Birthday week
After a week of "this is the last time I'll watch Return of the Jedi/eat pasta/wear green socks, etc, when I'm 11," Nick celebrated his 12th birthday on Monday.
Well, as is the custom in our house, it's the start of a birthday week, with special teas/treats and pressies.
What's made it different this year is the lack of actual gifts – he wanted money from everyone, to save up for a PS3. Easier to stage-manage, but not as fulfilling to give.
I'm not a fan of computer games, as I've mentioned many times, but it's got to the stage where I'm giving in gracefully.
There's really no point in buying a 12-year-old a set of hand-crafted wooden animals when they'd rather be glued to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Ah, well – it was nice while it lasted. But I did manage to buy a couple of Lego sets he still wanted and a badminton racquet, so he did have something to open.
The last word, though, had to go to one of our more eccentric friends, who gave him money – in Australian dollars – because "it looked more".
Both kids were away at Scout camp last weekend, in appalling weather – frost the first night, torrential rain on Saturday.
Now for Nick, who's a seasoned camper, this isn't a problem. His way of coping is to never wash, clean his teeth, change his underwear and wear every bit of clothing at once. A bit like Joey in that Friends episode.
He rang me on Sunday morning, dressed in five tops and four pairs of socks. He didn't mention trousers, but I presume he hadn't left them out of the equation.
But it was Vanessa's first time at camp, as a volunteer helper. It was not a good experience at first. She doesn't do rain, frost, mud or a lack of hot water. Imagine Margot in the episode of The Good Life when she has to pick vegetables in mud and you get the picture.
In fact, she actually came home for an hour on Saturday afternoon. The camp was only at Stocksfield, so her and another helper came back for a hot shower while the kids were on a hike.
I think she would have happily stayed at home until I made her have a shower, got some soup and paracetamol in her and told her to stop being such a jessie.
And she got to the end – and felt great for having done so.
Getting the kids back from camp proved a little more tricky.
I don't drive and Gary was trapped in Shields working on the Great North Run.
My friend Claire, who was going to pick us up, got the lurgy and panic overtook me. I had visions of an 80 taxi fare, until sister-in-law-type-thing Susan came galloping over the horizon, not on a white charger, but in a Citroen C3.
I have to say a huge thanks – and sorry for us bringing half of Northumberland's mud back in your once-shiny car.
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Weather for Sunderland
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South west
