Happy New Year! Well, we made it dear reader. We have succeeded in getting out of the other side of 2020 and are just about in tact. It was a year like no other, and not one we will forget in a hurry (no matter how much we might want to try!) I’m determined to focus on the positives however, and try to carry them forward into the new year. Spending more time with my kids, getting fitter (I managed to complete my full month of 5ks before the snow hit) and attending client meetings with pyjama bottoms on…
This week has been the usual Twixtmas, with absolutely no sense of what the day or date is, compounded by the inability to meet others so the calendar remained a worthless piece of paper on the kitchen wall. It is Sunday night and we still have no idea if E is returning to school next week but we will continue to roll with the punches and do what we need to do as a family. One thing is for sure – if we have to start home schooling again, dry January will be very short lived!
Get on with the top 5 I hear you cry, so here we go:
1. The post Christmas Day period is all about working through the rest of the kids’ presents and trying to give them the opportunity to play with everything before the end of the holidays. E’s karaoke machine was a definite hit especially with the second microphone for her brother to duet with her. There’s something lovely about walking into a room and finding them serenading each other with the echo setting up to maximum. We have also played an awful lot of board games with E as she apparently received every single junior version available. Cluedo, Monopoly, Scrabble, and so on. The only problem is that the competitive spirits of both of her parents is clearly in the genes so these have turned into royal battles with all 3 of us desperate to win. My wife justifies it on the basis that at some point children must learn how to lose, whereas I just want the bragging rights. Don’t worry though – E somehow still managed to win nearly every game. 
2. Steph and I don’t spend a lot of time texting each other. I mean, why would we given how we are now permanently together? Very occasionally there’s a message sent when we are both in the house but more usually we would just holler at the other. Not in an aggressive way you understand but just if we are at opposite ends of the house. So I was shocked this week to receive a message whilst in the kitchen. I didn’t read it initially but when I did, you can imagine my surprise when I finally read “He’s locked me in the toilet xxx” It turned out she was trapped in the bathroom after M somehow managed to remove the entire locking mechanism from the outside. Fortunately she had her phone with her otherwise who knows when I would have sent a search party? Perhaps he’ll be an engineer when he’s older? 
3. Hogmanay is always a special day, and whilst there were no big parties or ceilidhs to attend this year we still tried to make it special for the kids. E is at an age now where she really wanted to stay up until the bells and given how single minded she is, it was always likely to happen. I came up with the idea of giving her an envelope every hour from midday onwards with little activities or challenges for her to complete. I thought she might lose interest after the first couple, but give her her due, she completed each and every one and even sang Auld Lang Syne at midnight with us. She was absolutely exhausted the next day but declared that it was definitely worth it. The only problem was that she then started asking for the envelopes with that day’s activities on. She really wasn’t happy when I explained it was for one day only, so we’ve had to compromise that I’d organise something similar for her birthday next month! 
4. With the New Year’s resolutions set, I’ve headed out on a daily walk with E on each of the last 3 days. The paths have been really icy so we had to tread very carefully but she really is excellent company. She never seems short of a topic of conversation, even if some are a little random. She also has an unusual vocabulary, and a lot of things are either “divine” or a “catastrophe”. She also keeps repeating that “ice is my life” – I initially assumed that it was a Frozen reference but given I know both films off by heart I know that it isn’t the case. I still need to get to the bottom of that one. Speaking of bottoms, we did start the week with a family trip to the Angel of the North – I’ve lived in Durham for over 13 years now and I’ve never visited so it was good to make the short journey. It was very cold and very muddy and my poor wife took a tumble down the hill. I’m clearly not the best in those situations as my initial reactions were “I’ll just take a quick photo for my diary” immediately followed by “do you have a change of clothes with you otherwise you’ll get mud on the car seat?” rather than actually helping her off the floor. My other resolution is to be nicer to Steph! 
5. I was saying goodnight to E one evening this week when I noticed some marks on her wall beside her bed. I leaned over her to try and see what it was and I realised they were browny bumps. I picked at them, as you do, and they fell off. My darling daughter was looking a bit sheepish at this point and so I asked what they were. “You see, Daddy, I did tell Mummy, but, well… okay so you know now… they are bogies.” It wasn’t quite what I thought she was going to say but she did get a telling off and as I turned to leave she asked if I still loved her. “Of course I do sweetie, but in future please put your bogies in a tissue and not on your wall.” “Ok Daddy. I promise. But I didn’t tell Mummy about the one I hid behind that picture over there…” 
LawyerLow Diaries 