Hi all, what have we been up to this week?

Well Monday and Tuesday were pretty quiet. Callum watched some catch up documentaries with me and we wrote up a bit about The Wonders of The Universe with Brian Cox. It was a test run as I'd like to start doing a little write up of what we have watched. I did some basic questions like What, When, What Channel (I thought I might use this information later on to show what channel we watch most - pie chart anyone?), What Did I Learn and What Would I Like To Do Now. I wrote it out this time with Callum giving me the answers, but I want to get him to start writing it out himself. It's good practice for writing up experiments, etc, and it gives me an idea of what to do after a show that has grabbed his interest. We had an hour long discussion on attention span issues and what works and what doesn't. We have come to the conclusion that we may have to watch hour long docs in two halves as, although he can watch for an hour, his ability to take in the information starts to lapse after about half that time.

He also continued with his maths questions and he seems to have got the gist of rounding up and down to 10s and 100s now, so am going to introduce some subtractions - his choice. I know this is a little going back to basics, but it really is necessary for me and him to be 100% about the basics before going onto the more complicated stuff he should be doing. It isn't that he can't do it, but he needs to be able to start working a little quicker so he doesn't get so frustrated, so a bit of revision on the basics won't hurt!

Wednesday we visited some friends and took along our old children's garden tools and a couple of packets of unwanted seeds to give them. Callum has outgrown the tools, but they are still usable. And I'm so behind in my garden that I don't have enough beds prepared to plant all the seeds I've got (I sent off for loads of freebies last year and I'm now seeded out). All had a great time and it was lovely to have a cuppa (or two) and a chat.

Thursday Callum helped Phil paint the bathroom ceiling as I was on a course for the day. He, apparently, didn't like using the roller, so he did all the cutting in with a paintbrush. I must admit that he and Phil have done a grand job!

Friday was another play date with his bf Callum D. They haven't seen each other properly for a while, so it was nice to get them back together again. They had a great time and I hardly saw them all afternoon. Michelle stayed for a cuppa for an hour and it was good to catch up.

Saturday, we had to go to Tunbridge Wells to find out/sign up for The Arts Council Bronze Art Award. Phil was working this weekend so we had to do a bit of advance travel research to find out how to get there. The best route, if not the quickest, was by bus, so we set off at 10.40am to catch the first bus. It was running late, but luckily so was our connection, so we still managed to get there on time, arriving at 1pm. 2hrs and 20mins! A journey that would take just over 1hr by car!

We had to be guided to where we were supposed to be going as nothing was signposted And when we finally got there, the hall (high ceiling) was full of kids, most of which weren't even signing up for the Arts Award. Only 6 kids were signing up proper. This was not the impression she'd given me. I'd explained Callum's problem and she'd made me feel that it would be in a room with maybe one other signee. As you can imagine this was not good for Callum who, at first, wouldn't even go in and then promptly hid!

On top of that the woman we saw seemed a bit unorganised. She dished out a load of papers and rushed through the explanation and then started getting all the other kids who were signing up to show each other how to do something and taking photos of them doing it. Showing someone how to do something is one of the things he needs to do! But obviously he wasn't going to do that with strangers. I asked if he could show either his sister or some of the kids he already knows and she said that was fine - phew.

Another thing was that she didn't tell us we needed to pay in advance, so I hadn't taken my cheque book. I've got the address now to send the cheque to. She didn't even tell us how much it was going to be until I asked!!!!!!

Anyway, I had a chat with some of the other mums, who seemed to feel the same as me (she'd given them the impression it would be in a office not a hall and they weren't expecting to have to do something on the day either). This made me feel like it wasn't just me being stupid. After that, I managed to get the info I think I needed and we left so Callum IS going to do the Arts Award. It does look really simple, so I don't think he'll have a problem with it.

Nearly 3hrs later and we were home. Nearly 5.5hrs of travelling for 1 hour of hell (for Callum at least). Can't win them all and I'm very proud of him for even going in, let alone staying for as long as he did.

Today - nothing. PJ day. Total chill out and it was lovely!!

Cya