Yesterday was exhausting.

It was the day of the dress rehearsal for the ballet show. Since I had an appointment for Daniel booked with the ENT, half an hour before the rehearsal was due to start, Robyn went home from school, and on to the rehearsal, with her friend. It seems this girl is currently her 'best' friend, though I've avoided using the terminology, because friends do seem to come and go at this age, and I don't want to plant concern in her if she doesn't always have a 'best' friend. I'm sure the concern will develop automatically on its own though. I've been reading about the social development of girls, in this book. Sounds like a warzone. Speaking of which, Robyn has suddenly started worrying about her looks, and this morning announced that thin girls are prettier than her. I wish I could keep my kids away from this rubbish. To be worrying about your weight when you're a normal healthy six-year-old. She got it from her neighbour, who's a year older, and has teenage cousins, one of whom does have a minor insulin-related weight problem. There's a skinny girl in Robyn's grade (too skinny in my private opinion), whose appearance is the object of envy among some of the other girls.

Anyway, the upside of Robyn getting to the rehearsal without me was that I didn't have to do The Bun. Turns out my friend (Robyn's friend's mom) is much, much better than I am at making buns with very little to work with. She had also managed the make-up, including the mascara, which I didn't even attempt for the photo shoot (Robyn kept twitching, wriggling and giggling through the eye-shadow, and I gave up).

After I had picked Lauren and Daniel up from school at 12.30 and given them lunch, we raced off to buy a new video tape for the camera, and black pants and shirt that Robyn needs to dance in the grand finale. Then we hurried to the doctor's rooms, getting there pretty much on time even after stopping for emergency sugar, only to find that he was running half an hour late. I was wondering whether to give up and leave, and the receptionist asked me, conversationally, what I was rushing to. I mentioned my other daughter had a ballet thing. And then one of the other waiting patients gave me a little quarter-smile, one in which the corners of the lips barely turn up, and said I shouldn't have had so many children. Politely I replied that I always find it hard to tell whether that sort of comment is meant nicely or offensively.

We got to the dress rehearsal just as it was starting. Robyn and the other butterflies looked stunning. There were about four dances, and then Robyn's group, and then a whole bunch more. I got the clip of video and the pictures I'd been wanting - the whole reason for rushing to the rehearsal as there are no video or cameras permitted during the performances themselves, naturally.

Had a moment of panic, as I finished filming Robyn, to find Daniel had disappeared. Searched frantically among the sea of chairs, legs, and ballet paraphernalia. Ran out into the foyer and down to the car park to find two kind teenagers walking him back to the hall. They had seen him wander off and decided to keep an eye on him. When he started to wander too far they persuaded him to come back. Huge relief. Thank you, guardian angel of third children. Took me a while to stop shaking. After helping Robyn into her black grand finale clothes I zipped off to buy some much needed juice and chips for six kids (my three, Robyn's friend, and another two kids). Then it was a drive back through the rush-hour traffic to the hall, a fight convincing the car that the doors were not, in fact, locked, so as to be able to lock them, and another brief lost-Daniel moment. This time I turned my back for a second and when I turned around he'd gone. Spotted him a minute later climbing up the steps to the stage.

I went home with Lauren and Daniel, and Robyn got a lift back quite a bit later after the grand finale had been done. We were all exhausted. By the end of this week, after three performances, we are all going to be totally wiped out.