An Unexpected Bonus

Wednesday morning, around 8am.  James had been suffering with a migraine for a while and it quickly became apparent that the plans we had made for the day would go unfulfilled.  This meant no music group, no play date, maybe even no viewing at our preferred new school for Jasmine.  It was dark, raining and miserable.  I hadn't slept well for two nights and had very little energy or motivation.  The children were both beginning to get bored, but were also tired and a little fractious.  We pottered around the house for a while, feeling sad at the activities we were missing out on.

Then it struck me.  What we had here was a day with no plans.  A completely free day.  What a rare and beautiful thing!  It didn't matter about the weather, it didn't matter that we were tired; we could tailor our activities to suit ourselves.

With this in mind, I rounded up the children, dressed them in puddle suits and wellies and took them on the five minute (or so) walk to our local pub for lunch.  On the way, we stopped at the newsagents to buy magazines - something that always pleases my two.  The pub was mainly full of old people, who cooed over the children. Both behaved impeccably and I spent a long time just watching them smile, colour and pore over their magazines whilst waiting for lunch to arrive.  Happily, they both ate well (which is not something I can usually say about Sonny!) and enjoyed themselves.  After lunch, we spent a few minutes on the play equipment outside the pub before heading to the station to get the train into town.

I spoke to Jasmine about the prospect of still viewing the new school and she was very keen, so it was decided that we would go there next (more on that story later).

After the viewing, which went brilliantly, we wandered up the road to the library and read stories to each other.  Both children played on the computer, and then each chose a DVD to bring home.  Finally, we stopped for a Happy Meal on the way back to the bus stop.  Sonny fell asleep on the way home, whilst Jasmine charmed her fellow passengers.

Both were tucked up in bed soon after we arrived home.

It may not have been the most exciting day out we've ever had, but it was amongst the most enjoyable.  Definitely an unexpected bonus.