Hooray it’s the weekend. That’s great isn’t it? Watcha doin? Anything good? Great outdoors, go to see a game, shopping? Stuff like that?
We used to have a routine at the weekend. The pre kid routine would have been different to when the offspring arrived but that would mostly have involved getting ready to go and play rugby, playing rugby, drinking, eating and falling asleep on the settee. Sundays were closed in those days though there may well have been a two hour window in the pub at lunchtime followed by a roast dinner and another slumber. I might be wrong. It was a long time ago.
When Tom arrived things changed. After breakfast he and I would go for a walk. It was the same walk every week. Living in Greetwell Gate we were only a stones throw from Lincoln cathedral and that would be our first port of call. First stop was the statue of poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the chapter house and the flying buttresses. Tom and I would do Hunchback of Notre Dame impressions shouting “the bells, the bells”.
Sometimes we would nip in to the cathedral. We would do this through the coffee shop which in those days was next to the chapter house. You could get in the back door of the cathedral that way without having to shell out real money to go in. At the front door there were fierce looking guards with, I’m sure, false smiles making you dip your hand in your pocket for a ‘donation’. It always felt a bit of a result being able to sneak in for free. That’s local knowledge for you.
Then we would mosey across Castle Hill to the castle itself and go and see the Magna Carta. After we had been doing this for a year or so the Magna Carta room got a new guard/attendant. Seeing a delightful small blonde child looking at the Magna Carta she wandered over to explain to Tom what it was all about, not knowing this was about the fiftieth time he’d seen it. You have to pay to see the document nowadays.
Finally we would end up at the Lawn and The Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory. This was a great gaff with different world zones containing plants he had brought back from his travels. There was a path meandering around the jungle and a large pond containing koi carp in the middle. We could easily spend an hour in there pretending we were going through unexplored jungle. There was a bench for me to sit whilst Tom got on his hands and knees and dipped his hands in the water.I might even have a paper with me. If THG took him he would only get a couple of minutes quick in and out and definitely no hands and knees and water. Happy days.
The routine continued when Hannah came on the scene, perhaps to a lesser extent but things changed when more kids arrived on the scene and we moved down the road to a bigger house. Sports clubs, swimming lessons and other family related activities took over.
Saturday afternoon was still the rugby club. The deal was the kids could have unlimited lemonade and crisps as long as I got to stay in the bar. I drew the line at chocolate thinking they would probably not eat their tea. As it was, THG always wondered why the kids came home with not much appetite.
The rugby club was a great place for kids. There were lots of others there and they could run around wild in gangs. There was always some parent or other keeping an eye out on them, I assume.
Anyway that was a long time ago. Today I am dropping Hannah off at the hairdressers and nipping to Wickes to buy some superglue. This pm might watch the imps on the box. What you up to?