Great week. Jam packed and great !

Monday and Patti came to the house and together, kp and Patti interviewed Sharon (the new support worker). She seems canny. I got involved when it came to the driving section and we went out for a drive with her. She drove fine.

After Patti and Sharon left, Nat arrived and the girls went shopping.

Tuesday and Adele came up with the kids (Abbie and Louisa). They stayed until Thursday and we all had a great time. They are really well behaved and a pleasure to have. On Tuesday afternoon, we all went to Beamish. Perfect weather for it.

Despite they’re being trams/buses between the various parts of Beamish, kp was still knackered by the end.

Here’s  the video of Beamish…..

On the night time we all watched Mamma Mia with pizza and then the girls went to sleep after dp read a Gruffalo story.

kp and I slept very well that night !!

The following day, we all went shopping. Tesco & Pound shop kind of shopping.  Not the most fun, but the girls enjoyed it.

Thursday and we all went to Hall Hill Farm. A few tears on this trip (from Louisa who was bitten by a rabbit). Here’s the video of Hall Hill Farm….

The kids returned on Thursday and despite them being excellent, we always enjoy the peace when they’ve gone.

Friday and Nicky Brosnan (neuropsyche) came at 11.30am. It was a very good session. No tears from kp, and a fruitful session.

Saturday and the next bout of kids – this time, my nephew/niece (Sophie(7)and James(5)). Being much similar ages and being very excited, there were many more squabbles. They’d squabble at squabbling. Good example……

dp :- Tomorrow, we’re going to get up early and walk the dogs
Jamie :- Can I take Elsa on the lead ?
Sophie :- No, I want to take Elsa on the lead !
dp :- Let’s toss a coin for it and then it’s fair
Sophie :- ok
Jamie :- ok
dp :- Now, are you both going to be happy with the result of the toin coss ?
Reluctant nods all round.

dp :- ok……Who wants to be tails ?
Jamie :- I do !
Sophie :- I do !

So, we ended up toin cossing for the toin coss, with me allocating Sophie “heads” because the Queen was female like Sophie. What else could I do !?

Crikey !!! Where is ACAS when you need it ?!

It was a challenging 24 hours, but we enjoyed it all the same. Sophie was a bit of a diva at times, and I ended up having a chat with her along the following lines……

dp :- Right Sophie, we need to have a chat. If something doesn’t go your way, you tend to get into a strop. Do you know what that means ?
Sophie did a wry smile.
dp:- The problem with that is it means you’re being a bit of a spoiled brat.
Sophie gave a puzzled look
dp :- Do you know “Bratz” the dolls ?
Sophie :- Yes
dp :- Well, like that.

At this, she looked like she was going to cry…..

dp :- You see what I mean.

I think I gave her a hug at this point and said that this is the kind of thing she needs to avoid so that we enjoy our time together.

She understood. Later strops we gave no attention to and let her cry them out. It seemed to do the trick. The last strop saw her cry herself to sleep. And she woke up absolutely fine in the morning.

Here’s some video of Sophie and James……

We handed Sophie and James back at lunchtime on the Sunday and then went straight to Marge’s to see Marge, Mark, Tracey, Megan and Tommy.

Marge cooked us a gorgeous shepherd’s pie !     And we played games all day long with the kids.

Last night, we were alone in a quiet house and it was great. It’s funny that at one point, we were really sad we couldn’t have kids, but now we really appreciate our time on our own.

Today (Bank Holiday Monday), we are chillin’ in da hood !