NotSheep

We had a slow start this morning, after our day at the science centre yesterday (if you can’t see that post, you aren’t logged in – or maybe you’re logged in but I haven’t put you in the “I know this person so I’ll let them see the posts with photos” group – in which case send me a message and remind me!) After that, however, it was another busy day. Once the boys were fed and dressed, we tidied and vacuumed the bedrooms – none of them were very messy, so it wasn’t a big job. While we were getting ready to go out, the telephone rang – the German representative from the exchange organisation. I did know she was going to call, as we’d arranged the time via email, but I’d completely forgotten, so it was lucky that we hadn’t already left. She and I chatted for a few minutes and I told her how pleased we are to have Tim here, then she talked to him for a few minutes before coming back to me. She told me that he said he loved being here, that sometimes he was homesick but it was not too bad, and confirmed everything I’d told her about how he was trying very hard. Although he looks happy to me, it was nice to hear it from her too

That done with, we packed our swimming bags and headed for the pool. Between Christmas and family illnesses, we hadn’t been swimming for several weeks, but it hadn’t dented Toby’s confidence at all – he leapt straight in and started doggy-paddling around the shallow end. He didn’t even want to go to play in the toddler pool, and when I finally convinced him to spend some time over there, he only stayed a few minutes before announcing that he was going back to the big pool. Louie was a bit more hesitant at first, but soon started to get used to the water again, and at one point was even pushing me away so that he could copy Toby by holding onto the side and kicking his legs. Barney hadn’t been enthusiastic about going swimming today, but he enjoyed himself anyway. Tim is a better swimmer than any of the others, and did a few lengths as well as leaping around in the shallow end and the small pool. I don’t know how long we spent in the pool, but when I took Jack, Toby and Louie to get dressed, I gave the others 40 minutes before they had to meet me at the cafeteria – they splashed about for another 20 minutes or so before heading for the showers.

We had snacks with us – apples, Freddy’s flapjacks, bottles of water and a box of candy-canes left over from Christmas – and we munched on those before going upstairs to the library. We didn’t stay long – it was, after all, only 48 hours since our previous library visit (different library, but still). The weather was dry and much milder than it has been all week, and when we arrived home, Freddy asked if he and Tim could go out cycling, so they did that. George went out too, and Jack went off to see if any of his friends were home from school. Meanwhile Toby and Louie had fallen asleep in the car on the way home, and Barney was quite happy to sit there with them and read the stack of books he’d borrowed.

We had burritos for dinner – Freddy got grumpy when he realised there were vegetables in them, and ended up being told that he could eat and be pleasant or he could go and get ready for bed. He chose the latter, but I went up to have a talk with him a short time later, and after that he changed his mind. Unfortunately by that time someone had cleared the table and binned his mangled burrito, but he decided that he would go to ju-jitsu anyway, and I grabbed an apple for him on the way out the door. George and Freddy had told me that Tim would be in the 7 p.m. class even though he was a beginner because the 6 p.m. class was only for little kids. George was too tired to go, so I took Freddy, Jack and Tim for 6 p.m. – Freddy sometimes likes to help out with the younger kids, and I thought it would give Tim a chance to watch and see what it was all about. However it turned out that George and Freddy were wrong, and that all the beginners, big and small, are in the 6 p.m. class – unfortunately I only discovered that at the end of the 6 p.m. class, but fortunately the sensei was willing to allow Freddy and Tim to hang out at the back of the 7 p.m. class and work together there, just for the one week. I brought Jack home and left Freddy and Tim together for their class. While watching the first class, Tim seemed doubtful about ju-jitsu, and said he didn’t want to do it, but I encouraged him to try just one class, on the basis that it’s more fun to do than to watch – and that turned out to be a good thing, because when Scratchy brought the two of them home afterwards, Tim came to find me and told me with a grin that it was very good fun and he wanted to go back next week