Mid-Term: Day 1

OH, HOW I have changed and grown.  This is not my first mid-term break hence the fact I will not be found sobbing somewhere.

Fact is I was really looking forward to the break.  Couldn’t wait in fact.  A whole week off school which means we are not tied to the clock.

Okay there is one appointment that we have to keep but I can live with that.  The rest of the time we are free as birds!

And today was a bank holiday.  Where the clocks went back.

The clocks changing would have thrown me into a frenzy a couple of years back.  I lived in fear and absolute dread of that extra hour.  Let’s face it; only those in their 20’s and 60’s benefit from those three thousand six hundred seconds. 

 I had to Google that. 

Anyone else *read those with kids* are forced out of the scratcher at the ungodly hour of 4am because their anti-sleep toddler is usually up at 5am.

I was that parent.  I still have not managed to gather the words that come even close to describing the horror and upset I experienced during those dark mornings.

Anyway I am not there anymore.  Thanks be to god.

This morning I was gently woken at 9am.    9am on a bank holiday Monday morning.  I’ll take that.

The boys were downstairs; possibly watered and fed.  Probably not but I didn’t care.

Much.

It was 9am.

By the time 10am rolled round I was up and dressed, the boys were fed, a picnic was packed and the kennels down the road contacted to see if they had doggy day care room for Juno. 

They did. 

Lovely Liam felt it necessary to leave strict instructions and roared out the window “don’t torture her!” before we scorched off towards the M9 in the direction of Dublin Zoo.

Because the Dublin City Marathon was taking place we thought it best to park in the Red Cow and take the Luas as far as Heuston Station and then *don’t tell the kids* walk to the Phoenix Park and the zoo.

There was a near miss in the car park where one of the boys declined to heed the “no running!  We’re in fast car territory” warning.

It was a lesson learned for all of about 5 minutes but we have to go with what we’ve got. 

It was great.  We were jammed into the Luas like sardines complete with buggy and spent the next 10 stops telling the kids to mind the door, hang on and we’re not there yet.  Our kids are bolters and an open space or door to them is a signal to run.

It was a great day and if I were to do a monetary breakdown it would look something like this:

Picnic supplies in Lidl €16

Parking in Red Cow (for the day) €4

Luas into the zoo (return) for 4 kids and 2 adults €16

Admission into the zoo €55

Coffees & ice cream in the zoo €12

Doggy day care €10

Gift shop (pocket money from nana) €24

What‘s this Carlsberg says:  A fun family day out where we are guaranteed exhaustion at the end of it?  Priceless.

Mid-term break:  you haven’t broken me yet and I’m not about to let you!!