Ok, well my back seems to be recovering from manic gardening sessions, preceeded by mega stress, which also seems to be fading a little. Today I took all my children shopping. Maeve got pans and other sundry household items from Home Bargains and Pound Stretcher, plus a trolley full of food from LIDL. We got party stuff and another trolley load of food. We managed to squeeze all this plus five of us into my little car. The result was happy relaxed children, (which was my hope, but I wasn't sure if it would really happen!). I was thinking we needed a bit of normality, whatever that is, but spending the day together, doing everyday things seemed to do the trick. After tea I took a tired out baby up to bed while the others sat happily making birthday cards together for ages. Amazingly Jem managed to show Fugs how to write in two cards, which are quite readable, after an earlier conversation between myself and the mother of the card recipients in which I said that he could not even draw, let alone write!
It suddenly dawned on me that it is the 1st of September and he hasn't started school. The decision was not difficult and was made some time ago, but now it's really happened, it feels a bit different, like he's really home educated now. I just hope that he doesn't continue to think that when you're 5 you can read and write. I think this may have come from a question he asked me ages ago, how old are you when you can read? I might have said 5, meaning, o, not until you're at least 5, thinking of it as some hazy distant future. But he knows his dad didn't learn till he was 8, well, I'll have to make sure he knows, and that other people don't necessarily learn that young, as I don't want the pressure on him. One or two of his friends are coming over on Sunday, and I was a bit worried as they are starting school. But I've just found out they don't start until Monday, unlike here, where they have already gone back. So we're having a bit of a pirate themed party! I was dreading the though of it last night, but am coming round to the idea as the kids have been quite sweet about it, getting all excited about bags of sweeties and icecream; making invitations and planning games. Well, it's a good job someone's doing it, cos I couldn't get my head around it, just went though the motions of buying stuff. O no, I said I'd start making a pinata and I cant really be bothered now.