Month: May 2024

This has been a busy pre half term week with lots of school related activities. Our son was on a school residential to Center parks. I’m pretty impressed by the setting for a school trip, much more sophisticated than I ever had, when I was in his year we had two nights camping in Cheddar! He did have an amazing time and I’m so happy he has such great memories. I did hide a few treats in his bag for a midnight feast, an essential of any school trip.

Whilst our son was at Center parks, I was helping out at our school’s Duke of Edinburgh award expedition. As a special school we have the award slightly adapted to our needs, but I am really impressed how the organisation make this a fully inclusive scheme. I had such a lovely evening, helping to make dinner with the students and then a campfire with songs and toasted marshmallows. It’s the little things which bring such joy. I’ve added another school item to this collection of 5, our new little gnome guarding our vegetable patch. We go shopping each week and my class took a real liking to the gnomes on display. This week they were half price so I added one to our trolley and he now proudly sits in our vegetable patch.

Every evening Mr S and I make a real effort to sit down together for an hour to watch a programme. His injury means that he still is very fatigued and is in bed at 7.30 each night. Our current watch is The Tattooist of Auschwitz. It’s a harrowing watch but also an important watch. I have had quiet evenings after watching it, music and a little time to reflect on the horrors of the holocaust and the parallels with today.

Finally, to everyone’s surprise a general election was called on Wednesday. It was due this year but with the assumption that it would be an autumn poll. As a politics graduate this is my time, my political geekiness is at its highest! The announcement itself was pure satire. It was made outside in the pouring rain which just got worse and worse, and Sunak was soaked and then from loudspeakers at the gates of Downing Street, a protester played D-reams Things can only get better, Labour’s anthem from 1997 drowning out his speech. The campaign has only deteriorated since much to a lot of people’s amusement. I think I’m going to enjoy this campaign.

And so to another week. Its been a week of meetings and waiting desperately for the actions, three meetings in and we’re still awaiting for just one action to be made which would help our family. As a consequence all my 5 things of the week have happened mainly in the past 24 hours.

Saturdays are always my favourite day of the week, I love my weekly parkrun and then we try to do something together. I did think our plans this week were quite ambitious as we tried to make everyone’s plans work into my taxi schedule but we did it and all had a great day doing our things, some of which just organically developed. I even managed my first night out since Mr S accident. It was also a day which I felt was more like 36 hours than 24, our achievements were that impressive! One of the highlights of the day was a trip to the driving range. We had lunch out and I realised that we were a few minutes away from a crazy golf course, that being our mum/son thing to do. When we arrived at the big golfing complex, I asked him if he wanted crazy golf or the driving range, as I had played here before and knew there were fun games. ( An unexpected perk of my job) He chose the range and absolutely loved it. He reckoned it could be his summer sport as the football season ends soon, freeing up Saturdays until August. We had so much fun and I also would like to do a bit more golf this summer. The driving range is my limit though, I don’t think I have the time and patience for a game of golf.

It was so nice last night to go out and meet up with some old friends at a party. It also took fine organisation. Mr S needs his rest and as part of his recovery is in bed nightly at 7.30pm. I needed to have everyone in bed and settled before I could leave. I worried that if I got dressed the children would notice I was going out and then visit each others’ rooms and awaken Mr S. So we did our night time routines and then I quickly changed and went to the party, I felt like a teenager sneaking out of the house. The host is a friend through different groups, a former colleague and also a school mum, so there were lots of old friends at the party. I spent the night catching up with everyone’s news and just chilling on a beautiful spring night in the garden enjoying a wonderful live band (and a very loud DJ)

I’ve needed lots of distraction this week and finished the book Sincerely Me and am zooming through Love Nina, an autobiographical tale of being a nanny in London n the early 80s. Love Nina, is highly entertaining and makes you love Alan Bennett even more. Sincerely Me made me reflect on our ability to love and care and the wise words and reflections we can all make.

My final thing of the week was Christmas pudding for tea. Mr S and our son (not so much our daughter) love Christmas pudding and seeing as Christmas 2023 was a very low key affair after Mr S’ accident I picked up a few post Christmas treats to enjoy over the months. Today we had our last pudding, possibly my best food bargain ever at 20p. Like my daughter I don’t get madly excited about Christmas pudding but it did seem quirky to be having it on the May bank holiday. The boys reckoned the puddings will be back in the shops in October, so just another 5 months until they can have their next.

I definitely got v excited this week as it was announced the last ever Gavin and Stacey will air on Christmas Day. I love this series and cannot wait for the finale. Corden and Jones are excellent writers and they never disappoint. Christmas 2024 already seems magical!