I was intending to write this post yesterday. However, despite my best intentions I decided to cut loose and to celebrate the start of the summer by sharing some bubbles with a bestie.
At precisely 1.15pm just as school was officially ‘out for the summer’, rain began to heave from the heavens by the bucket load, the electricity began flickering on and off and it felt far more like winter than summer. Not one to let the weather get in the way, I finished off my jobs for the day, loaded the kids into the car and played summer songs all the way home.
Upon arriving home, the kids were instructed to remove their uniforms, to hand over anything school-related and to get into the holiday spirit by feasting upon treats, watching or playing whatever they fancied on the television or their tablets and to kick back for a few hours before their Dad was due home. In the meantime I planned upon going ‘cleaning crazy’ to get the house ready for the holidays – I began by washing, drying and putting away the pots, I then emptied out and washed each of the lunch boxes, cleaned the school shoes and then put the kettle on to boil ready for a hot mop whilst I vacuumed. I was on a mission and I felt good with the house being half-way to clean, it was at this point that the vacuum began to make strange noises and then spat out great mounds of muck upon the carpet. It was no use trying to vacuum the mess, the vacuum had died a death!
Typical – I wasn’t even an hour into my holidays and already things had started to fall apart! I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Instead, I chose to ring Shark and low and behold they offered to replace the unit without question and less than twenty-four hours later I have a brand new, fully functioning vacuum! Having solved my ‘first world problems’ with a single phone call, I decided to ditch the cleaning craze and to investigate the many gifts which I had so kindly been given by parents and kids. I have to say, the power of cake should never be underestimated as however many thousand calories later, the broken vacuum nor the bucket loads of rain pouring outside seemed to matter. I was utterly content with a coffee, cake, and carpets covered in crud…
An hour or so later the hubby arrived home, at which point I was relieved of my duties and rather than snuggle on the sofa which is probably what I should have done, I had a quick bath then went out to share some bubbles and some banter for a few hours before heading home for the night.
It felt great not to have to set an alarm, though I didn’t sleep all that well due to the heavy rain which continued to pour throughout the night. Though I wasn’t entirely well-rested, it felt rather odd to wake past nine with the kids still sound asleep – they were obviously exhausted too.
Having got myself washed, dressed and ready for the day, the kids finally woke for their breakfast. Whilst they snuggled on the sofa and stuffed their faces, I decided to take myself to the office and to kick start the summer by making an attempt at ticking a few jobs off my never-ending ‘to-do list’. I began by booking the airport car parking, I then ordered new trainers for J, I renewed and changed our house insurance then finally ordered the pooch yet more Europa dog food for the next few weeks.
J practically wolfed his breakfast down and raced to get himself ready. Long story short – he has spent the past year or so saving up his pennies, crazy for a console – a Nintendo Switch to be precise, which we had promised that he could collect once summer arrived. Today was ‘the day’ and having waited for quite a while he was like a kid at Christmas!
Having left a note for the postman in hope that the vacuum may arrive, we hopped into the Mini and made our way to Asda where we enjoyed dinner before heading to town. To our surprise, we found that a local motor show was taking place, lines of motorbikes, classic cars, busses and all sorts of vehicles were on display. The kids were surprised by how small a classic Mini was, they were also delighted to be able to stand by an actual, real-life Herbie!
Before going to ‘Game’ to buy his console, J insisted that we took E to the Toy Shop to ensure that rightly so -she too was spoilt for the summer. Having bagged a Barbie and uggins of birthday gifts which were stealthily and swiftly concealed, we finally arrived at Game. It was then that J really impressed me as he was offered an almost-new, second-hand Switch for a far lower price than a boxed, cellophaned, brand, spanking new model. I assured him that as he had saved his own pennies, it was entirely his choice as to what he wanted. He instantly took the second-hand-offer without batting an eyelid, saving almost one hundred pounds and gaining two games in the process. J is such a mature little man, he is so worldly-wise and clever with his cash and didn’t care less whether what he was getting was new or not, it was new to him and that was enough!
Needless to say, J has spent the majority of this afternoon with his nose pressed against his Nintendo. Whilst I intend to limit his screen time throughout summer, I had no intentions of limiting time today! Whilst J was busy building levels on Mario Maker and E was entertained by Barbie, I was kept busy putting my new vacuum together which had arrived whilst we were out.
With the sun finally shining, the house eventually tidied and cleaned, the kids completely content and Paul and I at long last able to put our feet up, it suddenly feels far more like summer!
2 comments
Not the best of starts but I’m glad it turned out well. I have been known to shed a tear when a vacuum dies. My kids are having a Switch as a joint birthday present (I have three birthdays in the next four weeks.) I’m giving them the Switch on the first birthday, this Saturday and then they can have some smaller presents on their days too. I wish I’d had got a better baraing, although I did manage to get it cheaper than expected in the Amazon Prime Day Sale, saving around £40. I remember the classic mini, my friend had one and I couldn’t fit my legs in without having my knees around the steering wheel. They definitely were not made for tall people. I love the pic with Herbie 🙂 Have a great holiday x
Thanks hun – I’ve only just seen this comment. Hope they are enjoying their switch, J sure is!