A Boy, His Mum And The Viking Conquest

Doing something creative with your child is a great way to help you child develop. For starters the parent child relationship grows. In addition to this your child will learn new skills and develop existing ones. It is also a great way of doing something fun together. I have mentioned before that Rachel, Tom and myself have done projects for school before. These have been making dress up costumes for book days or costumes related to class topics. We have also made models and pictures as required for homework.

Most recently the class topic has been Vikings. Tom has therefore had plenty of homework in relation to this subject. Rachel, our chief stylist and costume designer, did a cracking job of getting Tom to look like a Viking for the dress up at school. Rachel does great job and keeps spending to a minimum by borrowing or recycling items for the required subject. This occasion was no exception. Tom looked great and fell into character straight away. 

Well done Rachel and Tom!!!

A Boy And His Crazes

When we are children we all want the new in thing and even when we are adults we may yearn for the latest crazes. Fads come and go and may come again. They may even stop being fads and become part of everyday life.

Tom and all the children he knows are no exception to wanting to take part in these crazes. In the last year or so I have really noticed Tom wanting to take part. Some of which he was more successful at. I remember several years ago Tom's elder cousin, Leah, being crazy about loom bands and what she could make with them, she was even selling them at school at one point. Tom noticed how this occupied Leah and wanted to take part. She was a master at it. Tom and his helper, me, where most definitely not. Great idea but hard work for our not so nimble fingers.

When Tom discovered Minecraft I knew he had discovered a craze that he would be good at. He is still to this day. At around the same time Tom discovered trading cards. We had Starwars,Skylanders, Match Attax football and rugby cards to name just some. As soon as a kid starts collecting this type of thing they become obsessed. 

Then we had the Pokemon craze. BOOM!!! This currently rules Tom's life. It started with Pokemon Go. It then progressed onto trading cards, limited edition trading cards, Pokemon DVDs and further Pokemon video games. He even sports some Pokemon clothing. A while ago Minecraft was his life and now it is Pokemon for sure.

There is one exception to Pokemon at present. It is the nutty invention that is the fidget spinner. Strange phenomena, but if it catches on then who am I to judge.

The great thing about Tom is that even though he has found new fads there is still space in his heart for many of the old ones. You gotta love him for his enthusiasm on such things.

A Boy And His First Solo Adventure

All is calm in the house tonight, it is brill. This time last week Rachel and I relaxed after a fraught few days without Tom. Tom had been away on his first school residential trip. In actual fact it had only been his second time away from home without Rachel, myself or family with him. The first was his first sleep over at a friend's a few weeks before, school trip training.

For the past couple of years we asked Tom if he wanted to do the residential trips at school when they came up and he was adamant that he did not want to do them. When we did ask we could see that he was uneasy about  them and we did not want to push him. Then, several months ago, we asked him if he would like to go to Grafham Water and he nervously agreed. This was a big step for Tom.

Over several months we prepared Tom for his first big solo adventure. We talked to him about it to settle his nerves. We made sure we packed everything he needed, Rachel even tried to colour code different outfits to make getting dressed easy.

As the time got closer to Tom going away, Rachel and I got nervous. After all we had not spent so much time without him. Although we knew Tom would be in great hands with representatives from his school and his school friends would be there for him, it did not stop the anxiety on our parts. Then the big day came. We all got up as usual. I did Tom's breakfast and went to work and Rachel dropped him off at school with his luggage. Both Rachel and I were conscious not to make a big deal, as we did not want a sad boy to go on a trip. How little did we know? Thankfully, on the day he was not sad and was looking forward to his trip.

As soon as the bus left the school Rachel kept track of Tom's trip through the school's Facebook and Twitter feeds. She was like a detective on stake out. I was kept well informed by Rachel and when there was a gap in the school's social media updates Rachel and I got a bit edgy. No need!!!

After three days and two nights it was time for Tom's group to return to school. Rachel eagerly awaited his arrival at the school by getting there early. On his return he told us what a fantastic time he had canoeing, sailing, orienteering, swimming in a lake and mountain biking. But when we asked what the best part was he said,"The food, it was amazing!"

Tom going away was terrifying time for Rachel and myself, but a great time for Tom. We were glad to get him home, but really proud of how grown up he acted by being away by himself.

Well done Tom, you did great!!!

A Boy And His Quest For His Holy Grail, The Pen Licence

Tom has always been literally creative and is very capable of putting his ideas down onto paper. His story lines and the detail he puts into them are amazing. As a parent I may be biased, but it is true and every parents evening his teacher has commented on this. Unfortunately, Tom has always been very eager to get his ideas down and content generally is more important than presentation, or at least that is what I thought. Then, on a recent parent teacher exercise at the school, I saw how truly fantastic his writing skills had become.

Until recently I had never heard of a pen licence, or even had an idea on what one was. For those that do not know, a pen licence is given out at some schools when a child's hand writing gets to a certain neat level. It is a great milestone and helps motivate children into developing their handwriting.

For several months now Tom was telling us that different class mates had received a pen licence. As time went on he started to Rachel and myself when the next assembly was that they were given out at and that he was hoping to receive one. In actual fact it became more and more apparent that this was important to him, very important.

Finally, for what seems like an eternity in waiting Tom has received his pen licence. I would even say that it has been like his own personal Holy Grail. Tom has longed for this achievement and has finally succeeded, thankfully.

Well done Tom, you deserve it!!!

A Boy, A Sleep Over And Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2

How long have we been waiting for this movie? Too long!!!

Since the original film came out Tom and I have eagerly awaited this sequel. We were hooked from the beginning. To say we were not disappointed was an understatement. Tom and I have always loved superhero films, especially Marvel. We have also always loved sci-fi ones. So when you combine the two, BANG!!! You hit the jackpot with us boys.

As it has been such a long waited occasion, Rachel and I wanted to make it extra special for Tom. We therefore made it special, but boy was it hard work, worthwhile though. The plan was to go for a meal, take one of Tom's friends and then have his mate stay for a sleep over. A few weeks before the event Tom introduced his mum and friend to the original Guardians Of The Galaxy movie and they enjoyed it. It was a bit of a relief to me that Rachel enjoyed it because she is not normally into sci-fi, but luckily it had Chris Pratt in is all I can say.

The closer it got to the day the more Tom and I got excited. The day arrived, last Saturday. We took the two boys to a local restaurant. Two very excited boys that could hardly keep still and there was plenty of school boy humour bouncing between them. We then went on to the cinema. Armed with our pre-booked tickets, popcorn and drinks we headed to the auditorium, with the two very excited boys, three if you include me. This is where the fun started. Online I had chosen central seats and as the cinema had recently had a makeover we all had reclining seats. Reclining seats are excellent and the walk ways in front of them have plenty of room if people had to get by. Unfortunately for us it was Rachel and I having to get up to take the boys to the toilet several times each. However, this did not impact on  the enjoyment of the film. The gang of Guardians kept us entertained. Baby Groot was probably one of my favourite characters of the night. We all gave it two thumbs up.

Then we had the sleep over!!! It was Saturday and the boys were not in a hurry to go to bed, but by 11pm they were tucked up. It took until gone midnight for the boys to finally get to sleep. By this time Rachel and I were pooped, absolutely knackered. The next day the boys played Pokemon together and were quite relaxed, but Rachel and I were still whacked all day.

It was hard work. Was it worth it? Hell yes!!! Seeing Tom happy is always worth it.