The title says it all. It is Thursday evening of Half Term. Day 4, or, if like me you count the weekend, Day 6, with 3 left to go. This is the first moment I have had to update my blog. I'm sitting down, still in my outdoor boots, and actually I really need to pee (sorry too much information). But if I don't write this now I'll never get it done this week!
Half Term. Stage 1.
We are lucky enough to live in our amazing capital city, and therefore get to benefit from the plethora of incredible things there are to do if you get yourselves organised. After a weekend of recovering from the wedding and generally ignoring the children, on Monday I felt like I should make it up to them. Usually Leonora (5) is at school all day, and Johnny (3) goes to nursery till midday. So my normal morning consists of looking after Cici (22 months) and pottering around the house getting things done. The catch 22 of having the children at a school they love, is that when they are not there, they are bored. Every second of their morning is filled with exciting new things to learn, books to read, crafts to do, and a playground to play in. Do these schools realise what pressure they leave on us mothers during half term?! We need to entertain and engage our children non-stop from 9am to 12pm, with a tiny fruit snack break at 10.30am! I was rather hoping to fart about in our pyjamas till 10 and then play with some toys till lunchtime, but alas! 'I'm bored' I hear at 9.01am. Subsequent frantic googling for good, free things to do in London, and I schlep the 3 of them onto the bus with totally inadequate, unhealthy and unsuitable bribery/be quiet snacks in my bag (lollypops) and we head off for the Science Museum.
The Science Museum is a cool place. It is full of fascinating exhibits, and so much to learn. I would love to go another time by myself and really look properly at everything. My children are a still a little bit little to make the most of what's on offer, but they have a section especially for under 6s with a water play area, toys, and various funny things to pull and prod. Then they put on a really fun bubble show, creating large bubbles, bubbles filled with gas, and even encircled a volunteer in a bubble. The children loved it, even Cici, despite having to plug in a lollypop to stop her roaming around the stage. (Fatal move: coat sticky with lolly slobber, hair glued to face and entire buggy covered in superglue-lolly extract). (Even more fatal: no wipes). At this point, the children were done, so we went for lunch. Confession: at Old Macdonald, as the children so sweetly name that high quality food establishment. I know, I know, I'm a terrible mother, but I swear they eat amazingly well most of the time! And I always order the fruit sachets in the Happy Meal rather than the fries!
So tummies full, brains taxed, bodies tired out, we got the bus home for nap time and I felt thoroughly proud of myself for giving them such an educational and fulfilled morning.
3.30pm, end of quiet time.... 'I'm Bored'....... arrrrrggggghhh!
Mx
P.S. I have a serious aversion to the phrase 'I'm bored'. The nuns at school used to say that a bored person was a boring person, and I'm so desperate to bring up my children as interesting, engaging individuals, not people that constantly need entertaining in order to enjoy life. Oh the challenges of motherhood!
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