Category: Blog

And then there was me…

For the last eight years or so I have had at least one child at home for the majority of the day. That all changed on Wednesday when Pixie skipped thorough the school gates for her first full day in school. Of course we have had nursery, playgroups and so on but most of the time I have been ferrying the children to and from school, taking them to parties and trying to cope with their never ending demands.

Of course I have plenty of things to do, the huge pile of washing left over from our holiday has become a mountain of ironing, I finally have time to do some uninterrupted writing, study, get to grips with the piano and catch up with my reading but the house still seems too quiet.

It finally hit me today that I am on my own, the previous two days I have walked Pixie round to her new class room and handed her over to the teacher, so it didn’t seem that different to the usual handover but today she told me proudly that she had to walk around to the classroom by herself. She had a big smile on her face, gave me a big hug and hurried off, her hat falling over her eyes but eager to get on with her day. It amazes me how quickly the time has gone and how much they’ve grown up.

Of course I should be happy to get some time to myself, and I am to some extent but as the same time (whisper) I miss them, it’s kind of nice to have them around and be able to have fun, whereas now once we have managed to get of the door vaguely on time, and then come home again it is time for homework, music practice and dinner. Still it’ll soon be half term and I’m sure by Tuesday I’ll be complaining that they’re driving me mad again! in the meantime I’ll content myself with helping out with dance, library and swimming and try not to worry about them!

Our day at the Olympics!

Sunday heralded our first (and probably only unless we get some last minute tickets!) visit to the Olympics. We were off to Wimbledon and wary of the travel advice we headed off early. As it was a Sunday we didn’t have commuters to deal with and although a little busier than usual the train was not packed and the children were able to sit by a window. There was a thrill of excitement as we passed the Olympic Park and could see people milling about, the main stadium was not yet in use but there were still plenty of things going on. We managed to get onto the central line and again all was quiet and even the changeover for the district line held no problems. We arrived at Southfields at about 1045 and there was the fairly long trek to the entrance, there were taxis operating but not the usual stream of shuttle buses. Our only real problem came getting into the venue, we walked to where we had been directed to enter but were then advised to walk on to another gate as there were less queues. We did just this only to find that this gate was meant to be exit only so the queue was restricted, by now the children were fed up with walking around the outside of the courts and were beginning to moan, in the end the volunteer let us join the queue. We had to get the children to drink their drinks so they weren’t confiscated and our bag was scanned and we were all searched and security wanded. It took me a while to convince Pixie that it was OK to stand there and I was a bit put out that a four year old ended up getting quite distressed for no real problem.

The rain storm that had been threatening to soak us then did so as we got into the venue but the children enjoyed seeing the hardworking groundsmen putting the covers over and then beginning to inflate them. We were lucky enough to have centre court tickets so even though it was throwing it down we were guaranteed play thanks to the roof. We had a wander about and took the kids picture by the huge Wenlock topiary and then we made our way to our seats.

There were a lot of stairs to climb and luckily for us our seats were on the end of a row so it was easier for us to come and go as necessary. Pixie who had hardy slept the night before decided very quickly that she wasn’t too bothered and so she went to sleep on Mr T’s lap! The other two watched attentively and tried to get their heads around the scoring system which I had tried and failed to explain to them. Lunch came after a long first set and again queuing was minimal, the children also enjoyed spending my money in the London 2012 shop and all had new keyrings for their school bags. We got back just as Pixie work up and watched the end of the match before what the children were looking forward to Murray!

They had all made their own union jacks and as the players warmed up waved them enthusiastically, they also went a bit closer and took some pictures. They enjoyed the atmosphere and cheered and clapped in all the right places and were pleased when Murray finished with a win. Having for the most part sat and paid attention they were getting a little antsy so we went for a wander around the grounds. In so doing we walked past a fair few players, had the kids picture taken with the chair umpire for Murray’s match Lars Graff and got a picture of Judy Murray. Davydenko waved from the players area and we saw Ancic being interviewed with his doubles partner as they awaited the end of the rain! A large crowd was gathered under the media centre where we could see Murray being interviewed after his win, as it started to rain again he turned waved and smiled. A hot chocolate later and we wanted to head back to our seats to watch Sharapova, unfortunately it was really raining, we had failed to bring an umbrella with us so ended up buying a couple.

