Early Start, Post-Wine

I honestly can’t believe we pulled it off but after a couple of glasses of wine last night, we still made it to the Science Museum by 8:15am. This teaches me nothing about consequences.

River touched everything. He was completely in his element, joyfully darting between exhibits. 

Then came a brief hiccup: a staff member asked him to wait and listen to the slide instructions. You can probably guess how well that went.
Quick dash up the stairs, some tight hugs, and thankfully he chose the correct slide down. We gently moved on.

It was so lovely to see Summer confidently chatting with the staff as they helped her build a circuit. She thrives in hands-on spaces like this.

Later, we found ourselves playing a game that involved choosing between “spray” or “sip” and if you picked differently from your partner, you got squirted in the face. Guessing it was teaching about probability? Maybe. It was fun though.

A girl about Summer’s age joined in. Summer not only taught her how to play but welcomed her into our little bubble for a while, explaining other exhibits and gently guiding her through the fun.
She’s so kind. So open. I was quietly beaming.

We spent an hour in Wonderlab before heading to the place I’d promised Summer: Power-Up, a gamer’s paradise packed with every console imaginable.

Power Struggles & Pushchair Drama

I’d forgotten to pre-book Power-Up (rookie error). Only two tickets left. River spotted Mario and was determined to go in. So in we went, Kike and Summer off to game, me left with the increasingly fun task of removing River.

That task became significantly harder when a staff member removed our unattended pushchair. And yes, it was unattended, maybe because I was mid-battle with a screaming child holding a Sega Mega Drive controller shouting:

“IT’S MINE! GET OFF, MUMMY! IT’S MINE!!”
Spoiler: it wasn’t.

Eventually, we exited and headed to ‘The Garden’, the museum’s beautiful early years space filled with interactive water play, mirrors, sound buttons and building blocks.

River found the giant water station with ducks and boats and was in heaven. He spent 45 minutes playing in total bliss.

Duck Drama

One little boy grew very upset when someone dared touch his ducks. He tried to grab River’s duck and screamed at him.

River, shocked – he’s not used to kids yelling at him – stood firm. That duck was going nowhere.

The boy’s mum swooped in, apologising profusely. I gently shut it down:

“Nothing to apologise for,” I said.
Surely the whole point of SEND mornings is that we don’t have to keep apologising for our children expressing themselves.

The ducks went back in the water. The play continued.

Nearby, a little girl (a mirror of River) jumped, laughed and flapped her hands with delight. It brought me so much joy.

A Teacher’s Twinge

As I stood watching all these amazing children play, I felt a pang of sadness about the world they’re growing into – particularly school.

I’ve been a primary school teacher for 17 years, 10 of those in Early Years and the shift in recent years has been… very upsetting.

We’re forcing kids to sit longer, write earlier, meet expectations before they’re ready.
Children learn in so many different ways but one universal truth remains:
Happy children learn more.

Anyway, I’ll stop there. There are plenty more ‘state of the Education System’ rants to come. Probably after another wine.

Lift Games & Builders’ Breakfast

By 10am, the museum opened to the public, our cue to exit. We played the classic Science Museum game of Find the correct Lift, such fun for everyone especially with River shouting about going to find Andy (wrong museum sweetheart) and headed out in search of breakfast.

Kike wanted a proper builder’s cafe because obviously, South Kensington is swarming with them.

Luckily, I used to work in the area and knew just the spot.

Fever Check & Babychinos

It was there I realised River had a fever. In all the fun and distractions, I’d forgotten he was still under the weather.

And yes, I know we went on the underground again, so now we’re all on a 48-hour infection countdown.

Calpol helped (because Daddy gave it and apparently he’s magic). Juice and jelly beans followed and River perked right up.

Summer ordered a croissant and babychino and looked effortlessly grown-up and cool. It was a lovely moment… right up until she told me she’d lost River’s sunflower lanyard.

I told her off. She got upset.
I’ll order another.

Back by 12:15pm

By 12:15pm, we were home. Because naturally, we cram more into a morning than most manage in a weekend.

Kike went for a nap.
Summer disappeared with her iPad.
The Gruffalo was back on for River.

And me? I just sat down and wrote this.

The Rest of the Day

The rest of the day went exactly as expected: a lot of TV.

I attempted to tidy up and watch something myself, something grown-up, with plot and dialogue and no singing pumpkins. But between Halloween YouTube echoing from the iPad, I gave up and decided to wait until bedtime.

Kike, determined to bring the energy levels up, led a spontaneous jiujitsu session in the garden, which mostly involved rolling around and laughing while they both kept shouting for River to keep the water off the mats! It got them outside for over an hour, and that always feels like a small win.

Then it was the usual: dinner, bath, and bed. River seems a lot better, the shouting is back.

We like to play a fun game in our house called “Guess what I’m saying in under 20 seconds before I get upset and start screaming.” Tonight’s theme? Giant insects.

Luckily, they usually come with a YouTube backing track, which gives me some much-needed clues. River struggles with certain sounds, so understanding him can feel like solving a riddle while defusing a bomb. I’m usually pretty good, we’ve built our own rhythm but even I had a hard time decoding “Giant Weta.”

(For anyone unfamiliar: it’s a giant cricket. It doesn’t look too scary animated and singing)

Fingers crossed a proper night’s sleep will kick the lingering TFL virus out of him for good.I’m holding off finishing anything more serious tonight. Maybe I might actually get to sit through a whole episode of something that isn’t animated.