Up With The Lark

Up early this morning. Not with the lark really, more with the pigeon. There are lots of those here, but I don't think I've ever seen a lark. Perhaps I don't get up early enough.

Anyway, I was so cross with myself for not getting our walk in yesterday, that I decided to get my lazy backside out of bed so I can get some work done before Thomas wakes up. This is how my life often works. Single mum working for myself from home whilst educating my son at home = getting up early to do my work and going to bed late for the same reason. I don't want to be 'back-of-head-mum', sat at a computer all day while my son has to entertain himself. So, the only way to ensure this doesn't happen is to get a couple of hours in first thing and then around six hours in during the evening after he's gone to bed. Bishety boshety, full day's work while my son sleeps. (I check emails periodically throughout the day and I take phone calls.)

Yes, it's hard work, but it's worth it. I think I have a fairly good work:life balance.

Thomas is ready for the walk. Today, we are taking our nature book, a crayon, a notebook and a pair of binoculars with a compass on them. I have also written a list of 'Missions' for Thomas to complete while we're out. My experience is that children rarely fancy going for a walk. They like having a goal. Well, mine does anyway.

The missions are just handwritten on to a piece of paper:

1. Jump in five puddles.
2. Do bark rubbings of three different types of tree.
3. Take photos of six different tree leaves.
4. Spot one thing for every colour of the rainbow. (Obviously we're talking about the seven colours Newton identified, not the whole spectrum <g>)

Off we go! Talk amongst yourselves :D

...
Tick Tock Tick Tock
...

OK, we're back now. Went to beautiful Bushy Park. We're very lucky to have this place right on our doorstep. The weather wasn't terribly kind, so we had to abandon the bark rubbings, but on the plus side, the puddles were bigger and more plentiful. To every downside, there's always an up :D

Thomas asked me how squirrels can run up trees so easily. Do they have sticky feet? I love the questions he asks. Children's questions give you an amazing insight into how their minds are working. Thomas is always asking questions and wanting to investigate things. Today, we came home and looked up oldest trees and largest trees.

All that learning, and a lot of walking too. Today's tally is 9102 steps and it's only 5pm, so I think I'll get to 10k today :D

Jane x

Quiz Corner
The answers to the questions from yesterday are LEGO and 14 MARCH (Pi is expressed as 3.14 - so third month, fourteenth day).

Today's two to tackle...
1. Our first question is one Thomas asked the great Kevin Ashman. We went on holiday a few years ago with Kevin (an awesome tour guide!). When we were in Dieppe, Thomas proudly told him that Captain Webb was the first man to swim across the Channel. Then he turned to Kevin and asked: 'Who was the first person to swim the Channel from France to England?'. Kevin didn't know. Do you?
2. Again, inspired by Thomas: 'Which is the largest known living tree in the world by volume?'

Answers tomorrow :D

Livid Thought Of The Day
Self-service tills. No, there isn't an unexpected item in the chuffing bagging area! Livid!