The children were amazed at the noise Sharapova made and struggled not to giggle, Pixie declared she was bored and started to be a pain so after Sharapova finished we headed home, making sure our tickets were scanned so someone else could go and watch Tsonga, I felt bad about leaving early but with the kids it was the right decision. Again we got to Southfields and the trains were busy but manageable, at Earl’s court the volleyball crowds were emptying out but it was no worse than a commuter train. When we got to Notting Hill Gate and changed the central line we all got a seat and soon we were back at Liverpool Street.

All in all we enjoyed the day and saw some great tennis, the worst thing we have found it watching the events on TV and seeing so many empty seats and whilst they are filling them with army members and so on it is a shame that people who want to go can’t, Hpops would have loved to go to the equestrian or diving, and although there are some tickers for the top level events they are priced at top level prices, I keep trying for tickets and apparently there are more going on sale each night so maybe we’ll get lucky.

I was pleasantly surprised at the children’s enthusiasm, they have enjoyed watching the swimming and cheering on team GB, they are able to recognise the union jack as well as some of the other flags and are looking forward to seeing Usain Bolt on the TV as well as Tom Daley. We will be watching some on the TV but there is no substitute for going and soaking up the atmosphere. Lots of memories for the children though and despite the stresses of the day I’m glad they had the opportunity to go to an Olympic event and if they are really lucky we may even get to go the Olympic Park before it all ends!

Olympic Flame starts summer holidays.

School’s out for Summer! This year I have to admit I felt a little sad, no more nursery trips for me now that pixie has left to enter the world of full time school. Hpops has finished Year 3, how is that possible and soon Imp will enter his last year of infant education to be swallowed up into the juniors! It seemed to hit Pixie that she was leaving her beloved teacher the day before term finished and we had a fair few tears, although she is growing up very quickly it is easy to understand how she feels.

It occurred to me that in eight weeks all three of the children will be at school all day and what will I be doing? Well I have now sorted myself out a provisional timetable, on a Tuesday and Thursday I will be reviving my love of teaching as I will be helping out in school. I am quite excited by this, although I won’t be paid I will be doing what I went to university for and helping kids learn, without any of the planning, marking and reporting responsibilities. I am hoping that this may then enable me to get a paid job at some point in the future as I will revive my knowledge and get to grips with the new technology routinely used in the classroom today. On Monday and Wednesday I will be run and then write and Friday will be relaxing and then helping out in the library or with swimming, this is as well as chaperoning various clubs and instrument lessons with the children.

Study resumes in October as well so I will have plenty to keep me out of trouble as well as several Dexter, Criminal Minds and CSI DVD box sets to watch, seeing as how they are not really suitable for children to view! Before that I have to survive the summer, our holiday isn’t until the end of the holiday but I have tried to book some activities in for the children to keep them occupied and they are already excited about the Olympics.

We were all excited to go and see the Olympic Flame on Friday, I was busy watching the tennis until it was time to go. We aimed to arrive an hour before it was due to get to us but even so there was already a lot of people gathering and a buzz of excitement in the air. As people lined both sides of the street of Brentwood we sat the kids on the kerb, they had met some of their friends from school and so chatted along happily, using their ipods to take photos. Luckily Mr T made it as well.

As the crowds thickened the police had their hands full keeping the road open, several cars beeped their way past cheerfully, flags were sold so we could wave the flame through and eventually some police outriders came through high-fiving the kids which added to the excitement for the children. An ice-cream van fought its way though the crowd and then re-appeared opposite us, clearly sensing an opportunity. Further down there was a buzz and we knew something was happening, several vans with dancers from the sponsors and Olympic buses with the mascots came past smiling and waving, we had to mind our toes and the police gave up and closed the road completely!

Eventually after a pause the torch itself came through, held aloft by a white tracksuited torch bearer! Everyone was clapping and cheering, waving flags and smiling, even the few drops of rain that fell couldn’t dampen the spirits. We walked back to the car with many of the crowd and everyone was happy and cheerful, having seen a bit of history and shared it with the community. I even got back into the car for to hear Murray win his Wimbledon Semi-final!

We are looking forward to our visit to the Olympics in a few weeks time and I am glad that we are getting towards the start date now and we can actually enjoy the sport rather than the advertising leading up to it! I am counting down to the Wimbledon Final – I hope Murray can do it otherwise despite all he has accomplished people will continue to write him off as an also ran rather than appreciating what he has achieved already! I suspect however that Federer with his majestic shot making, desire to get back to number 1 and win an historic title could edge him out, but the wonder of sport is you never know, if you want me I’ll be in front of the TV!

