The kids had earned rewards for their behaviour last week. They were both very quick to remind Stephen and I about this when they woke up, and were both extremely happy with their respective rewards. Keep up the good work you two!
Grandma Lindsey and Grandad Lawrie had kindly offered to have the children in the morning for a socially distanced play date in their garden, so I got them packed up and drove them over for a busy session of grandparent fun.
This part was written by Grandad Lawrie.
Today, the children played with an old favourite of Stephen’s and his brother Chris – the white bricks. These are high quality bricks, that fit superbly together, that have been in the family for many years and came from Stephen’s grandad when, before computers were commonplace, they were used to calculate how to arrange cookers, etc. in the best possible way in British Gas showrooms.
After a number of constructions were made and compulsory photos taken, Genevieve moved onto her sticker book with some help from Grandad Lawrie and Barbie! Meanwhile, James occupied Grandma Lindsey’s attention by instructing her how to complete maze puzzles – his favourite activity at present (apart from eating jam sandwiches for lunch).
Under instruction from her grandchildren, Grandma Lindsey worked out how best to make hot chocolate with the all-important marshmallows and squirty cream – which Genevieve adored. However, on this occasion, James wanted a cup of Ribena, so his marshmallows and cream were served on the side.
James then moved seamlessly onto playing dinosaur bingo with Grandma Lindsey. This proved to be very entertaining because Grandma does not know all the names of the dinosaurs as well as James does, and because he insisted on having two bingo cards to monitor as well as being the caller. It was inevitable who was going to win the game!
Although Genevieve loves playing bingo, she decided that her Barbie dolls needed her time and attention.
While the children were having fun, I busied myself writing reports for school. I really know how to enjoy myself! Stephen was also logging in to work for the first time in weeks. Thankfully his boss and colleagues are incredibly understanding about how broken he’s been, and he’s under strict instructions to take it all very slowly. I’m keeping an eye on him too and I know what he’s like!
Today is food delivery day which also means I get to play “food substitution bingo” with Ocado. Yet again they failed to deliver almond croissants – sad times. It will sound trivial, but I’m really craving them and yet can’t seem to get them anywhere. I’ll keep trying though!
Receiving the delivery also meant I could book the next delivery slot. Securing a slot is not only satisfying, but is fast becoming an essential task just to keep the house stocked and ticking over. The alternative would mean finding time to queue and then negotiate the supermarkets while containing two children, or finding socially distanced childcare for said children while I battle the aisles solo. Frankly, neither of those options sound that appealing compared to an online shop (in spite of the substitutions).
After the children were back from their morning’s fun, we went up to see the friendly neighbourhood monkey while Stephen went for a lie down. After all the running antics yesterday, today he had a poorly ankle. Get well soon monkey!
One the way back from seeing the monkey, the children and I played a game of “Stop Go”. The rules are simple – if I say “stop” then they stop, and when I say “go” they go again. They loved pulling silly poses and faces whenever I dared to shout “stop”. The simple games are the best!
The afternoon was spent watching a film, starting some of the character comparison work for Genevieve’s English schoolwork, and playing with the epic train set track that has been across the living room floor for days. They’ve had such fun with the train track, but every inch of it is a trip hazard so I’ll be glad when it’s finally put away again.
James drew a self portrait for his preschool tea towel (a rite of passage for every child). He’s so confident with a pen now and his little characters are super cute.
James also drew an epic scene. His description was amazing: “This is me being silly wearing a helmet riding across the grass on a motorbike being a stuntman.” Utter genius!
Monday night is Beaver meeting night, so Genevieve dutifully donned her uniform and joined the Zoom call. There were some initial connection issues (like every online meeting), but once they were up and running they learned about the endangered red squirrel which are abundant on Brownsea Island, the birthplace of Scouting. They then moved on to making their own red squirrels out of a toilet roll. She had a great time and loved seeing her Beaver friends.
After all that excitement it was time for dinner, pyjamas and bed. The kids were both tired so went down relatively calmly.
Once the kids were in bed, I popped to Sainsbury’s in a vain attempt to find the almond croissants Ocado had cruelly not delivered, and to pick up an Argos order containing several suitable birthday gifts for Genevieve. I know her birthday is not for a few months but I like to be organised and they were in the sale. I can’t resist a bargain!
Dinner was my favourite chicken curry and was eaten whilst enjoying another Jack Ryan film, “Clear And Present Danger”. I love a bit of Harrison Ford!
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