Not the best of days...

Monday was a deadline day and I was working up to and indeed beyond the deadline (though got Brownie points anyway, due to some agency confusion about when the deadline actually was).
F played XBox a lot, interspersed with a bit of playing in her room.

Yesterday we got out of the house not long after 9 (*shudders*) to go to a new local activity group. I am partly responsible for the existence of this group in our town, as I e-mailed the woman who runs it and suggested our town would be a good location for another weekly session - she was already active in Brighton and a few other nearby towns. Anyway, last week we went along to the free trial and this week we went along for her first paying session. Well, it's great for the 3s and under and I must admit I got a lot of enjoyment out of watching what they did (especially as I still have my John Holt spectacles on, having finished reading How Children Learn less than a week back). Sadly, the one piece of equipment that F really liked last week wasn't there this week. We will probably go to one more and then stop. F does quite enjoy it, but it is on the same day as Music and Movement and I think, given how the rest of the day went, that that might be too much, with the walking into town and back twice. Basically, the content of the session and the equipment provided is absolutely perfect for 3s and under - there is plenty of freeplay time so they really get to explore what they can do with all sorts of nice stuff, with variations every week. But F is a year older than the next oldest child there, and really wasn't engaged most of the time. The things she played with and the playing she did were very much what she already has and does at home. Luckily it is a 'pay as you go' drop-in thing, so as I say we'll go again in 2 weeks time and then probably leave it. Fortunately it seems very popular, so I don't have to feel responsible for getting the woman to start a group here and then abandoning her.

Our neighbour Mandy and her twins and her partner were there - we walked part of the way there with them which was nice. On the way back Mr. Mandy walked with us and played a bit of chasing and racing with F and discussed Home Ed and British schooling through the ages a bit.

Back home we had sandwiches for lunch and then I tidied and hoovered a bit as I thought Katya was coming over. However it became apparent that Katya and I must have been talking about different Tuesdays, so we rearranged for today instead and us going up to hers after yoga as she has a 'drain man' coming in.

At half-ish three we set off out again to go to Music and Movement, via the cashpoint and deli. F suddenly walked out into the road for no good reason, scaring the hell out of me and making me very cross. There was a lorry nearby about to head in our direction. Much discussion between me and F ensued. She's been really trustable about this stuff for a while, so it was a shock.
Anyway we got to Music and Movement and she was generally a bit shouty and didn't listen very well. And also chose the cymbals for her instrument and didn't play them when supposed to but did play them when not supposed to.

So that was a day I'm glad has gone to be honest. Also glad I had a half-bottle of red wine waiting to be finished in the evening.

Today she's still in a whiny mood, but we've done a bit of dancing around and looking at a book, she's played a bit of XBox and I've hoovered (AGAIN!!) in preparation for Harmony the yoga woman who should be arriving shortly - hopefully bringing tranquility with her because we seem to be running very short of it here.