…if such a thing exists 
Back to skool this morning, partly because some routine was called for, and partly because Tim was asking if we could do some. I did some maths with Jack and Tim together – the maths was very easy for Tim, but what Jack is working on has quite a lot of talking involved, so they were sort of helping one another. Toby demanded maths too, so I did some with him, although it did turn into practising writing “f” part-way through (because he got tired of drawing flowers – that was after he got tired of drawing ice-creams). George did some maths and science, Freddy some history and maths, and Barney spent some time playing with Louie and then got stuck into his next TMA. I had a look at the first TMA, which he handed in at his tutorial last Tuesday and which arrived back in Saturday’s post – he got 89% on it and is a bit disappointed with that 
Lunch came early, because the youngest two needed to nap and one of the older ones (can you guess which?) needed some food. Tim helped Barney make stuffed pita-breads for everyone, including writing the list of what each person wanted their pita stuffed with, then he and Jack went out on skateboards for a while. I got Toby and Louie settled to sleep – although it didn’t last long in Louie’s case because he woke himself by coughing, and in the end he had most of his nap in my arms). Once Freddy had finished his history, he went out to join Jack and Tim, and at some point they all came back to the garage and switched to their bicycles. Then Jack arrived back with his friend A, and they played indoors for a bit.
Freddy came to ask me if they could “do some science” on the patio, but the lawn is still very muddy from the snow melting, so rather than having them trek across the mud (and then doubtless traipsing around the house with their muddy shoes on), I told him to do it in the conservatory instead. A while later I heard him ordering everyone else around: “Everybody step back from the volcano!” – and a few seconds after that, I heard A (Jack’s friend) say, in her best 8-going-on-40 voice, “If I was your mum I wouldn’t let you do that.” I didn’t worry – I knew what they were doing, and I knew that Freddy knew what he was doing. A minute later, I heard the sound of quite a number of very impressed children (”oooooohhhhhhh!”) and knew the volcano demonstration had been a success. The next thing I heard was Freddy coming back in calling, “I’m just getting more vinegar!” I had to take back my malt vinegar, but I buy the white stuff cheaply in five-litre containers because I use it for cleaning, so I didn’t mind them helping themselves to that.
Jack and A went back outside for a while, then Jack came back – I’d completely lost track of who was where by that time, and didn’t know if he had A with him or not, but when I went upstairs I found not only A, but also E and S with him. l don’t know if they’d all come back to see the volcanoes, but I’d cleaned up by then, so they’ll have to make more another time.
Dinner was a quick-and-easy potato wedges and cheese and ham/tuna concoction, then Tim had a shower and everyone got into pyjamas, except for Barney, who went off to Air Cadets clutching forms for two week-long camps that he wants to go on – one in July and one in October. The July one is in Scotland and finishes on the same day an Explorer Camp starts in England, so he might find himself on a train from Moray to Derbyshire, or wherever it is. Life of Riley, that one
Posts