End of term events

It’s that time of year, the diary is full of various school events which could be affected by the weather but we hope won’t be. So far so good, sort of.

At the beginning of last week it started, Pixie had a trip and we had a lovely day at Audley end. We found our way to the middle of, and back out of the hedge maze, we spotted teddies on the miniature railway and we ate ice cream on the field. At the same time Hpops was off at a music festival playing piano, of course parent guilt kicks in but you can’t be in two places at one time. Thankfully a very proud Grumps accompanied her and was delighted when she lifted a cup, I was able to go with her for the final performance and she played very well.

Thursday was an event for Imp, the school were raising money for an African music school, in the process the children sang some songs they had learned and played instruments. Friday was the big test, the weather had been teasing us all weeks, at times sunny, at others absolutely throwing it down with rain. For sports day it decided to do a little bit of everything, luckily the event went ahead and as we arrived and trekked over the the athletics track there was a huge cloudburst, this was followed by some rather fierce wind buffeting us. Unfortunately this put paid to mine, and several other large umbrellas which had opened just at the wrong time and been caught out by the wind! I was able to watch Hpops and cheer her on suitably but poor little Pixie was a bit wet and cold so after her races we took refuge in the car for a few minutes before heading back having collected my little imp along the way.

Friday was reports day! I didn’t know what to expect from Pixie’s, most people find her strangely endearing whereas at home she has a tantrum over the word no, the removal of her ipod and not allowing her to basically do what she wants. I was pleasantly surprised her report was good and it seems as if her brains do work for good as well as bad. Imp also produced a great report – again a good surprise as he has had his issues but it seems as if it is all coming together. Hpops gets her report later this week but I have to say I’m sure she’ll be ok.

Saturday was another early start, we had to go to prize giving and open morning and had to be seated for a 930 start, this may not seem early but we had to get all three kids looking fairly smart as well as ourselves, this can be a challenge at weekends as Pixie does her level best to stay in her night clothes for as long as possible and Imp spends as much of his time running around playing football, climbing and racing around in tracksuit bottoms but we did it and we were delighted that Hpops was rewarded for her efforts with a book about horses.

This week is usually the start of my summer diet going haywire due to a severe case of tennisitis, this year however the first few days are fairly disrupted. Monday afternoon was spent watching the smaller two dancing in their show, tomorrow will be spent cheering Hpops on during her swimming gala and finally on Thursday I will get to visit the hallowed turf of Wimbledon. To say I’m excited is an understatement, sure I’m on court one right at the back and the weather is looking a bit iffy but there is always the practice courts to explore and strawberries and pimms to consume! This week the two little children also get to meet their new teachers. They all seem very excited and Pixie is indeed looking forward to going to school all day and I think she will thrive there. Before that she gets to stay to lunch, participate in her summer event along with Imp and go to her teddy bear picnic, something she has been looking forward to since she first started in nursery. Imp is off to his end of year trip and finally the final furlong, the lunchtime finish!

The children are growing in confidence and the way they look at the world is becoming ever more complex, except for Pixie who seems to have things a little confused. I complimented her on her reading skills after her bedtime story and she said ‘Soon I will be able to read to you like Hpops!’

‘Yes,’ I agreed, ‘that will be nice.’

‘Yes,’ she added, ‘because you can’t see the teeny tiny words that’s why we have to read to you!’

I gave up at that point! However despite her belief that I am incapable of reading things other than Peppa Pig, Charlie and Lola and Mr Men I am reading that book, I have to say I’m not convinced at the moment but I will persevere, apparently there is a film on the way…

All change at school

The news today is full of the new curriculum due to hit our schools in 2014, my children will be entering years 5,3 and 1 at this point so of course I am interested, especially as they will probably end up being delivered the new senior curriculum currently in the process of being written. It seems as if there is going to be a more victorian flavour to learning as times tables, correct use of apostrophe and phonics take centre stage, in some places this already happens, as do foreign languages. In fact, it has long since been said that children find learning a new language or musical instrument easier than adults and with an increasingly global workplace awaiting them learning a language at an early age can only be a good thing.

