By the end of the last half term the kids were pretty knackered. Pale, panda eyed, sleeping poorly and generally a bit grumpy, half term couldn’t really come quickly enough. It had been a 7 week half term, so I suppose it was understandable. Fast forward to this week, and it’s pretty much the same thing. The boy is pale and even more highly strung than usual. Fifi looks near enough dead on her feet- several play dates were postponed recently because she just looked ready for bed by school knocking off time.
We’ve tried to have a couple of quiet weekends at home to give the kids a chance to recharge their batteries and this has had some unexpected results. The boy has leveled up in his Lego building to the point where he built the X-Wing Fighter I’ve had sitting in it’s box for about 6 months. It’s age 8-14, he’s 6 and only needed a minimal amount of help (mostly with the things that needed a grip stronger than he could manage). I love it when things like this happen, it really makes my day, especially when he’s a self confessed telly addict most of the time. Once he’d built the X-Wing, it made sense to watch Star Wars and we had great fun trying to spot Porkins, the chubby extra Lego figure that came with the set, in the actual film. The boy was zooming his X-Wing around the sitting room during the assault on the Death Star at the end of the film. It was brilliant.
Even Ned is tired, yesterday he apparently demanded to be put in his cot for a nap at about 4pm, which is more or less unprecedented nowadays. Wifey and I are tired too, the early starts (because the kids have gone to bed at 7ish), the interrupted nights sleep, the constant homework and the battle to get a certain child to do the homework. We’re all ready for a break. And fortunately, for the first time in a couple of years, I’ve got enough holiday left to take an extended break over and above the bank holidays this year.
We’re going to go for walks, play some video games, build some Lego, watch some movies and just hang out together as a family. It’s going to be great. (In reality I’m sure we’ll be arguing to death by Boxing Day but grant me my rose tinted view of the future, please!)