That little bit more freedom.

A very unusual occurence happened this morning - I was up before both of the girls!  We had agreed yesterday that we needed to go to the library, to return an overdue book, and since the library shuts on Wednesday afternoons, that meant we needed to go in the morning. 

Since the library has reopened, we've started using it quite differently from before.  When they were younger, we used to go to borrow and return books, but also for me to read picture books to them.  Until the renovation and reopening, we would go frequently still to borrow, reserve (free on a child's ticket) and return books, but not hang around very often.  Now we have started using it a place to go and do what we refer to, for some bizarre reason that I can't quite recall, as Horace Time.  Horace Time is generally either some quiet reading, when the girls read a chapter or two and tell me about it afterwards, or they might choose to do some of one of their workbooks or a worksheet I've come up with, or it's one of the rare occasions when I 'teach' them something, usually something maths or English related.

On the way to the library, M & I were walking on our own, as K had forgotten something and had nipped back home to get it, so I asked her if she could remember what the two types of apostrophe were.  She wasn't willing to talk about it, but when I asked Puffy, her toy puffin, she was willing to whisper the answer to him and then he told me!  She seemed to explain both sorts to Puffy quite well, as he evidently understood them and explained and gave an example of each type.  K had caught up by the time we reached the library as we stopped to look at two ducks we spotted in the park, not a common sight as there's no water there!

They took off and headed back in the direction of the river moments later.

And we paused to enjoy the short-lived but very beautiful magnolia blossom.

Once at the library K & M settled down with the books they'd brought with them, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for K and The Stray for M, a book she borrowed a while back from her friend C.  M had also taken a backpack with, among other things, a notebook and pen, and when she had finished a couple of chapters, she decided to start writing a story.  She took her inspiration from the SIM ride we went on twice at the Space Centre and it is about K, M & me going to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.  From the correct use of possessive apostrophes, she obviously had taken in what we'd talked about on the way there!  I think that M's mind goes faster than her hand can keep up with when writing, as it's quite tricky to decipher much of the time, and I do always remind her to leave slightly bigger spaces between words.  The spelling is quite wobbly in places, and generally I tend to point out a couple of mistakes, but always try to mention good attempts at tricky words.

K was still reading by the time M had read a couple of chapters and started her story, but by this time M was itching to get going.  So we left K in the library, while we popped to the shops.  We had talked about having a bit more freedom before we left, so when M asked if she could go to a particular shop on her own, I let her go there while I picked up a prescription.  We had agreed that I would then join her, but she came back and found me as there was a bit of a queue.  This did necessitate a conversation about sticking to what we agree beforehand, as it would have been quite easy to miss each other with the layout of somewhere like Boots, where I was.  The reason she's particularly wanted to go to the shop on her own, was to buy A and I a bar of chocolate to share and then because she didn't want K to feel left out, she bought one for herself and K to share too.  Then, after picking K up from the library and a brief panic when M realised she must have left her puffin in one of the shops (the second one she checked fortunately!), K & M went to the park together while I picked up a few bits of shopping.  M really did seem much more relaxed having had that little bit of freedom and it worked really well.  I think we will do it this way reasonably frequently, as I think it will fulfill M's need, without me leaving my comfort zone too much.

This afternoon, K & M finished tidying their rooms, a protracted process that on M's part in particular involves an awful lot of moaning, and K hoovered hers, M emptied the dishwasher while I hoovered hers for her.  We have an agreement that they tidy their rooms once a month, so that they can be hoovered.  They would both much rather not be able to see the floor, so this is a compromise to keeping it tidy all the time.  I do point out every month it would be much quicker and easier if they kept them a *little* bit tidier, but it rarely lasts longer than a couple of days.  M also finished off her space story and started another one!