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A super busy day of parenting today, which leaves me in awe of anyone who is doing this job alone or with more than two kids.
Phoebe has made the football team and will be playing matches pretty much every Saturday, roundly torpedoing my chance of getting back into Park Run. Ernie has started a drama group on Saturday mornings too - which gets him out of our hair for three hours, but he needed to be dropped off at the same time as Phoebe. So divide and conquer for Catie and me.
I took Phoebe to the game which at least was in Hitchin this week. The U12s now play 9 aside on a bigger pitch and the offside rule has been added. The goals are also huge and the goalkeepers are small.
Phoebe could only play the first half because she had two birthday parties to get to today - the first one in an escape room in London. She made a good impact in defence and for the first few minutes the game was very one-sided and Hitchin went one up. It was going to be a rout.
That turned out to be the case as the other side had a fantastic forward and once they found their rhythm they dominated. It was 3-1 to them at half time when we had to dash (the match ended 7-1), but for five glorious minutes we could dream that we were going to win the match and the league and the FA Cup. Phoebe was one of the two coach's players of the match (from a squad of 13) and everyone had fun and I enjoyed being back on the sidelines after only sporadic matches over the last couple of years.
Then I had to whisk Phoebe back home so she could go to the parties with her mum and I got an hour to myself before I had to pick up Ernie. I was all dressed up for a run, but was already feeling knackered and a bit under the weather so I ate loads of biscuits instead.
Which is the same.
I then had to entertain Ernest Herring for the next seven hours on my own, with only an iPad and TV to help. We had a Macdonalds (his favourite food - and foolishly I ate there too) and then went into town to pick up a book about Egypt that we'd pre-ordered. Ernie is at that stage where he wants to own everything he sees, but once bought loses all interest, so I had to steer him away from all kinds of ridiculous purchases. His birthday is less than a month away so it's easy to say we might get him whatever ludicrous thing he's seen as a present. He's obsessed with getting a VR headset and thought he'd found one online for £28, but that turned out to just be the charger. If you meet him and he asks you if you'll give him £480, that's what it's for. He asks most people.
We had a good day and walked the streets of Hitchin holding hands or with my arm round his shoulders, and I know that I only have a limited time to enjoy this immense pleasure. Ah, he's a right softy. He might still be doing this when he's 16.
I am very lucky to have these two extraordinary (increasingly not that) little people in my life, even if I was so tired by the end of today that I hoovered up an entire box of Malteasers, got very hot and then woke up in the middle of the night in a chocolate hangover panic. My body is telling me it's had enough. Only water and gruel for me from now on.
