Busyknitter

We first decided that we needed to ask for help getting some respite care at the end of last summer. A social worker came to see us in the autumn and the funding was approved at the end of November. 4 hours a fortnight during term time and 6 hours a week in the holidays.

We opted for Direct Payments, which means that social services puts the funding into a bank account for us and we get to employ a carer of our choice. It’s a bit bureaucratic and you have to find a suitable carer yourself, but the plus side is that you remain in control. We have been very lucky to find just the perfect person living literally 50 yards from us. She’s a social work student and already knows T a bit , as she is on his 1:1 rota at Junior Church. But it’s taken ages to get everything sorted; bank account, CRB checks, contract of employment, employers liability insurance etc, etc, etc.

So today was the very first session, 2.5 hours of freedom. In the end we decided we couldn’t let the occassion pass without a family celebration, so Mr. BK, and I have just taken S for a slap up lunch, while T spent a couple of hours happily bouncing on his new carer’s sofa.

Woke up and thought; Hey, it’s the last day of the holidays, lets have some fun! So we threw the kids, our coats and some food into the car and set off for Anglesey.

We visited Beaumaris Castle:

where T hopped about the stones:

We then headed off to a beautiful beach, where S engaged in some serious civil engineering work:

The weather was just warm enough, the traffic not too bad, T was good and calm (well mostly). All in all we had a pretty fab time. The car is a tip again, but who cares

There are few sights more undignified than that of a grown woman fighting with an 11-year old over whose turn it is to do the jetwash

Friday After the usual Good Friday Walk, we drove out to Dunsop Bridge, scene of S’s nemesis on his bike last autumn. This time we stuck to the swing park

I also took a photo of some pretty flowers

Saturday Family Fun Day run by Church This is a photo of Beat the Goalie, with the poor lads in goal dressed like sumo wrestlers. Very hard to stand up once knocked down.

Sunday A proper walk in the Hodder Valley

We saw some

It may look like an idyllic family scene, but T only managed half a mile of walking, then got the hump over something, tried to throw himself into the river, and had to be shoulder carried (by me!) most of the way back to the car. This is part of my business case for the fancy trailer bike (see below).

But hey, we did get outdoors.

Some people hanker after exotic holidays, flash cars, home cinemas and designer clothes.

Me, I want one of these,

Especially when they won’t allow a slightly rude word in a game of Scrabble, even when it is in the dictionary

….you just have to carry on anyway.

Mr BK is away on a long-planned furlough in London and Grandma Knitter is off spending my inheritance somewhere, so it’s just me and the boys this weekend.

For the second week running, we have not been able to start formal respite care, because our lovely new carer’s Criminal Records Bureau form has not yet cleared all the bureaucratic high jumps and hurdles. It’s not that we don’t trust her implicitly (she looks after T at church on Sundays already) but when Social Services are paying you have to do it by the book.

Despite the fact that T is being a bit of a little %”^!^!&*!((*&*** at the moment, S and I decided to do what we planned to do if the respite had started anyway and go out for a pizza. We went to The Olive Press, which serves great food and is only 10 minutes walk from the Woolbasket.

Now anyone who has met T will know that he is very good at eating, but very bad indeed at waiting. Forward planning is the key, so when I booked the table I explained our situation and pre-ordered our pizzas to be ready when we arrived at 5.30pm. And the restaurant staff were as good as their word. The restaurant was pretty busy when we arrived, but we were ushered straight to our table; drinks came instantly and our pizzas within 4 minutes. And boy, what pizzas!

T was so good we stayed for strawberries and ice cream.

What is it someone once said about the corrupting influence of power?

Older son has come home from school with the startling news that he has been made a Library Monitor. And oh my goodness is he cock-a-hoop with his new position. He has a badge and he gets to tell people off even if they are in Year 11 (he’s only Year 7). Best of all, he’s allowed to go into the dinner queue whenever he likes, and not wait for his group’s allotted time.

TODAY THE LIBRARY, TOMORROW THE WORLD!

157: Shampoo bottle fetishist

274: Bible thief

Intention: To buy a basic mobile phone (calls and texts) on pay-as-you-go

Action: Walk into XXXXX mobile phone shop.

Result: Acquire an up to the minute camera phone that synchronises with my diary and contacts on my PC on an 18 month contract.

It’s brill! I love it