Level 2 Chi Kung.
One of Sherlock’s borrowers had asked if Sherlock could go for a sleepover last night and, since two of the children coming to the party are a little nervous of dogs, I was very happy to agree. Last week I tipped some dead pot plants out in the garden and, ever since, Sherlock has been busily tracking them down and dragging them back in through the dog door. So it felt good, after Tudor had collected him, to remove all the various dog bedding, chew toys, pieces of wood and bits of dead plant that had collected in the kitchen and give the floor a good clean. I stuffed all the bedding, toys etc in the garage. I had intended to bring everything back in this morning, but I got involved in other things, with the result that it was all still locked in the garage when Tudor brought Sherlock home at lunchtime. Poor Mr Holmes was rather discombobulated to find all trace of his residence erased! Even once I had brought his stuff in, he was desperate for cuddles and other reassurance that he is still part of the family.
Sinniqua is off to Finland for a few days to do voice overs, so she asked me earlier in the week if I could collect Elias this afternoon and keep him until 6:30 when his dad would pick him up. After-school club didn’t seem to have clocked that someone other than his parents would be picking Elias up but, after a momentary hesitation, they let me take him anyway. It will be interesting to see how the school reacts when I march off with 8 kids on Wednesday, when I collect the little guests for Katie’s party!
I’m guessing that they must have been learning about Valentine’s Day at school as, on the way home, Elias started talking about who is in love with whom in their class. Apparently Sam, Ned, Bobby and a couple of others are all in love with Stella. I can’t picture Stella – so she is either one of the new-ish ones, or she has never made it to any of Katie’s parties. I was intrigued and asked Elias why all the boys are in love with Stella.
Elias: It’s not ALL the boys, it’s just … [reels off long list]
J: So what do you think it is they like about her?
Elias: Well she looks like someone from Frozen and all the boys love Frozen.
J: Really? I would have thought Frozen was more for girls.
Elias: [shocked] No! I love Frozen!
J: Ok. So, do you love Stella?
Elias: Not really – she’s always telling me off.
J: Who do you like?
Elias: I don’t know. I quite like Olivia – because she makes me laugh.
This comes on top of the incident last week when Sam and Bobby decided to up the ante on their game of Connect Four by having a wager: if Sam won, Bobby had to tell the class that he had pooped his pants; if Bobby won, Sam had to show the class his willie. Bobby won, and much to Katie’s horrified delight, Sam honoured the bet. Sam is the same kid who got into strife for taking off his onesie at the class sleepover in December and running about naked. He obviously feels the family jewels are something to be proud of!
It’s always a pleasure to have Elias – he and Katie play together so well and, if I say, ‘Play downstairs’, he stays downstairs. It no longer takes me by surprise when the 6:30 pick up turns out to be 7:45 – I’m guessing that Finns might share this cultural characteristic with Russians maybe – so it isn’t a problem. That is, it’s not a problem for me – it can be a bit of a problem for the person picking him up. If I knew when they would arrive, I would make sure that K & E didn’t start playing a complicated game or watching a DVD just before pick up time but as it is, since I don’t know when pick-up time is going to be, I am obliged to let them go for it – which means Elias is often very reluctant to leave.