Home-ed time

Jem was invited to a party yesterday, and I had to take her out to buy a present in the morning. So we indulged in a pleasant bit of retail therapy and one-to-one bonding, starting at Poundstretcher, or Instore. There we found one of those DK flight kits for £5, which entertained Fugs for the rest of the afternoon, while I transformed a large pot of foam letters into a Montessori-type movable alphabet. Then there was home bargains, where we got some Ello for the birthday girl (had no idea what to get, actually); card-making kits, stickers and wrapping paper;and some marvellous novelty toothbrushes, which not only flash, but have a little ducky in some coloured liquid inside the chunky handle, all for 79p. We had to go into the town centre to find a proper toyshop, but happily found a parking spot very close to Toymaster, where we found emergency top-up Hama beads, a Scouby book, and some blast-from -the-past small interlocking circles. I seem to have a soft spot for small multicoloured objects, which remind me of "hundreds and thousands" and sweeties. I loved going to the toyshop and marvelled at all the things you can get. I was like a kid in a, well, toyshop, I suppose. It's amazing what head space you can get into if you spend all your time with kids.
Well, that was it as I had probably already broken the bank, so we just had time to get home, wrap up the present, make the card out of the card-making it, and pick up a change of clothes, as it was pouring down with rain and they had a bouncy slide there. We decided to call for Jem's friend on the way back, being almost time to set off to the party, anticipating that we would have to wait for her, but her dad had already taken her, called in at our house and gone up the track and down, by the time we got back, and it was still only 5 to 3. I was not planning on arriving until after 3, as this was the time on the invitation, and I would have thought it a bit rude to arrive at a party early. But, when we got there at 10 past 3 all the other party guests were already there, and had already done some of the party games- talk about prompt! When I related this to my friend, (mother of the friend we were hoping to share a lift with) it was not taken as being unusual. It was then that I realised that I was operating on what is often called home-ed time. All the other parents are used to dropping of their children promply for 9 o'clock, which really means 8.45-8.55, and when they get an invite for 3 they simply assume it is for 3 and things will actually be starting at 3. I just thought it would mean any time after 3, within reason, like to, eg 1/2 hour, and seeing as I had spoken to them that moring to say we were coming, that they could have waited 10 minutes before starting games.
Anyway, (*rant*), I asked my friend to call on the way to pick them up, or to pick up Jem for me, as the track is a really bumpy, single track, and it was raining or I would have walked up. She called me back to say the dad had arranged for his child and another friend to come back with someone else, so I had to phone the party and get someone else to do it, and someone's granny, who answered the phone, didn't quite get the message that I'd rather Jem wasnt jus't bundled into the nearest car of someone she didn't know, which is what happened, and without her raincoat. Argh!!