I have no real problems with children learning number facts of phonics either but as one of the people interviewed by the news pointed out creativity has to be encouraged as well, it is one thing to teach children their time tables as a set of facts they can manipulate but they also need to be able to apply these facts, understand the learning behind them so they can use them in practical situations. We know that learning has been targeted to levelled tests and these levels and the way schools are tabled is also going to change, it is not clear yet what is going to replace them. One thing I am not clear on is how this is going to help teachers faced with a crowd of children of varied abilities, learning tables by heart may appear to help them but if they can’t apply the learning it is blnak learning, my kids found one of the ‘exercise’ books we used to have to school. It was full of times tables tests, grammar tests and a variety of simple exercises such as putting an apostrophe in the right place, adding full stops and capital letters, as well as leaning how to add and subtract. It had no pictures and few appealing child friendly colours and they immediately labelled it boring and still say things like; ‘What was school like in the olden days?’

Still half term has come and gone in a blur with the jubilee weekend dominating and a variety of family days before the big return. I am now back to writing every day so that I can hopefully get the second novel written by the end of the year. The rain seems to be never ending at the moment and I think we are all hoping that this means we will have a summer in July and August this year. We have been busy celebrating imps 6th birthday and it is now only a couple of months before Hpops turns eight, and it all seems to have gone in the blink of an eye.

Finally a fun thing we manged to complete over the last ten days was Herman the German Friendship cake. Our neighbour gave us a quarter of her to get us started. The idea is you get given the pre-mixed starter dough and then you look after, feed and finally bale the sour dough cake when the time is up. The children loved having their stir every day and adding the various ingredients. The kitchen did smell a little like a brewery for the duration thanks to the process and at time Herman was a little too enthusiastic and tried to escape from his bowl, perhaps he was offended because it was pink.

Eventually the time came to cook Herman, the kids decided what they wanted to add as the ‘sweeteners,’ we had apple, raisin and brown sugar sprinkled over the top. It took a little longer to cook than we expected but the wait was worth it, I had been warned that due to the sour dough some children didn’t like the taste but mine lapped it up and even wanted more! Herman lasted two days before he was all consumed and the things they learned about cooking and mixing in a fun way, as well as eating the proceeds meant everyone was happy at the end of it. We have passed on the three quarters we didn’t cook and I hope that Pixie’s class have a great time with the stirring!

Our next project is hatching our own butterflies, they should be ready to leave their chysalis just before the summer holidays begin! Meanwhile we are having fun watching the caterpillars and working out how much they have grown and guessing when they are going to start the next stage of their life cycle!

Joyful Jubilee

Sometimes amongst all the bad news about recessions, no-one voting for us in Eurovision and the national football teams not doing as well as expected it can be hard to feel proud to be British! This weekend however I was proud. The warmth and strength of feeling for the queen and all the jubilee celebrations despite the cold wind, pouring rain and crowded conditions were overflowing!

On Saturday we all spent the day in Hyde Park for the jubilee family festival, the place was busy and although we did have to wait an absolute age for toasted sandwiches the day was lovely. The children were delighted to see Mike the Knight, Fireman Sam and Thomas the Tank Engine on stage. I must admit we gave the Disney tent a miss as the queue was snaking around half the children’s area! One of the highlights came at 3pm for Hpops as Strictly hit the main stage. Robbie Savage, Chelsee Healey and her favourite Kara Tointon appeared, we had managed to keep the personnel a secret and it took her a few minutes to realise it was Kara on stage, but once she did there was a lot of bouncing, silly giggling and when she came out in a floor length peach dress for a waltz with Artem an OMG escaped!

By that time the sun had come out so after a few minute queue we all had an ice-cream and the kids enjoyed racing around the park and burning off some of the huge amounts of energy they seem to have the whole time! The finale hit the stage and it was a fabulous Disney concert, Pixies squeals when Belle appeared on stage left my ears ringing for ages! As the pirates and princesses took to the stage accompanied by the west end singers the kids jiggled and sang along. Imp was particularly impressed by the appearance of Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Jessie! The Lion King part at the end was great as well and even the tube journey home was pretty much hassle free. Three happy tired kids that day!

Sunday brought us a mini lie in as even our earliest rising child slept until 730am! We made our silly hats for the party we were attending that afternoon! The kids weren’t as interested in the flotilla as I’d hoped and spent most of their time running in and out of the garden even when it was pouring with rain! One of the hits of the day for them was the candy floss maker – they could each have the colour they desired and flavour! The idea of being able to make it for themselves was also appealing to them and as they were tired even the sugar hit didn’t completely hype them up!

