Lockdown (And Beyond) Hatchlings

[Kleio]

Oh that is so lovely

[Princess Morripov]

Oh that is lovely Lora

[Squirrel]

Lora that’s gorgeous!

I’ve just made toffee chocolate popcorn with the children, it was so good . My colleague handed me down a kids cookery book and I asked the children what they wanted to cook. They chose about three savoury dishes that are the same as things we make anyway, and 100 sweet recipes .

Anyway the popcorn is amazing so if anyone is interested, pop 75g corn kernels in 1T veg oil (this makes absolutely loads). Melt 50g chopped chocolate, and separately melt 50g chopped/bashed toffees in a small pan with 2T milk.

Spread the popped corn out on a baking tray and drizzle the chocolate and toffee over. I also added a sprinkling of salt to mine. C insisted on having hers in a small bucket lined with baking paper like the picture in the book

[Loralei]

That sounds amazing, and I don't even like popcorn

J is being challenging at the moment. He is either delightful and willingly working his ass off on the garden, stripping wallpaper etc or being seriously obnoxious. I keep blaming the latter on how much time he's spending on Fortnite, but we allowed Fortnite at the beginning of lockdown, so it may just be the current situation.

Bert is taking control of her mental health after a bad run and has A List. Today we have painted her nails, done "therapeutic colouring" (her words ) and jet washed stuff. Tomorrow involves a video call with her friends and possibly jet washing her brothers, apparently.

[wendy james]

Toffee chocolate popcorn sounds good!

Berty is ace. As is J, of course, despite his obnoxiousness! Elvis is the one like that in our house. I heard her shouting I CAN'T PLAY ALONE at P the other day, and nodded sagely in the study whilst saying "well yes, because you are the second child".

I have bought the girls a phone to share that has to stay in the house (and is capped with bugger all data ). Mainly because I'm resenting giving up my phone (as is P) so they can keep in touch with family. It was very cheap with P's discount (and family perks mean they get more minutes/I get £1 a month off my work phone bill) and I guess it's practice in a safe environment. Still about 2 years earlier than I had planned though.

This week's obsession has been Play-Doh, of all things. I've hinted about getting rid if they've grown out of it, but they've been making food out of it for days and even turned a cereal box into an oven.

[emma_p]

Liv rediscovered playdoh too, it’s kept her quiet and happy for ages this week.

George has been obsessed with Just Dance after I finally worked out how to take them up in their offer of a month free trial of their unlimited songs. I came downstairs yesterday to find both kids doing Russian dancing to Ra Ra Rasputin I think they have put loads of new songs and dances on YouTube too if you don’t have the game. The family dance to Watch Me is brilliant

[wendy james]

We have a couple of Xbox (360, so quite old!) Just Dance games, but it's me that likes that. They prefer Kinect Adventures and the double sports bundle (though we have to be careful with anything that's a straight up competition - Elvis DOES NOT LIKE WINNING GAMES).

Speaking of games, my mum gave Elvis an old DS Lite that she occasionally plays with. She's getting a bit frustrated/bored with the games though, as none of them are for children. I'd have taken her to a CEX or Game but can't, and I'm a bit wary of buying second-hand games online. Does anybody know a reputable place to source games?

[Pippedydeadeye]

Chunk went out for a run with his dad last night. First time out if the house in 11 days. They’ve made a pact to run every day fir two weeks and then chunk gets some v-bucks. :woteva:

Squeak has been painting & drawing a lot, but she’s always been creative and happy to sit and do things like that. I’ve had to order a few supplies and she’s been doing some lovely things.

[emma_p]

Thats' a v-buck?

[Cerise]

Fortnite credits

[Glint]

We’re doing piano practice for phone time and PS credits

[Demelza]

Wendy, I bought my parents a Wii recently from Retro Game Exchange – this was via Game but they have their own website too (https://www.retrogamesexchange.co.uk/). It was sent out really quickly and were incredibly helpful when my parents had trouble getting their tv to connect to it properly (sent step-by-step instructions for them )

[Little My]

Oh yes the bribery, we have implemented a 'reading for Battlepass' program here.

[Cerise]

Oh weird! The Playdoh is out here today too. We were looking for something else but D spotted a minion version of the Playdoh Barber Shop.

[wendy james]

Thanks Demelza. Our DS is so old though, they don't have anything for it.

Getting a phone was totally worth it AS I CAN WHATSAPP FOR TEA EVEN WHEN P IS WORKING IN THE GARDEN. Worth every penny of £5.80 per month.

[Demelza]

Which one is it? We have a load of old games in a box in the spare room after the older two had a sort out so I could see if we have anything suitable

[Loralei]

I have bought the girls a phone to share that has to stay in the house (and is capped with bugger all data ). Mainly because I'm resenting giving up my phone (as is P) so they can keep in touch with family. It was very cheap with P's discount (and family perks mean they get more minutes/I get £1 a month off my work phone bill) and I guess it's practice in a safe environment. Still about 2 years earlier than I had planned though.

I bought myself a new phone and gave Berty mine for the same reason. It's PAYG with no credit at the moment, as the idea is she can use it to WhatsApp call her friends. Funnily enough she's far less interested in it than J (although was delighted to get it); it's almost as if she needs to know she can contact her friends, but actually doing so is then less important.

WhatsApping them to bring me tea is my favourite thing

[wendy james]

Which one is it? We have a load of old games in a box in the spare room after the older two had a sort out so I could see if we have anything suitable

Oh bless you. It’s a DS.

[Kleio]

I've just had to console a sobbing Cube. He woke up a little while ago crying because he's afraid everyone he knows will die. He's scared that one of his friends/family will die and that he won't get to see them again. He's worried that the governments will collapse because of so many deaths and that we'll all end up in some post-apocalyptic style world. It was awful to see him so upset and really, he'd added the numbers up a bit wrong in his head. He didn't realise that the population is 66 million so really, 15k is a bit of a drop in the ocean - he was thinking 50% of the population had died. He's also just fed up of lockdown and was battling with himself because he felt selfish. Poor love. We've had a huge cuddle and a big chat and he's gone back to bed feeling a little more content. He's become really interested in the news and has been watching it so I'm going to have try and stop that for a while.

[Zoomer]

Oh poor lovely Cube! Yes, might be best to swerve the news for a while. Tbh, I haven't turned on the news the last few days and I feel better for it, and I'm an actual grownup. Allegedly.