Titles are for people who've had more sleep

Jetlag. Bullet points. Two things that go together like jaffa cakes and a cuppa.

• Irish dishwashers should be made with double the normal capacity on the top shelf, to accommodate all these cups of tea people keep drinking. Or making and forgetting to drink. Somebody get on that, and don't forget to cut me in on the royalties, 'kay?
• We'd hardly been in the country half an hour before Dash asked me "Why does everyone keep saying 'Thanks a million'? Why does Daddy keep saying it?" He also asked B why he kept calling him Ted. I think someone was returning to his native idioms a bit hastily.
• I'll have to explain the Ted thing for 95% of my audience, won't I? Maybe tomorrow.
• Travelling was a breeze, except for the A-1 idiot rookie mistake I made of checking the stroller through with our cases. Mabel had been walking the whole time, pulling her little blue butterflies-and-hearts case adorably, and I saw no reason why that should change. (Doh.) As soon as the case went away on the big black conveyer belt of PleaseGetThatBackToMeLater, of course, she turned around to me and said "Pick meeeee uuuuuuup."
• We always gate-check the stroller. It's why we have a stroller. I don't know what I was thinking. Blame the euphoria of getting to the airport on time in spite of catching our Metro (to the bus to the airport) with literally, I am not being hyperbolic here, seconds to spare. 

[Mabel is playing just out of my line of sight. Every now and then I hear her exclaim "Jesus!"(more like Cheezuz, but whatever), and then I remember that she's playing with the tiny figures in her aunt's crib/creche/nativity that's set up inside the front door. So that's entirely appropriate. At least, until I find out what she's done with the donkey, I suppose.] Ooh, risque Christmas humour. Do I dare?

• Somehow, I have lost an earring, which is very annoying because I only have the one pair. And now I only have the one. It's either on the plane, or in an airport, or in any of the three beds I was sleeping in at one point last night, or on the sofa where I was also "sleeping" while Mabel was wide awake at 1am. 
• The children took turns to be awake last night, which was lovely for them, I'm sure, but not so much for me. Sleep went like this (you probably don't need this much information, but I have to download it from my brain somewhere):
  - On the plane: 3 hours for Mabel, 2 hours for Dash, about 20 minutes for me, none for B. (He never sleeps on planes.)
  - After we arrived (at 5am local time): Big nap for Mabel, medium-sized nap for me, small nap for B, no nap for Dash, who refused to be tired but got progressively crazier and crazier. High on coke and speed, as his father said. At 3.30 we got into the car and Dash conked out in five minutes. We brought him home and put him to bed, where he stayed ...
  - At bedtime: Mabel went to bed at 8pm (very reasonable), I followed not to long afterwards, around 9.30, maybe.
  - In the middle of the night: Mabel woke at midnight, starving. I fed her two pieces of bread with butter and a potato waffle, and after two more trips downstairs, to the bathroom, etc, she finally went back to sleep around 1.30am. Maybe.
  - ... and then, what felt like a  moment later, Dash woke up. It was actually 4.30, so I suppose 13 hours of sleep was pretty reasonable, but I was sort of not enthused to see him just then. I fielded him till 5.15 and then handed over to his father and went back to bed until 9am.

• So things should improve from here, right?