Waiting

A quiet morning at home, and then the usual Monday afternoon routine - meeting Eben and Luca from Carfield.  Luca seems to have settled into the preschool there without a blink. So these days, I meet Eben first in the playground (main image) where the Year 3 classes come out. 
Today he bounced out cheerfully, and we went down to the lower playground and the preschool doorway.  Luca's often extremely tired when we pick him up, and there's sometimes a moment when he's highly sensitive if he perceives me to be telling him what to do (as in, 'shall we pick up your water bottle?' etc.  Comments like this get a frown and that can be the beginning of a bit of a tired/hungry meltdown).  Eben has been wonderfully helpful about this. I back off, and Eben quietly takes charge, guiding Luca to whatever needs picking up and then to the exit. Although they can fight like puppies in a sack sometimes, there's a very strong bond there and Luca's happy to be shepherded by his big brother. My part of the whole exercise is to make sure that there's a little snack ready for them both, to fend off any hangry moments.
Later Ruth and I had a quick cuppa and a chat together, and then I took Eben to his weekly drumming lesson. Despite having only practised once in the last fortnight, he played well.  The current challenge is all about learning to fit a drum fill in every 4 bars, without losing the rhythm.
After that... a quiet evening with Richard, watching a documentary about Northern Ireland.  These programmes can be a mixed experience, with and for R.  He spent his young adult life in Larne and in Belfast when the Troubles were at their height; there are painful memories.