two weeks now since my wedding day and I have to say things are totally and utterly back to normal. You would almost think the day itself never happened except for the massive collection of photos which we are still waiting for (!) and the abundance of cards which I am today determined to take down.

My wedding day was as close to perfect as I could have hoped. The presence of thirteen children under the age of ten meant mega chances of things going wrong. But no. The food was all lovely, the magic knickers combo which I decided in the end to wear worked like a charm (no point feeling virtuous when no-one would know what I was wearing under The Frock apart from me - even lovely husband was cleverly deluded by my quick change in the bathroom before bedtime from parachute harness into delicate gossamer underwear with zero capacity to hold in, push up or smooth. By then it didn't matter!) Although I find myself stuffing random food into my mouth ever since the big day in the manner of Cookie Monster from Sesame Street (remember him?) simply because I CAN, after three months of watching every calorie in the interest of looking like a goddess for a day. Hopefully this impulse will subside soon before I put back all the baby weight I lost!

The only thing that marred the day was a moment of stress with my mother, who halfway through the evening approached me to ask angrily when I was going to sit with her. Lovely husband and I, along with new mother-in-law were taking turns to do half-hour shifts upstairs watching the small one sleep in a travel cot and so when I was around at the evening party I tended to be flitting from one person to the next. As I said to my mother, I has assumed she was fine with the group of friends I'd invited that are her friends really, not mine. But unfortunately it seemed not. I ended up overreacting totally and spending my next upstairs half-hour in tears. As my best mate said to me the next day, it wouldn't be a wedding without an argument, would it. The whole thing was made worse when next day my mother rang to apologise and confessed that she had lost my bouquet, which I had asked her to put on my dad's grave. I told her it didn't matter, as she was so upset. But to me it does matter, and I am still striving to move on from this.

I have smoothed things over with my mother, and things are back to normal. Except that I feel more than ever that the quality of my relationship with her was dependent upon the presence of my father. And this does worry me.

But enough of the downside, I am now happily married to lovely husband and had the happiest happiest day. Photos on their way, as soon as I get my paws on them!