Way out

Carl's parents came to stay whilst we were away over the summer and left Hamley's vouchers for the kids. Thus far we had managed to steer the course of life so that no knowledge of this existed in their heads. Now, having not been ourselves for a good while we tried to downplay their expectations in case 6 floors of toys would turn out to be disappointing. We needn't have bothered.

I had downplayed my own expectations of a quiet, relaxing morning and actually was pleasantly surprised by what fun it was. My momentary horror at the "girl's floor" (dressing up and dolls) and "boy's floor" (action figures) was abated by the kids sensibly showing little interest in either and making their selections from the games floor. Though naturally I didn't miss the opportunity to give them a mini version of my speech on societal imposed gender roles.

As fun as it was, I was pleased when the kids had made their choices and were ready to leave after less than an hour. I had been worried we would spend the entire afternoon there with them overwhelmed by choice. Having a very clear budget helped a lot I think as a lot of stuff they just skirted right past.

Strange thing to be grateful to your in-laws for, but I was glad they'd bought the vouchers as it prompted us to head into "town, town" (as Anna called it) on a Sunday morning. The whole Carnaby St (West Soho?) area was fairly quiet and it was nice to mooch around and we found a really nice Italian run cafe for some sustenance to bolster the shopping trip.

The rest of the day has largely been spent playing with the new purchases and watching Junior Masterchef on the iplayer. And somehow sneeking in a mid-afternoon reading in the bath which a)felt incredibly indulgent and b)meant spending the rest of the day in my pyjamas - marvellous!

All in all a very relaxing Sunday. And I do find having your 'big night' on a Friday makes the weekend feel so much longer.

Happy Sundays all
Lesley x