Everyone who didn’t have to be up for work this morning slept in. Davies is clearly incubating the NicCold although Scarlett isn’t showing any signs yet. We did kitchen clearing, chicken tending, laundry processing, breakfast eating, tea drinking, dressed-getting and then sat down to watch Life together. The kids are rubbish at watching something they’ve already seen without doing that running pre-commentary thing: ‘watch this, watch, watch. Do you think it’s going to die? You think it’s going to die don’t you? It doesn’t die, don’t worry it’s not going to die.’ 😆 Fortunately it’s fine with an Attenborough documentary as it’s more about the cinematic beauty, the marvelling at nature and the feeling carried away with the sublimeness of his voice and his passion rather than any level of suspense. Don’t ever be watching Sixth Sense with my kids though eh? They’ll sit with you as the ‘Starring Bruce Willis’ bit comes up and conversationally drop in ‘you know he’s dead don’t you?’ 😆
I had a quick chat with Ali who assured me they wouldn’t be here til 2pm so decided to head out to Asda for a few bits. Davies didn’t want to come and as I totally trust him to be fine here by himself I left him with strict instructions not to open the door to anybody, checked he was able to ring me if he needed me and Scarlett and I headed off. We got the bits we needed in Asda fairly quickly and then nipped to a local charity shop as I wanted to get some buttons for my jumper. Scarlett selected some plastic animals from the 5p box so I found something for Davies too and he rang me to say someone had phoned asking for me but he’d told them to ring back later. I assured him we were about to leave the shops and would be home in less than ten minutes. Which we were. Except we arrived home to find Ady’s car parked across the drive and a load of the neighbours out on the street!!!! 😯
It turned out it was all purely coincidental and Ady had nipped home as he was passing,the neighbours just happened to be out and Davies had let Ali and Freya who had arrived only a few moments earlier in as he’d seen them walking past the window, agonised over whether my rule about not letting anybody in also included them and how long he could reasonably keep them waiting outside and then Ady had arrived home at the same time. I always used to wonder when I’d know the kids were ready for things like being left home alone, then I thought I’d found the time when they were happy to be left and I was confident to leave them. I still am but maybe I need to not lay down so many rules and chat to Davies a bit more about judgement instead… Fortunately he used his initiative anyway and made the right call.
So the kids went off to play, Ady, Ali and I chatted and it all seemed like the afternoon and evening would go perfectly according to plan. It didn’t, but we enjoyed living in that delusional bubble while it lasted.
Freya presented Davies with a fab card she’d made with loads of Viva Pinata references and drawings – really liked that :). And then his belated birthday present of which is just so perfect for Davies in every way :). I’d seen it talked about on BK recently and mentally bookmarked it as an ideal Christmas present for him so I was really chuffed when he unwrapped the first corner and I realised what it was. Ady had gone back to work so the five remaining of us helped organise it into colours and had a play. Davies loves it and has enthused about it all evening – Ali, winner 🙂
Ali and I then managed a very fragmented chat while the children really struggled with going off to play. It seemed like only 2/3 of them could be happily engaged with each other at any one time, chicken, grain, fox stylee. They tried indoors, outdoors, upstairs and downstairs. They didn’t bother with ‘in my ladies’ chamber’ on account of us not having one, not really knowing what one is and the fact they were all being fairly uncooperative anyway. Ali offered ‘going home’ as an option, I suspect, for I certainly didn’t anticipate, it not ever being taken up but Freya took it and ran with it. We struggled on for another 20 minutes or so but it simply wasn’t to be. Davies worked really hard to try and find ways for everyone to be happy, Scarlett seemed less prepared to share her brother or her belongings and Freya was suffering from PSS (post sleepover syndrome).
So they left 🙁 Davies was upset but I pulled out the kit I’d picked up in the charity shop and we looked at that together while Scarlett played with some toys.The kit is similar to one we saw at Michelle’s last weekend in that it has some coloured pens and some 3d glasses but it also has a very comprehensive booklet explaining all about 3d, how it works, why it works and some tips for creating 3d effects even without the glasses. Both Davies and I found it fascinating and learnt loads. We all did some experimenting with the pens but applied the principles to other things (including some illustrations in a book Tarly was looking at). Davies has really picked up and run with the whole idea and has been experimenting with the glasses and noticed they split light sources into spectrum rays tonight – possibly the best £1.25 I ever spent!
I did their tea and then took Tarly round to Rainbows. She took her Houses of Parliament pin badge and security lanyard pass to show and tell and told them about the mass lobby. Would have liked to be there really to hear both what she actually said and how it came across but she was very happy to tell me that ‘while we were in parliament all the other Rainbows were at school!’ 😆 While she was there Davies did more 3d pictures and then we walked round together to collect Scarlett.
The three of us worked together to tidy up – all putting stuff away, then Davies did the hoovering and some of the washing up, Scarlett ran me a bath and helped me chop up potatoes for dinner while I assembled pizzas for Ady and I and then we sat down and finished which we’ve all enjoyed as a welcome return to form for Andy Stanton after the slightly disappointing Matthew Buzzington. We have another Roddy Doyle to start reading next.
I had a bath and Ady arrived home (he was late as he went for a drink after work with some colleagues). We had dinner and enjoyed Armstrong and Miller and did some scoffing at the news.
Yes I thought she would change her mind about going home, about 3 times, but she didn’t! Arse! Oddly we had a really happy, pleasant trip home, and then a blazing row right at the end. She certainly was tired though.
So glad D likes his present and I really appreciate how much he tried to make the afternoon work, but he was up against too much combined unwillingness in the end.
Freya made the card completely unprompted, which is still pretty rare here.
Comment by Ali — 17 October 2009 @ 12:37 am
That game is on my list for Christmas. In fact it’s the only thing on my list!
Is Bruce Willis really dead? He’s not, is he? Oh no I see – his character in the Sixth Sense! You had me googling to see if I’d missed something, then!!!
Comment by Sarah — 17 October 2009 @ 6:44 am
I have reviewed my ‘home alone’ rules to not answering the door to anyone you don’t know. They’re still not meant to answer the phone – if we ring them we use mobiles as then they can see it’s us calling. But they do occasionally answer the phone – I ring to test them occasionally!!
My lot are sensible enough these days too though I still don’t really like leaving them here for long if I can avoid it.
Comment by Sarah — 17 October 2009 @ 6:46 am
so tempted by lego game for my nephew. he would so love it, but not sure whethedr anyone but us would play it with him
Comment by HelenHaricot — 17 October 2009 @ 12:58 pm