Didn’t We Have A Lovely Day

Preparations for days out with baby are not to be taken lightly. Every possible eventuality must be carefully considered and catered for. For example, what if baby overheats or gets chilly, requires sun protection or shelter from the rain, what if he doesn’t like your soggy vegetable puree sandwich and loudly demands alternatives embarrassing you in front of all those happily picnicking families? What if baby runs out of drink and dehydrates, what about nappies and changing equipment, a place to nap, a camera to capture his special day, dummy supplies for tantrums and antibacterial wipes for post farmyard animal petting. Forget anything and you may as well stick a post-it to your forehead, “Big Bad Mummy”.

In typical boy fashion, after putting zero thought or effort into any of the planning or preparatory stages of ‘Chickie’s Big Day Out’, Accountant queries, upon arrival, in his concerned daddy voice whether I’d brought everything for Chickie. “No, I assumed you had”.

Despite anticipating 99% of Chickie’s requirements, I was caught short. It wasn’t so much that I forgot a sunhat for Chickie on a day that turned out to be exceptionally warm for April but more that I wasn’t expecting the unseasonally warm weather and hadn’t even bought his 2007 sunhat yet. Mistake. To be the ultimate mummy, expect the unexpected.

However, some quick thinking and some creative shirt turbaning later- et voila. Yes, Chickie may have looked ridiculous but two mummy points to me for my innovative approach to hat making. I felt partially redeemed as I smothered him in the Factor 50 sunblock stored in my bag for such summery emergencies although the headwear was a glaring advertisement to my rubbishness so no post-it required.

As Accountant sneezed and wheezed his way through the petting zoo, made worse by his request to hold a goat, Chickie and Poff checked out the bunnies, horses, pigs and tortoise.

The bunnies were a hit, the tortoise not so much. Accountant especially loved the piggies and since deciding I looked a lot like one of them, has been calling me ‘Piglet’ ever since.

A picnic, slides, swings, playhouses, tractor rides and trampolining followed. Meerkat and Accountant had a lovely time, especially down the big slide. The babies enjoyed themselves too. The day was complete when Accountant was discovered in the car park, flat on his back. He was doing his full range of ‘I've hurt myself - ask me what's wrong’ faces and took a moment out from the agony to inform us he’d put his back out. “How did you do that just walking to the car?” “Coughing” came the pained response.