Morning my girlie

L slept in late which is a beautiful rarity. After yesterday testy blip i think she was pretty worn out.

Our picnic with friends was yet again rained off but we didn't mind and settled for an indoor picnic instead.

I learned a lot from watching Shelley with her kids. She's incredible patient and open minded. It's definitely got me thinking about the times I say no to one of my children's requests just because I don't think things should be done that way. Ham on toast for breakfast being a classic example. I'd say no, unless it was a 'one off' because I'd think that's not what breakfast looks like, plus then we'd have no ham left for lunch. Shelley would just go with it because to be honest, it's some extra protein in the morning and she was probably going to get more ham from the shops anyway. Mine comes from a good place, trying to be resourceful and plan the shopping and meals in advance but I do think it leaves me pretty inflexible in my approach to the children.

It's not just food, this applies to the question of "can we play with your make up mam?" and "oooh let's get out the beads!" and various others. So many reasons why I mostly say no, too young for all that make up, too much mess without any time to clean up, danger of swallowed beads, the list goes on. Sometimes saying yes would probably teach them some vital skills about being spontaneous, take their creative play to new depths and also give them some cracking memories for when they're older.

Something for me to think about anyway.

J & I have booked a night away for his birthday. We've only ever stayed away from kids on our wedding night so we're really looking forward to it. Is it sad that when we were picking somewhere to go we looked for locations with a cheap hotel, a town that we could casually browse the charity shops and go for a nice walk in the afternoon? You'd think J is going to be 70 not 40 something!