The visits started on Friday with a trip to see friends Simon and Sarah. Their daughter Ismay was in the same class as Abi at St Gabriel's and hence it was a good chance for them all to catch up, particularly given the plans for the girls to go back there. The star of this show however was their pug puppy Bear who is a complete sweetie and mean't the kids have come home with every intent that our next dog (preferably next week) is a pug. They've even named this imaginary pet, despite us saying it's not happening - pets are on a 'one in, one out' basis from now on!
From here on Saturday me and the girls packed our bags to head off to see Simon and Sharron this time up in Northamptonshire. The kids were looking forward to seeing them, they've always loved spending time with them and so it was a happy car that set off, not least as we had given Glenn dispensation to stay at home given he hates staying overnight anywhere. We had a lovely afternoon catching up and then went out for some food, coming back to introduce them both to the wonders of slime, something they've not come across before. Of course this was perfect for Abi and Izzy who showed them how to make it and then it got increasingly silly as Simon started to make more and more inappropriate models with his, not helped by the fact that Izzy had coloured it flesh pink, before wearing it as a mask! I'm sure you can imagine what boy humour had him making... it seems being over 50 doesn't mean you grow up completely!
This morning it was a relaxed breakfast and then back home for a sort out and some encouragement of Abi to do at least some revision for the entrance exams they have on Wednesday. Izzy has happily been doing all manner of practice papers, printing them off the internet, thinking about what she might say etc., etc. Abi on the other hand is taking the opposite approach and is choosing to take the stance that revision stresses her out and therefore she should stay calm by just not doing any! As someone who has always revised for my exams this is incredibly stressful for me so I end up ranting at her and so we just get into an argument - not helpful! I must get better at my mantra "I am the adult, I am the adult". In the end I managed to get her to sit down to do a maths paper, her least favourite, hence she immediately started saying "I can't do it" without even thinking about it. She stared into space, doodled and asked really stupid questions "Does 73 - 46 = 20?" so after half an hour of this I completely lost my temper and stomped out of the room, at which point she stomped upstairs and that was that. It's all a psychological battle - after all the more she pretends she can't do it the more I get stressed and so she is in control. Aghhhhhhhhhhh. After I calmed down I went upstairs to try and talk sensibly to her to find she had finished the paper. When I marked it she had scored 33 out of 36. I give up - can she do it or not? Does the process of getting her to sit down and write a test paper like this have to be so painful??? I keep reminding myself that everyone is different, but in this case I know practice will always make the concepts easier if not perfect - why can't she see this?
When we haven't been visiting or shouting over test papers, we have been looking after Freya with her sore paw. We have never met a dog who was so quick to milk a situation. She has quickly mastered the art of picking up her paw and holding it out to us at every opportunity and refusing to go out for more than a brief amble towards the garden, certainly not into it! She has barely walked this week and while I would have said she was the one that needed to go out immediately we got up, it turns out she can wait until lunchtime or beyond if required - who knew?!? Thank goodness it seems to be on the mend now and she is coming for a walk again, albeit after about 10 minutes starts to run around on 3 legs - what a clown!
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