Thursday is becoming the new Saturday in our house. Wednesday, Friday and Sunday I work, Tuesday and Friday the boys are at nursery. Mondays are all Monday-ish and somehow I never quite get my ass in gear, but Thursdays.. Thursdays are my new favourite day.
And today was everything I could have hoped for in a Thursday. Tell me if you think this day could be any more perfect…
I had a lie-in till 9am courtesy of the husband and woke up next to two-year old Luci Puci (“loo-chi-poo-chi”), to hear the sounds of our three-year-old Gabs giggling his little head off being chased up and down the flat by Daddy. Despite some hangover (due to wine AND prosecco at dinner as we had a guest round) I already knew this was going to be a great day. Or maybe I just decided it would be and therefore it was, I’m not sure which way round it works 😉
If you were in London you’ll already know it was perfect weather today. Blue, blue sky, zero cloud cover, blazing sunshine but not too hot, so you could stay outside all day without getting sun-stroke which is exactly what we did. So we did the logical thing, and started with ice lollies for breakfast.
I bathed the boys, knowing full-well it would not be the last lolly-juice-removal bath of the day and then took them and my hangover for an emergency cappuccino while Luci munched on one kind of apple and Gabs played on another (iPad).
Then, at Gabi’s request we headed to Regent’s Park. I have been observing the last few days that Gabs has not been that happy. I’ve been quite busy, he’s been dragged around to work things and I’ve nagged and moaned at him a fair bit and yesterday it just hit me he seems more down than it’s right for a three year old to be, so it was really, really important to me today that he felt the centre of my attention, respected and loved. So I made sure he had some control over the proceedings and I have to say he was the perfect boy all day. He walked from Finchley Road tube station all the way to Regent’s Park, some 1.5 miles (before running like hell across fields all afternoon – this boys needs serious exercising, like a dog). For most of the way he happily held my hand, something he normally doesn’t like to do and I was one happy Mummy. At one point he stopped to give his little brother a hug and a kiss.
Inside the park I let Lucian out of the buggy to run and Gabs found us a beautiful spot by the lake for a picnic.
Next, we hit the open grass, and ran and ran… Lucian’s first ever close encounter with a dog set off a bizarre twenty minutes where ALL the dogs in the park seemed to gravitate towards us (about ten in all) and Gabs was in heaven! – he’s dog-mad, and Luci was freakin’ excited! We stopped to blow dandelion clocks and hold buttercups under their chins (to see if they like butter, obvs) then grabbed an ice-cream. Well, Gabs and I did… Luci asked 15 times for an “ice-rorrie” and then tasted it once, laid it gently down on the ground and took my chocolate cone off me, ate that and then ate his lolly as well. Hurrumph. Then we spotted a family of mummy goose plus baby goslings trailing their way down to the boating lake! I felt so lucky to see them, it was a favourite moment.
We didn’t stay long in the playground because I lost Gabs and was so shaken-up by it. He’d been on the other side of the playground in a different section, it was really crowded and he didn’t answer when I shouted his name. For a minute or two I really thought someone had taken him, it was heart-stopping. But every cloud – it prompted a spontaneous conversation about “Stranger Danger” which seemed serendipitously to happen at the best time when he was most receptive to it and I managed to say the right things without freaking him out. I’m confident he knows what’s OK behaviour on the part of an adult, what he needs to do if the worst happens and who are the “Safe Adults” in his life. I’m really happy this happened before he starts school in September because I was wondering how and when to approach it. Now it’s done and he really seemed to get it, so I’m happy.
At home, exhausted but happy, after another bath, all clean and cute, they got to watch Cars 2 while I revelled in a peaceful kitchen, bolognaise-cooking, red wine and Red magazine.
So to sum it up, perfect weather, perfect day, perfect boys. Yup. I like Thursdays. Especially this one.
Coco&Co. 