Our weekend happy – More classes, some shopping, and a remembrance parade! – Mummascribbles

What. A. Day.

It started at 5.30am with a rude awakening from both the dog and Oscar. Off I went downstairs and attempted to chill out until it was a reasonable time.

Eventually Zach came down, I sorted out their brekkie and then jumped in the shower before going to get the other half up. Our Saturday morning was slightly different to normal from this point because Oscar had his first ever swimming lesson, and so it meant we were all going so that no-one missed his first time! I wasn’t sure how we would manage it, but manage it we did and we were on time for the lessons for once.

The other half loved seeing Zach swim. He hasn’t been for a good few weeks now and loves seeing the progress that Zach has made. And as for Oscar – well it started out really well. He was having a ball and showed off his quite good swimming skills. But then he tried to do a star float, lost a bit of balance, and had a bit of a struggle to get back up, meaning his face went into the water and he swallowed quite a bit. And this really threw his confidence and he was not up for partaking much at all after that. I am hoping that by next week he will have forgotten all about it and be confident once again.

Once their lessons finished (they are both at the same time), we had the joy of getting them both showered and dressed and then we went to the cafe with their friends from class before we had to leave.

Usually I take Zach straight to performing arts, but so that the dog wasn’t alone for too long (he is so much better now but still prefers us to be there), we dropped the other half and Oscar home, grabbed some food for Zach to take, and then got back in the car and up to performing arts we went. The other half and Oscar were taking the dog for a walk and once I had dropped Zach off, I drove down to Pets At Home to get some bits for the dog.

I eventually got home and then the other half was going to pop to the shops, but Oscar decided that he wanted Daddy to stay home with him so I went instead.

I then got back home, very quickly made lunch, very quickly ate it, and then went to pick up Zach. He needed new school shoes so we were heading straight to M&S afterwards. Unfortunately though, they had zero school shoes in his size, and because he needed smart shoes for Sunday, we then went to investigate in Tesco and I managed to get a pair from there. I have no idea if they will last but we will see. His previous M&S ones are destroyed and I only got them in September!

I managed to get Oscar a pair of trainers and a pair of boots, along with a hat and gloves, and then because he had been very good at shopping with me, I took Zach into the cafe to grab a treat. And I of course had a hot chocolate!

We then went home and there was immediate chaos, which didn’t really stop! Both of them were tired so there was a lot of fighting and shouting and the afternoon was hard! I escaped into the nasty cold rain for a dog walk, and then came back to yet more arguing! But somehow we managed to battle through the afternoon, the other half managed to sew Zach’s badges onto his Beavers jumper, and we made it to dinner and bedtime! And as soon as they were asleep, I made a big cup of tea and grabbed the box of chocs before sitting and writing this and watching X Factor! And then I went to bed!

Sunday 10th November

Even though the dog has got better at being left in the day, he seems to have got worse at night. He sleeps in our room in his crate and if I have to go into Oscar’s room, Buster then goes a bit mad and starts barking and crying (edited to add that he was much better on Sunday night!). Not ideal and so we had a disturbed sleep after Oscar had a wee accident! He then woke up a second time but I managed to convince him to get into our bed with me so that Buster would sleep some more, and it meant we all got a bit more kip, waking up just before 7. Zach soon came in and joined us which of course is a nightmare, so I got up with the boys and left the other half in bed for a while cause he’d had a bad night and hadn’t been feeling great for a few days.

Downstairs, Oscar, Buster and I had a snug on the sofa and Zach went back upstairs to watch some Jurassic Park. Eventually both he and the other half came down and it was time for us to get all ready. Oscar had his usual football class and Zach had a very important event to get to as he was taking part in the remembrance parade as a Beaver. It meant that when he had got up, he had immediately got dressed because he was very excited about such an important event.

The other half and Zach left just before Oscar and I, and then we followed going to footie.

Once we were done with his class, we drove home and I had a message from the other half that he was out with Buster and heading to see the parade travel back down the road. I said we would meet him, so I popped in the house to put Oscar in some warmer clothes, popped him in the buggy and started walking up the high street to meet them. As I got further up the road, I could see the start of the parade and started getting all emotional knowing that my boy was in there.

I suddenly spotted the other half who pointed to where Zach was and I spotted him – not only as a part of the parade, but as an all important flag bearer! He was so proud of himself and I was so proud of him too.

We walked alongside the parade and ended with them at the school where they had initially met. And then I went in and picked a very happy Zach up. Buster had also done amazing on the walk, getting lots of compliments and dealing with his first time in a crowd very well!

We went home after that as it was lunch time. We made some food and chilled out for a while (sort of – despite doing all of that walking and carrying of the flag, Zach still had bounds of energy).

After we had eaten, I decided to grab the hoover and mop and cleaned the whole house. When I had finished upstairs, Zach did something that he never does, and decided to go upstairs on his own and build his train track. After I completed my tasks, I went upstairs to see how he had done, and it was a fab track he had built. Oscar came up too and they had a little play, and then I went downstairs while the other half checked it out.

We then all went back downstairs and I had a cuppa, the kids had a sweetie each, and then it was time for me to take the dog for a walk. I was going to go alone but Oscar wanted to come so he quickly got his shoes and coat on, grabbed his motorbike and off we went.

When we got back, dinner was well on the way to being cooked and I played with the boys while the other half cooked. We then ate dinner, popped Oscar in the shower, and got them up to bed where they had a bit of a play with the train track before going off to sleep. I then went downstairs (the other half had already gone down with Buster), and made a cuppa, grabbed the laptop, and finished off this post while trying not to fall asleep.

It wasn’t an easy weekend because there was quite a bit of at home time and that’s always when the kids start arguing. But there were some really special moments, and Zach in his parade is something we will all remember for a very long time.