Where have all the children gone?

No, do not fret, I have not misplaced my brood! They are still hanging around like left over turkey after Christmas! Over the last few weeks I have been out and about running (yay!) and pushing leaflets for husbando's shop through the letterboxes of residents in nearby towns and villages. This is a thankless task, enlivened only by the sport of avoiding yappy, snappy dogs, completing the Krypton Factor challenge required to open some of the gates I encounter and having an occasional peep in through the windows into someone else's kitchen.

But this is the summer holidays, and the weather has (with the exception of today) been glorious. It occurs to me that I should be tripping over bikes on garden paths, running the risk of being knocked over by a child chasing its sibling around the garden with a water pistol and having my enjoyment of the audiobook on my iPhone interrupted by much jollity, shrieking and shouting. Yesterday I was out leafleting for over two hours, it was sunny, I was in a residential area that had the trappings of small people: swings, slides and trampolines, but I didn't see a single child playing out!

I do sometimes feel guilty about the amount of noise my lot make when they are in our garden, but I'd much rather they were doing that than sitting inside and missing all the lovely weather!

Running has been going really well. I've run 25 miles so far this week, the heat has made it really hard going at times, but I've just taken it a bit slower and carried on. I can tell you that hoovering up the children's left over pizza and Haribo sweets just before going out for a run is not a good idea, however good it tastes at the time! I did wonder if I'd have time to go running today as I was up in London for a seminar for newly qualified teachers. Travelled all the way up there and then sat down next to someone who lives about a mile down the road from me. It was a good seminar, most of it common sense, but some good pointers on behaviour management and preparing for that all important first day. I am 98% excited and 2% terrified - or is it the other way around?