Trip to Telford

3 normal children...

On Tuesday Tom and I headed south again.  This time to Telford for a couple of nights so we could catch up with everyone.

My memory of Telford roads has now officially gone!  I got lost trying to find Sammie's house and the town centre roads have changed so much now that I don't have a chance finding anything!

First stop was Sammie, Jen and Sophie.  Of course they hadn't changed at all, other than they were older (not even sure Sophie was taller - she's such a dot of a thing!)  Sammie got a massive hug as soon as Tom saw her and the children were playing instantly.  If I talk about the children in Telford, Tom normally looks at me blank (except Mae who he still adores) but as soon as he sees any of them, they slip straight back into being friends again - they obviously remember each other in some way (they were very young - only just 3 when we left Telford)

...oh dear!

We were fed very well - a picnic lunch with every type of picnic food you can think of.  Tom was straight into it all and ate well.  The children then played whilst Sammie and I caught up.  Sammie had a new job as Teaching Assistant in the same school as Jen and Sophie (also where Michelle from NCT works and is now Deputy Head Mistress).  I am so so glad we moved away from Telford as every school conversation filled me with shock.  It seems that all Tom's friends in Telford schools are being tested and doing way more homework than him.  The school where Jen and Sophie are try to make sure the children are a year ahead of where they should be - so there is a lot of cramming to be done (really, is there really a need for that - what happened about a 5/6 year old being just that - not a cramming machine?!)  They have spellings to learn, as does Mae - she has to do 15 a week and is tested every week?!  Tom's never done a spelling test in his life.  Also children are put in groups according to ability for phonics, reading and maths.  The children therefore know where they are in the class as do the parents.  Tom is in groups for the same subjects, but they aren't according to ability, or if they are, I'm not aware of it.  I certainly don't know what level Tom is in reading - the Telford mums knew exactly what level (ie level 9, 10 etc).  I think that is best or the inevitable competition would happen (between children and parents) which can only be counter productive.  Sammie was telling me stories of children in the class she teaches (year 2) being grounded if they don't get 100% in their spelling tests every week!  These children will be burnt out before they reach high school.  I am very glad Tom is in a nice sensible school.   There will be plenty of time in his teens to work hard.  Rant over (sorry!)

There were 3 in a bed...

Anyway we both had a lovely time at Sammie's but too soon it was time to say goodbye.  I headed over to the MacConnachie's.  Now they live in a field in the middle of no-where.  Not a chance I would find their place without sat nav.  I'm still not sure where they actually are.  The sat nav got me there without a wrong turning - phew.  I found them all in good spirit - of course.  Rachel and the girls had just returned from a mini break in Wales, but they weren't in too much disarray.  We fed the children pizza, Phil returned, the wine got opened and we all relaxed.  The children all wanted to sleep together so Rachel pulled out Mae's bed to make a large double and all 3 children slept in it.  I thought it would be a no-goer with them all being soooooo excited about it.  Also Mae is well known for not wanting to go to sleep, but it only took an hour before they were all spark out.  A success, and it meant we got some adult time.

Rachel, Mae & Tom in the maze

Wednesday was a day with Rachel and the girls.  She was also minding 2 boys for the day and had decided to head to Weston Park with a picnic for the day.  Perfect.  We had a fab time there.  There was a lot of running around, boisterous play, shouting, giggling, climbing of trees, rolling down banks etc etc.  I saw Tom in a new light as he took it upon himself to look after the smaller children (the two boys were younger than him) and made sure they were all ok, didn't run across roads etc etc. He does have a leader / caring side to him which is great to see.

We got to a maze and the children had a wonderful time shouting at the top of their voices trying to find the way to the middle and then out again.  Tom was in and out and in and out, loving it.  Even Lucy who is normally shy of the maze joined in with the fun, stomping around it.  They were having a ball.

Zonked!

We had a picnic and then headed to the play park which was very very well set up: it was big with lots of things to play on - all well built and thought out.  I think we were there over an hour and the children didn't get bored once.  Tom spent some time playing with the other children and some time playing by himself, he was very content.  Rachel and I were able to chat and chat and chat which was fantastic.  It was a good day.  By the time the mum of the other boys turned up, everyone was tired.  We returned back to Rachel's. The rest of the afternoon the children were zonked out in front of the telly watching films.

3 children sound asleep

Tom and Mae

They had an early dinner, showers and went to bed with no complaint very early (well for them anyway - still late for Tom).  They were shattered!  This meant that Rachel, Phil and I had a lovely undisturbed dinner - so a bit too much alcohol was consumed.  Oh well, they are good hosts and the conversation flowed too easily.  Had a really good night's sleep.



The next morning we had breakfast together and Rachel made Tom and me a picnic ready for our meet up with Helen, Jake and Thomas.  Tom and Mae played computer games - not sure Tom knew what he was supposed to do, but he was more than happy to tinker around.  This was the best photo I managed of them together.  They are still very good friends, but I think Tom sticks up for himself against Mae a bit more now.

Jake climbing

Trashing a log!

We drove over to Attingham Park where we met up with Helen, Jake and Thomas for a romp around the park.  First we did a walk around the grounds before hitting the play ground.  This was a good ole boys day.  The three of them were straight into boys play without any encouragement from us: throwing stones, finding sticks, climbing trees, discovering dens and running, running, running.  I just love watching Tom and his friends play and this was proper playing.

Tom and Thomas got on really well.  Tom doesn't really know Thomas that well as he was literally born about 2 weeks before we moved to Lupton.  It didn't matter though, Tom took on his big brother role and made sure he was fine.  Thomas is just old enough now to join in big boy fun so they all had a fab time together.

Three friends

Jake and Tom (he was having fun - honest!)  

We got to the play park in time for lunch.  Wow!  They have changed the play park big time.  When we lived in Telford the park was quite small and confined within a walled garden. Now it is in a huge big field and there are loads more things to play with - huge logs, tunnels in the ground, but mainly loads of space to run, run, run.  They had a great time.

They all ate up, looked after each other and played.  This, once again meant that Helen and I could chat, it is so good to meet up with old friends. Especially when we can chat about them as toddlers and babies and all the challenges they brought us.  Now, of course there is a lot of school talk, but I've already ranted about that!

Being silly

With the lovely Helen

It was another lovely day,
but at 2pm we had to call it a day and start our trip back home.  Tom was asleep almost immediately and was out cold for a good hour.  Not surprising!  The trip home was fine, just boring - the A49 and M6 are dull.  We got home for 5pm, had a burger each and then Tom was down at school playing football with all his friends (just as well he had a sleep in the car!)  This boy doesn't stop.

Anyway, thank you to our friends in Telford, we had a fab time.