Courtesy

I consider myself a reasonable man and endeavour to treat people with the same level of courtesy and respect that I would like to receive. This may be why most of my closest friendships are built on a foundation of mutual verbal abuse and mickey taking.

Having been told that boiler person would be with me somewhere between 9am to 5pm and I’d get a call half an hour before arrival, I – rather naively – assumed that that’s exactly what would happen. Nope.

Honestly, what does it take to call or text to say “I’m really sorry, I’m stuck and I’m not going to get to you today?”

Anyway, as luck would have it, we were keeping it close to home today anyway after all being pretty tired after the late drive home last night.

Games were played, cakes were eaten and overpriced but delicious pizzas were ordered. The wee ones have been incredibly affectionate and free with their cuddles today. In a nice moment while I was tidying up in another room, I could hear my three offspring rapping along to Hamilton. Hearing my youngest hit the beats with her “Ouis Ouis mon ami / je m’appelle Lafeyette / the lancelot of the revolutionary set” absolutely kills me.

The day ended well with The Eldest and I continuing our Christopher Nolan season with a viewing of ‘The Prestige’. I was delighted to see that her initial befuddlement with the ending mirrored my own and there followed a lengthy discussion on the nature of obsession and how far it can push a person.

There was one last gift from them, which is what you see pictured here. I’d forgotten that I’d said to m’boy he could play with his cars in my bedroom and was initially annoyed to find the mess when I came up to bed, but it was instantly dispelled by the sight of his cars lined up (he’s always done this) and the notepad, pen and calculator he uses to record his scoring system for the races they participate in.

When they’re not around, it’s the stuff like this that I really miss.