NotSheep

Back into our usual routines today, with a morning start that didn’t take until lunchtime and some structured work. The boys got stuck in, and all but Barney were finished by lunchtime. I made them go outside for half an hour part-way through the morning too. When I was in school, I remember being forced to go outside at breaktime and lunchtime, unless the weather was absolutely desperate. I hated it, but now that I’m a parent, I so understand why they did that! They ran about the garden for a while (and even tidied it up a bit) and came in much more likeable

George is the one who needs this structure more than anyone, and while today wasn’t entirely a success in terms of avoiding meltdowns, it was better than the last week or two have been. We’ll stick with it for a while and see how things go.

Had a chat with Barney yesterday about how he’d like to proceed - although he’d be finishing Key Stage 2 if he was in school, he’s nearly finished the KS3 maths stuff. I mentioned to him that he could, if he wanted, go ahead and start working on a GCSE-level maths course, with a view to possibly taking the exam in two or three years (or not, whatever…) He was interested but not committing to anything. By coincidence, the subject of doing GCSEs independently came up on a home-ed email list today, and the London IGCSE was suggested as a good option. I had a look at it and downloaded some past papers, but am a bit surprised at how easy they seem - Barney’s current maths skills would cover between 80 and 90% of the foundation stuff, and half or more of the higher level.

Tried some EC with Toby and got peed on twice, but did manage to catch a poop (though more by luck than design, I think).

Freddy made lunch - a first for him to do it alone, though it was only frozen pizza I was going to make spag bol for dinner, but Jack and Barney requested macaroni and cheese, so I started that instead - and was doing quite well until Jack poured half the bag of macaroni all over the floor. Having been told at least three times to climb down from the stool he was using to reach the counter, of course. It was the last bag too - so bang went the plan for macaroni and cheese, and the plan for spag bol was reinstated. Actually we’d quite a few jars of sauce in the cupboard, so there was still some choice in the matter, and we had spag bol with a spicy pepper sauce, which was pretty good

After dinner (eaten early), it was into the bath with Toby and me, since he was wanting to sleep but it was too early for bed - a bath revives him for a while, though once out, he always wants to breastfeed, so of course he falls asleep anyway. Jack came in the bath with us - he was filthy! He’s one of those kids who always has a dirty face, and I’m always surprised at just how cute and innocent he looks once it’s washed - obviously it’s not washed frequently enough, since he wasn’t cute and innocent at all today Then Scratchy did the ju-jitsu run - back in August/September, Freddy didn’t really settle into ju-jitsu at all, and willingly went along with my suggestion to give it a few months before trying again. However new gis (suits) for Barney and George at Christmas have tempted him, I think - so he went tonight, and seems to have enjoyed himself.

Speaking of porridge (in the title - see? I planned it and all ;-)) - does anyone have any really yummy recipes they’d like to share? I quite fancy making porridge a regular thing here, but nobody else is very keen, so I need to tempt them

Right, off to do some Sudoku (yes, I’m addicted, I even did some before falling asleep in the early hours of New Year’s Day - didn’t admit that to the friend we were staying with, even though she’s an addict herself - how sad am I? LOL) and bed