Monday brought Imp’s 6th birthday and he was delighted to receive a mini stereo system and some audio books and he declared that now he was 6 he was able to stay up later and listen to them, just like his big sister! He was visited by two sets of grandparents and started his karting career. For a long time Imp has wanted to go racing but due to his age and height he has had to wait until he reached six. He had his very first lesson on his birthday, he was very excited to put on racing overalls but after his initial briefing realisation set in that this could be dangerous so gave him a bit of healthy respect. Helmet and gloves on he tried getting in the kart which can be awkward but he manged very well and then they were off. The lesson involved getting to grips with the accelerator, brake and steering wheel. He was able to navigate around cones and by the end of the lesson he could even weave in and out of them. At the end of the session the three boys were allowed a free drive as it were, even though it was on a limited part of the track it gave them the opportunity to whizz around the smaller part. My only moment of anxiety came when the boy behind Imp managed to clonk him quite hard sending him into the kart in front as well as making his head shoot forward, he didn’t seem to be hurt and carried on, and ever the pro when the instructor asked him if he was OK, nodded he was and asked what he needed to do to make his driving smoother. He is now eagerly awaiting his next lesson tomorrow and as long as he does well there he will then be qualified to drive the Bambino kart!

Tuesday brought another party, more BBQ food and a bouncy castle which we got three hours use from before the rain came down again, once more tired, happy children and we shouldn’t forget of course that this is all because the queen has reached her golden jubilee – congratulations Your Majesty!

In other news Tumbling Through Life has been released on Kindle and I was delighted to discover that it has been downloaded in the UK, USA, France and Spain amongst others! I am now busily working on the follow up although as we are in half term and the month of June and beginning of July are filled with school trips, sports days and various other child related appointments it could take some time!

What’s the point?

This is a question one of the kids asked me the other day in response to a request to tidy their room! Of course that was far too time consuming them so instead we ended up having quite a detailed discussion.

‘What’s the point – it only gets dirty again’ she said.

I pointed out that by that logic I needn’t bother doing the washing, ironing, cooking or any of the other cleaning jobs as due to the nature of the house it gets dirty again or they get hungry again. I also pointed out that if that were the case maybe Mr T shouldn’t go to work, after all I am sure there are things he’d rather be doing and so we could live on beans on toast, wear dirty clothes and live in a box – needless to say she did go and tidy her room, but it seemed to get us both thinking about things that are important in life.

Later that day all the kids were sat in the living room glued to i-pods with various degrees of noise coming from them, I confiscated them and said that as the sun was actually shining we were going out to get a few bits and then we were going to make hanging baskets, after lots of moaning we made it to the DIY shop, got the stuff and in the end we did make the hanging baskets. To some extent they must have enjoyed it as Pixie delightedly told her teacher all about the yellow snapdragons this morning. It made me realise how different their growing up will be to mine.

For us we were out and about on our bikes with every opportunity or playing with friends, we’d walk to school and back on our own by the time we were about Hpop’s age without needing a mobile phone to track our whereabouts and we could survive until the next day without have to use facetime or the internet as they weren’t there for us to worry about. Don’t get me wrong I am Facebook, twitter affiliated and fully i-pod, i-phone etc functional and I won’t deny that on rainy days when they can’t agree what to do they can be a boon but we would have played board games, used our imaginations to play games or built lego. My children still do that but to a lesser degree, everyone is much more safety conscious and theses days children are much more protected. We are lucky in that we leave in a quiet bit of a cul-de-sac, so in some ways the kids do get a taste of how I grew up, able to play outside with the warning to stay in sight but usually pushing our luck and staying where we could hear ourselves being called, of course we didn’t think about any possible dangers but we had fun.

This week we had a crisis when the very old X-box finally creaked to a halt, cue lots of hysteria and how imp and Hpops couldn’t possibly cope without it. I must admit I was peeved, Mr T was away and despite my efforts to find a cure it was after a variety of tests pronounced no longer working. In the end to preserve both my sanity and Matthew’s a new one was procured and again it reminded me how much things have changed, I still remember the good old spectrums! Then it occurred to me that the time I spent playing on that, and the time I was thrilled when my Dad taught me to get an old dragon computer to type my name 10 times isn’t so different from the pleasure they get from finishing a game on the X-box or i-pod! Technology may have moved on but the feelings are the same.

