I’m not a mum who counts down to schools opening again after the holidays. I love the holidays. I get more sleep (I don’t know how that works but it does), I get to spend more time with my kids, and we get to break free from the monotonous routine that school entails. Obviously, I also have to referee a lot of fighting, spend more time on public transport than I would usually like, and empty my piggy bank to pay for days out. But, for me, the good outweighs the bad.
This half term seemed to sneak up on me. I don’t know what happened to January but it was over in a flash. Both kids were poorly at the start of Feb, and then I caught it, so this half-term appeared out of nowhere. I hadn’t made any plans or found any fun things to do, so we had a bit of a last-minute half-term. Kind of like those ‘picnic teas’ you have on the days you haven’t been shopping, but with a week worth of activities instead of cucumber slices and crackers.
My sister has moved back to the UK after a couple of years abroad, so she came in useful during half-term. The kids find everything more exciting if Rosie is there. On Monday we all went to watch Lego Movie 2 at the cinema. It’s quite a long film, too long for Ember, it turned out. I loved the film, it was really funny, but I have no idea what happened in the end because I had to take Ember outside. She was yelling things like ‘I’m hungry’ and ‘I don’t want raisins’ and ‘WHYYYYYY?’ over the film, so I had to take her outside. Luckily, Rosie was there so Ebony didn’t have to sit in the cinema by herself while Ember ran riot in the foyer.
On Tuesday, we had a quiet day at home. We popped to the local shops for ingredients and books (I said I’d buy the girls a book each from the charity shop and we came out with ten books, I cannot say no to reading). Then we made some vegan lemon slices and they were so good. Also, I can now make vegan lemon curd and I didn’t even know such things were possible. I feel that a vegan lemon meringue pie could be on the horizon. The weather was nice so we spent some time in the garden and both kids ended up covered in mud and scratches.
Wednesday, we paid a visit to the People’s History Museum. I really love this museum, it’s my favourite in Manchester. It never feels chaotic or overrun like the other museums in the city centre. I think it might be a hidden gem so don’t tell anyone how good it is. They had a clay workshop on for half-term so Ebony went to that with Rosie while Ember yelled ‘I’m hungry’ at me a lot in the foyer. That kid loves to eat.
On Thursday, I had some work to do so my parents took the girls out for the day. I received numerous WhatsApp messages throughout the day showing the kids growing increasingly muddy and sure enough, they arrived home at 4 pm coated in dry mud. Obviously, they then had a bath. It was good to get some work done and it means I won’t have to work this weekend so now Laurie can work on his essay for uni (remember when we used to spend weekends as a family? Sob).
Friday came far too quickly, one week just isn’t long enough for a holiday. We spent the morning tidying the house ready for some friends to visit. The kids spent the afternoon playing in the garden and causing chaos in the playroom. Ember mostly spent the afternoon saying ‘I’m hungry’ and ‘Push me on the swing’. Two and a half is a very demanding and hungry age, isn’t it?
It didn’t feel like we did much during the holidays, but nobody complained of being bored. I think we found the right balance between days out and days at home. I just can’t believe half-term is finished already. Let the frantic PE kit search commence!
