Emma’s birthday this year was a drawn out affair. Falling in half-term she had her party the weekend before. This was to have been a trip out to a cinema and restaurant with a few friends but, due to some confusion over cinema schedules (at one point it looked like Godzilla was going to be the only film on!), we actually ended up having those same few friends round to watch a film at our house which proved very easy for us. I donned black tie to serve lunch. Emma chose a selection of films from Google Play/Amazon Instant Video in advance and, after consulting her friends and tossing a coin for the tie-breaker, they ended up with the somewhat surprising choice of Charlotte’s Web, a film released before Emma was even born!
On the day itself, the weather forecast looked particularly poor. As a result, we deferred hunting for Fairy Doors at Furzey Gardens until later in the week and joined the crowds at Winchester Discovery Centre instead. I’m still not sure why Emma enjoys going there so much. The previous week she had declared that science was her favourite subject at school only to spoil things somewhat by adding that she particularly liked the bit where God made the world! Typically, of the presents she received, the small dressable dolls that Granny Sue had picked up in a charity shop appear to be the favourite, outlasting the novelty of the loom bands. She had to wait another week to move in to her main present from us: her own bedroom. In many ways it’s sad that we don’t get to listen to them chatting away to each other after we’ve said good night and, once Emma has a little more furniture, there will be the inevitable tears as they try to divide up the books and soft toys between them, but I think they will both appreciate having a little space that they can call their own.