What I most want for my kids is for them to be happy, I haven’t got it worked out what I want them to do as I don’t think it is up to me to tell them. I hope that we can give them all the opportunities they need to find out what they are good at, what they enjoy and that somewhere between the two they can work out something that will make them happy. At the moment Hpops wants to be a teacher, a writer, a famous (that word again) and a dancer, imp wants to be a racing car driver, a fireman and a policeman and Pixie wants to be a fairy princess and a mummy! I’m sure they’ll change their minds several times but for the moment we’ll keep letting Hpops go riding and Imp will be karting for his birthday, as for Pixie, she has a dressing up box full of fairy wings and princess wings to keep her happy – the mummy bit can wait for a long time! As we drove to school and they decided to play cloud spotting I came full circle, I remember playing that game and loving making up stories about the shapes in the sky whilst trying to work out while they were there.

So in the end I guess I hope they come to realise that while tidying and cleaning may be boring they are necessary so we can enjoy the pleasures of play and family time and cloud spotting!

What next?

This little phrase when coupled with three kids could mean almost anything but in this instance it actually refers to me! The marathon is over and although I am still running a few times a week I am in the position of fitting it in around my life rather than fitting my life around the running! Not only that nut Pixie goes to school full time in September, so once I have survived the onslaught of the summer holidays I will in a way be a free agent.

For some this might seem their idea of heaven but after four years of looking after the kids and running around like a looney I know I’ll need something to do. Whilst running and housework can account for some of the time and the trips up to the school for music lessons and meetings as well as helping in the library and with swimming I feel I need something else to do. As a result I have been looking for something part time, feeling this would give me the best work/life balance. It then occurred to me however that this would mean having someone to pick the kids up and drop them off as well as be there for any other training days and so on probably resulting in more hassle than pleasure.

I can pick up the writing again but this can in a way be rather isolating – it is difficult to talk to other people when you’re engrossed in your own little world and whilst I do want to pick the writing back up again as well as try to catch Heather up on piano as she is now way ahead of me, I still felt I could do with ‘something.’ I considered supply teaching but even there the hours would not be compatible with the kids hours so more stress. As a result the only think I could thing was to do some voluntary work, preferably at the kids school, although not with my own ones so that I can at least get myself up to date and get back into the idea of being in the class room.

I also wanted to pick up me study as I would love to train as an education psychologist but need to finish my courses so from September I am hoping to do a couple of days in school, a couple of days of writing and some study, – I guess that should keep me nice and busy as well as keeping the house clean, doing some exercise and trying to review books as they get sent to me! That way playing the piano and cross stitch can become hobbies as well providing I am not too tired! This should result in me being more stimulated and satisfied and therefore more helpful to the children rather than us all taking each other for granted.

The summer term is now in full swing and as we approach June the list of events to observe or participate in is growing rapidly – sports day, swimming galas, dance shows and parents evening just to name but a few as well as trips for all the kids to various places. Whilst I love the busyness that leads up to the holidays it can become exhausting as well!

It struck me recently how much the kids are growing up – it wasn’t long ago that they needed help with dressing and so on and now they are in the main independent. The weekends now are filled with activities and parties but we have persuaded our elf that he is allowed to come downstairs and fix himself a bowl of cereal and watch TV if he so wishes. It also stuck me how different their childhood is compared to mine – they play outside and in the garden as well as read and colour in and play games but their lives are also filled with gadgets. Since they were small they have been able to operate various ‘i’ gadgets competently and move easily into new technology! Pixie was practicing her alphabet recently and instead of x for X-ray or Xylophone we got X for X-box! How times have changed!

My Marathon Experience

Yesterday I ran the London marathon – yes, really and it was difficult, but yet in a bizarre way enjoyable as well.

The day started early with tea and toast and then a drive to the train station, because our local line had engineering works going on I had to journey across the Queen Elizabeth Bridge and we could make out Canary Wharf, where I would be running around. As I arrived there were lots of other runners arriving, bright red kit bags in hand also arriving and the moment I arrived on the platform you could begin to feel the excitement and anticipation. There was a lot of chatter on the train, as well as the smell of deep heat and ibuprofen gel!

Soon enough we arrived at Blackheath in glorious sunshine, a steady stream of runners crossed the grass from all directions making their way to the blue start. Music was blaring, Lucozade sport was being drunk everywhere you looked and the number of banana skins was immense! Having queued for the toilets once I grabbed everything out of my bag for the run and then went and dropped it off at the relevant baggage lorry and then queued again. To be fair there were enough toilets that only a few minutes were spent waiting, others braver than me used the female urinals but I decided I’d rather queue. I watched the start of the elite women’s race and then headed over to my start zone, right at the back. Again there was lots of chatter a mix of people who had competed before and others, like me who were nervous first timers. Quarter to ten finally ticked round and after a couple of minutes we began our slow shuffle forwards, it took about ten minutes to get over the start line and then we were off and running. The sheer sea of people was mesmerising, the costumes were amazing. Everyone seemed happy to be there and be taking part. From the first step to the last the support was amazing, no spare pavement anywhere.

