So our half term week gets a big tick! After careful consideration of the regulations both here and north of the border we decided to spend it in Aberdeen. We didn’t see anyone except for Grandma, who took over essential childcare duties, much to our relief. And after yesterday’s announcement we feel pretty relieved that we did given the uncertainty over where things will be by Christmas and beyond.
The weather always had the potential to be problematic but actually it was pretty nice, well until Storm Aiden arrived. Lots of trips to the park and bike rides with E makes Daddy a happy boy. And by the look of the permanent grin on M’s face, he loved every minute of being in Scotland too! Oh except for his second bath time accident which was far less interesting the second time round and even E just rolled her eyes and shouted that “M has pooped in the bath. Again!” I’m a tad surprised this didn’t make the week’s top 5 but with every day feeling like a highlight I’ve had a job cutting it down to just 5 for your enjoyment:
1. Ice Cream – I mean who even eats ice cream at the end of October? Well, I now know the answer to that and apparently my kids will eat ice cream in any weather. We headed to the beach this week, apparently because Grandma said we needed to get some good sea air into our lungs, but really it was so I could take E along the new (and very expensive) cycle lanes before they are removed. She agreed but only if I took her and her brother (they are now working as a pair) for an ice cream afterwards. That was fine with me but I only bought 3 ice creams having decided I would share mine with M. I mean how much can a 2 year old really eat? It turns out quite a lot as he ate most of mine. And E’s. And very happily finished off his Mammy’s one too. I won’t make that mistake again! 
2. Scolty – I decided to take the family up Scolty for the first time. Now this was a big part of my childhood and I remember climbing this hill (half an hour outside of Aberdeen) multiple times. We’ve talked about doing it on previous trips up north but never got round to it. And so we headed off. I thought E would probably reach the summit under her own steam but assumed there would be a bit of carrying needed for M. I was psyched up ready for some lifting but soon realised that I had completely underestimated his independent approach to challenges and he refused every offer of help, making it all the way up and down all by himself. She’ll hate me for including this in my diary, but he even got to the top before his Mammy – the promise of a rock bun when he got there clearly made the difference! Would you believe that the treat they asked for when we got back to the car was another ice cream? Of course you would! 
3. Sleeping – Whilst the daytimes were full of adventures and memory making, the nighttimes were just as interesting this week. We had a strange sleeping arrangement, meaning each night there was a debate as to which parent was sleeping with which child. E was in one room with twin beds and M in the other in a Queen bed. As a true gentleman I let Steph pick every night and more often than not she picked the twin room (very sensibly!) so that left me to bunk in with M. I was okay with that but the wake up calls in the morning were a bit of pot luck. One morning I was woken up by him serenading me with some lovely songs he was making up, and on another he had found a balloon and was dragging his fingers over it to make that awful screechy noise. My favourite was the morning he just rolled over and started giving me kisses. And fear not, I didn’t get confused in my drowsy state, as the copious amount of dribble immediately identified who was kissing me! 
4. Halloween – E was super excited all week about what she wanted to do for Halloween, even though we were away from home and not able to trick or treat anyway. The pressure was therefore on her parents to make the day a success. Boy did we give it a good go! Ghost crumpets for breakfast, Halloween themed cupcakes, bat balloons, a couple of spookily carved pumpkins, bobbing for apples then ducking for sweets in flour, a viewing of Nightmare Before Christmas and that only got us to lunchtime. The outfits came out later on, and my little witch and Frankenstein monster were really in the zone. I had my Joker costume complete with scary mask ready for the swimming club quiz. Steph was worried I was going to scare M but it turned out he preferred me with the mask on and insisted I keep it on my face all evening. I’m not sure what that says about me… 
5. Lockdown – Saturday turned into a bit of a horror show, and not just because of the date. After the unfortunate “leaking” of the news the night before, I spent much of the day waiting for formal confirmation of what shape the second lockdown was going to take, particularly if it meant we might have to hot foot it back home at short notice. Like many, we had the news on from 4pm although of course nothing actually happened until nearly 7pm. Fortunately we had the kids to entertain us, as they had their own unique takes on the coverage. M was delighted by the repeated camera shots of the closed black door in Downing Street and just kept shouting out “ten!” which as you already know is his favourite of all the numbers. What a clever boy! E, meanwhile, kept asking is the news was real as she knows her kids programmes on tv aren’t. We tried to explain the difference but at one point she just gave up and said “Don’t be silly. Of course it’s not real. They are all puppets and making it up!” My 5 year old engaging in political satire! This parenting malarkey is a doddle – winning at life! 
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