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We did something we hardly ever do as parents today and split the kids in half. I took half a girl and half a boy and my wife took the other halves. And then we both ended up in prison.
Not really, Catie took Phoebe out shopping and to a play date and I took Ernie to Willows. It’s been a little while since we’d been. In fact last time I had had both kids solo and
Ernie had received a minor head injury (though my memory is so bad that I couldn’t remember which kid had got hurt and if I’d had to guess I would have said it was Phoebe). But during lockdown Willows was the place that Ernie talked about the most. He wanted to go to Mr Tod’s House more than anything and yearned to hug Mr Tod. Mr Tod is a fox who is the rabbits’ enemy, continually trying to eat them, but for some reason Ernie loved him the best. I remember quite liking a lot of the bad characters in cartoons when I was a kid, so I think it’s normal. And I love Mr Tod and hope that one day he’ll kill and eat Peter and his friends, particularly the version with James Corden.
But it was great to see him having fun in Mr Tod’s House again and for things to be back to normal. It made me a little emotional to see how happy he was and to think of that weird hole in his childhood where he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere. Jeez, lockdown, what was that all about? Whose idea was that?
You can see Ernie’s arm coming out of the chimney. 28 years old he is.
Mr Tod’s House has seen better days though. Might need a bit of upkeep.
There was no one dressed as Tod today, but Ernie got hugs from Peter and Lily and said he preferred the rabbits now, but I was a bit sad he didn’t get to hug Mr Tod, both for little lockdown Ernie and Mr Tod himself who I bet doesn’t get too much love.
However it was a fantastic, if expensive way to spend about five hours, six if you include the drive, and Ernie had a great time, made some actual human friends (of the temporary holiday variety) and I even let him go on the soft play unsupervised, which is something I have never done before.That’s a game changer and ate up at least an hour. One kid at a time is also quite relaxing, because with two kids together you’re mainly there to stop arguments and punching.
Ernie went back on the pony ride where he’d come a cropper last time and had no fear, though he didn’t need to be lifted on to the horse this time. He made a friend at Mr Tod’s house and played with her for ages and kept disappearing, even though I told him to tell me if he was moving anywhere. But Willows is pretty safe I think - the entry fee alone would discourage most paedophiles and kidnappers.
It was a good day and no one bled (Ernie was scratched by a Guinea Pig, but it hardly broke the skin) and there’s so much to do at this place that I think it was worth the money (we were members for a while, which was worth it when Ernie wasn’t at school as you could spend an hour or so here in the daytime). It was a little victory after the war against Covid, which I am not sure we can classify as a victory over all.
Bring back Mr Tod though, you monsters. Peter Rabbit was lucky this time, Mr Tod only needs to be lucky once.