The thing that caught me by surprise was how hot it was, the forecast had been for showers all week and in the end it didn’t rain until about 4pm by which time I was fighting my way through the crowds trying to find my friends and family! The run itself was going well, the Cutty Sark section was amazing and I was making good progress, I did get overtaken by a huge pink nurse which looked very heavy and a rhino and it was great looking at all the costumes and the messages people had on them as to why they were running.

I was starting to feel hungry heading towards Surrey Quays when I spotted some familiar faces in the crowd. I was delighted to see the kids and the big bag of jelly babies they had! A couple of handfuls later and I was back on my way. Crossing Tower bridge was amazing, the noise and the colour as well as the landmarks of London was amazing. Then came the turn towards Canary Wharf, those that were faster were already on their way back heading towards embankment and the finish line. For me though there was still a hard slog and still no sign of the promised rain!

As I came into Canary Wharf I couldn’t help smiling as the runners came to the underground roundabout and all started walking and stretching, after all it was one of the rare places that no-one could see you! Emerging back out of the tunnel and running again into the noise of the crowds and cheers. As I ran through the Limehouse section and people began to slow down and walk I could hear some of the kids in the crowd saying ‘come on, you’re meant to be running.’ Their parents tried to shush them in vain but it did make me smile, there were loads of people handing out oranges, sweets and even custard creams! As I came into the part of Canary Wharf that I properly recognised I saw more familiar faces and then saw the kids, hubby, even more friends and my Dad and Step-Mum all together! At this point I grabbed the school Travelling Teddy as Pixie had asked for him on purpose and ran round with him. Luckily it was at the point where Canary Wharf loops round on itself and so I was able to give him back about a quarter of a mile later but we had pics of it. Mr T even managed to capture some pics of runners doing the YMCA moves by the Lucozade bus at mile 19. As I left Canary Wharf energy levels began to fade, I knew I wanted to run the last bit so I slowed down and tried to save some energy. The Lucozade jelly beans came in handy and I power walked until the Rotherhithe tunnel. Coming out of there onto embankment was another highlight! The noise was a roar, charity boppers and notices were everywhere and you couldn’t run a step without someone cheering you up. I had seen the Great Ormond Street Caterpillar, several rhinos and the London Pride beer bottle.

As I closed in towards the finish I could see the dark clouds gathering, once through mile 24 I knew I was nearly there so I tried as hard as I could to keep up an even pace, mile 25 arrived and then I knew I didn’t have far to go! As I ran past the London Eye to my left, Big Ben in front of me and then turning towards Birdcage walk the countdown began. The noise in the finishing area was immense and the atmosphere was brilliant, I did run ever so slightly more quickly for the last 200 metres. I went up the ramp to have my timing tag removed, was given a medal and a goody bag containing my finishing t-shirt and the famous foil blanket and then the heavens opened.

The exhilaration of finishing was amazing, the sights I saw all day inspiring but honestly I won’t be doing it again. The amount of effort the runners put in, especially those in heavy costumes is monumental. Perhaps the biggest test was reuniting myself with my friends and family, trying to make my way through to where those with ‘T’ surnames were supposed to congregate was awkward, we then had to make our way out of this area to Westminster tube station. As some points the station was closed due to the heavy foot traffic in the area but when we eventually came to the platform the train was not too crowded. We had decided due to the heavy rain storm not to hang about, I was eager to get home and rest my aching legs.

I was thrilled to be presented with a huge Millie’s cookie from my family and once we got home, with my legs feeling decidedly jittery – the adrenalin having taken over I had a hot and bubbly bath. I discovered a huge blister on my left foot – a first for me and a purple toe on my right foot having been squashed a few times en route by other runners and stray bottles of water and lucozade! By then my legs gave up the ghost and I stayed in bed occasionally moving to try and loosen up the muscles that were now tightly wound! I feared the worst this morning but surprisingly once I got moving I was OK. If I sat down for too long it was difficult to get back up again but as the day has gone on the tightness has eased. I think it will be a couple of days before my legs feel completely normal again and I am not planning any type of run until next week!

