Cereals with Podkin

Lockdown 3 through winter is tedious. None of the novelty of the first one, less of the fear now that we've all had covid, and very little outside play because of the cold. It has, though, led to an increase in reading in our house - particularly for Eddie.

Breakfast with Frodo in December

With his Christmas money he chose to invest in a selection of Beano annuals that he reads over and over again. 

After zipping through The Hobbit last year, we are still reading Lord of the Rings together by night. I have a feeling that will go on for many months. We have only read about two hundred pages so far - no need to even bend the spine of the book yet.

Cereals with Podkin

But is a fantasy series by Kieran Larwood that has really captivated him. They are his 'favourite series of books ever in the world.' He read the first book, about a character called 'Podkin', three times in a row. It was the least I could do to secretly order the next story in the series. 

When the second book arrived he threw his arms around me in a spontaneous demonstration of happiness. Yesterday he spent a solid three hours reading it in the morning and then wouldn't come and eat his lunch until he had finished the final seven pages of book two. When he eventually did come and sit down he was very quiet. He told me afterwards that it was because he nearly cried at the end so he couldn't really talk. 

This morning he skipped cheerfully down to breakfast with book three. 'Cereals with Podkin are a great combination, aren't they?' he said.

Now, in fairness, the weather is rubbish so he can't go outside, and he is too young to meet a friend outdoors as his siblings are able to do from time to time. 'Screentime' doesn't begin until 3pm in the afternoon and all devices are banned until then, so there really is very little to 'do' but read, write or draw. 

Still. His writer-English teacher mum is very happy. Especially since he now wants to be a 'bard' when he grows up. Cheers, Podkin!

Currently Reading: A Promised Land by Barack Obama (but should probably switch to The Legend of Podkin One Ear :o)

Quite Nice Children, Really

I have written about this before, but spending time alone with any of my children is a revelation.

Our household is noisy and busy. Mornings are crazy, kit-frenzied affairs. Swimming, dancing, football, multisports, netball - they all feature on different days for different people. Each one requires 'stuff' that disappears somewhere into the ether between the last session and the next. It doesn't matter how organised we are. See my last blog post here for a picture of how organised we are. Breakfast orders are barked out and the breakfast table resembles Picadilly Circus.

And Eddie's voice, as a third child, has, through natural processes of evolution, reached decibels above that of his siblings. Its pitch can be migraine-inducing. Sometimes he makes noises like a Jurassic Park velociraptor just for fun. A genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period regularly lives and breathes - and screams - in our kitchen.

The velociraptor analogy is apt because he is also extremely temperamental and you are therefore always only one wrong step or one wrong word away from getting your head bitten off. 'Terrible twos' bred thuggish threes, leading to ferocious fours and now frightful fives.

Ane he is not the only one. Often it doesn't feel as if we are getting actual human people ready for a day's living, but creatures of some sort. It is like herding cats, it is worse than trying to put a lid on a box of frogs, it is minding mice at crossroads and any other similar idioms you care to mention.

So it is refreshing when, in the relative calm of half term, I get to spend time with each of them individually. They are quite nice, on their own. I was surprised. They can talk sensibly without shouting. They are sort of like actual human people. Even Eddie. They have manners and are polite. They can sort of be interesting. Who knew?

Now to figure out how to break the pack mentality...




Currently reading: Nora Webster by Colm Toibin.