Tag Archives: kids

Back to Normal

I went for a haircut today.  Julia’s orders. Because of my lack of dress sense she’s keen on my looking as tidy as possible in case someone mistakes me fora tramp. I was going to do my own hair (it hasn’t been done since the start of lockdown) but it can be tricky getting it right so I agreed. I haven’t actually had my hair cut by anyone else for about ten or twelve years, when I had it done on a whim while was in the barber with the kids. For some reason they would never let me cut their hair.  The time before that was about 25 years ago. It’s saved me a fortune. Anyway, after enduring a conversation that hasn’t changed a lot in the last 25 years (despite the fact it’s a different barber from the one that did my hair in that shop 25 years ago), I was then charged a price that hasn’t changed a lot in the last 25 years. To be honest, I may start going there regularly as it’s so much tidier when someone else does it. And I had my eyebrows touched up. That’s when you know you are getting old.

The nurse who took my blood this morning is the mother of a kid who went all the way through school with my kids. He joined the army when he left school, went to work on cruise ships and liked the sea so much he’s now joined the Royal Navy. Quite an adventurous life so far. It was nice to catch up.

I also went shopping. They ask you to be considerate to their staff by wearing a mask (and most people do). Sadly, two of their staff and a security guard couldn’t be bothered to wear a mask. Makes you wonder why you bother. Also makes me wonder what message they think they are sending.

I’m now going to think about trimming my beard. If I’m careful I can tidy it enough to satisfy Julia whilst leaving it long enough to scare small children.

Oh, the shopping? I bought her some flowers. And a quiche. I’m back at work tomorrow and I fancy a slice of quiche.  also bought steak. I’m going to cook tonight. Baked potato, steak, salad. Looks good, virtually no effort. That’s my sort of cookery.

Cake!

It was another Kids in the Kitchen day yesterday, with seven kids and five parents. It’s a good number to work with, even if the kitchen does look like the aftermath of a food fight by the time we have finished.

We did other things as well, including walking across a log (Health and Safety – just look at us!), digging for buried treasure (which turned out to be mainly novelty pencils), a nature walk and collecting eggs/feeding chickens.

These are always good days because there is plenty of supervision from parents and everyone (including us) can relax. There is also plenty of adult company, so it’s very different from the days where you have 30 kids and a couple of supervisors.

Originally we were asked if we could run a playgroup during the summer, but the idea of being abandoned with a load of kids while the parents were at work didn’t appeal. It provides a valuable service, but it isn’t a lot of fun and it needs a lot of extra admin and insurance.

I can’t add the photos at the moment because I’ve forgotten my camera today. Will add them when I get home.