What has amazed me most is the support both during my training, the race and today and the fantastic generosity of people My initial fundraising target was £750 but to date the total without gift aid is 1498 practically double (and with gift aid on eligible donations it is £1742) After six months of training, and a time of 5.25 for the marathon I am happy to say I’ve done it – from now on I am definitely going to be a ‘fun-runner’ from now on running a couple of times a week to keep fit! Having said that the experience of running the marathon, seeing the costumes, the determination and the sheer organisation of it from the port-a-loos, to the charity volunteers, Saint John’s Ambulance and the people giving out water and Lucozade is unique! There are some down sides as I got nearer to the end I saw those who were struggling ,fellow runners helped them on and others stopped for a massage and plasters, I did see a couple of people who needed more medical assistance and it does make you realise who hard it is, however there is an extent to which I enjoyed running the marathon – especially as I know I’m not going to be doing it again!

Well done to all those who ran, especially those of you in costume and thanks again to all those who watched live or on telly and tracked me and even more thanks to those who gave up their money for the charities I supported!

Best foot forward for the Easter Bunny

The kids are excited – tomorrow being Easter and all that brings with it school holidays and the promise of chocolate. For some reason despite constantly referencing the Easter Bunny they don’t seem to believe in his/her/ its power to steal Easter eggs as well as deliver them! Predictably as soon as the holidays began the weather changed from glorious sunshine to cloudy with occasional showers, worsening to deep snow depending how far North you were!

Despite that the holidays began quietly, filled with boring but necessary tasks such as dental check-ups all run, (thank goodness none of us had any problems!), opticians for Hpops and the confirmation that she is slightly long sighted and then a visit to the hairdressers for all so that they could be tidied up! The big two enjoyed a craft and cooking day at Bake it Make it, a business run by local mums. The kids made cornflake nests, chocolate thins, easter bunny pegs and easter wreaths which have been proudly hung on bedroom door handles and have certainly brightened the place up. Not only did they get all this with a break for lunch fitted in but the two ladies running it seemed unruffled when we collected the children and unlike my house when any kind of craft work is carried out it did not look as if a pillow had just exploded or the entire contents of the cooking cupboards spilt all over the floor!

On Thursday I aged another year – I celebrated by taking the children to Pizza Hut and then bowling where they wasted no time in absolutely thrashing me! I did redeem myself by winning an angry birds pig teddy from one of those coin hungry arcade machines, the fact that I could probably have bought the thing for about half of what we put in it was lost on the children, all that they cared about was that money went in and a teddy came out! In the evening we had a movie night and I was delighted when all three of them sat and watched the first Harry Potter film. Copious amounts of popcorn probably held but Elf really seemed engrossed in the film and even Hpops acknowledged that it was OK!

Yesterday was yet more errands and preparing for Mr T’s birthday – he celebrates today and to be honest after Elf’s football, in the cold with no cafe serving hot drinks, we’ve done very little. Watched the boat race which turned out to be very dramatic, football focus, read a little, played with the kids a little and will soon be blowing candles out from atop a muppets birthday cake – chosen by the kids of course because this year we couldn’t repeat the feat of the football cake from last year.

Marathon training is now tapering and at last the end seems to be in sight, just over two weeks to go. Last week I managed just over 20 miles and still felt relatively OK! It is nice to think that most of the hard training is done and dusted now although I am still trying to raise money for the charities I am supporting.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/melsmarathonmadness

Tomorrow is a half marathon and then lots of chocolate. This week I have been doing other preparation in terms of trying to work out how to get to the start line on race day! My initial plan to walk five minutes down the road, jump on a train to Liverpool street then switch to the tube and so on has now been disrupted due to the fact that upon checking the train timetable it appears there are engineering works taking place! After a brief panic and the discovery that all the marathon coach/breakfast packages had been booked I decided that what will have to happen is a journey into Dartford, this will take me straight into Blackheath – hopefully in plenty of time. My first goal is to offload my kitbag and get to the starting point on time rather than still be queueing for the toilet when I am supposed to be at the start, which is what happened to me at the Brentwood half a couple of weeks ago, it didn’t particularly compromise my race but had to start from the back.

The nerves are beginning to kick in as I look at the route and read all the information in the official magazine which describes what happens at the expo that has to be attended, work out what I need to take with me and even worry about who is going to stand where and try to ensure I remember all of it so I don’t just jog past and ignore them. I am hoping my GPS app will still work but knowing how many people are going to be around this is not guaranteed.

Wishing everyone a happy chocolate filled Easter!