9-2-2002

The School Run

Soon after 7.00 a.m. I make moves to get Zozo and Darlingest up. I start gently, with the curtains. TBT joins me and climbs up on the desk I have made in front of the radiator beneath the window that offers a panoramic view looking South East towards Seaford Head and the English Channel. A cinematic sunrise is forming. Jut as well, TBT is ranting about watching TV and Zozo is loathe to get up. Soon I have them both looking out at the sunrise. The foreground is made up of dense heavy purple bishop robe clouds, above the sky thins to blue and above our heads there is still a hint of night. We spot a dragon forming over the rooftops. Patches of purple in many shades splats teh sky. The blue brightens through turquoise. Our eyes are protected, shielded by the lower clouds. They push and shove. I am about to lose it. I suggest that all the fish in the sea have stuck their heads out to take a look. I tell them as much. They buy it, adding that they can see dolphins.

Darlingest is numb with tiredness. I need to get Zozo and TBT dressed. I use an electronic egg timer to good effect. I want to see if they can undress in under ten seconds. They can. Zozo is yet to get under six seconds and TBT just gets in under ten. Getting dressed takes longer. I give Zozo two minutes. She does it in one minute and six seconds – a record. TBT refuses to be timed, just as well, it takes four or five minutes. He has to be distracted by more antics out of the window just to get his socks on. A failing I’ll have to deal with later is that he only get one T shirt on instead of the two, a short sleeved shirt over a long-sleeved shirt that to my eyes gives him the impression of an American Surgeon. Our way of making sure he is warm, until we came up with this devise he would run about in a single T shirt. He refuses to wear other tops much of the time much of the time he storms about at such a rate he might not need any other layers, but to stave off colds and coughs we’d prefer him to be warm.

We were doing final through breakfast, TBT lining up ‘Monster Inc’ square nibbled from Nestle across the table, Zozo content with a Weetabix, but they get into a Lego building frenzy and are loathe to give it up. Meanwhile I go upstairs for I know not what, tidy up some books and am distracted by a year old copy of Empire magazine.

Out. Zozo asks what ‘Noon’ says then what it means. I tell her that there is also a ‘midnight. She wants to know if there is something shorter. I have to say I don’t know, making a mental note to check it in a thesaurus tonight. There is talk all the way to Lewes, for twenty minutes.

It’s a humid heat, a heat that makes you sweat in your clothes, that makes you flush and thirsty. There’s a tang of chlorine and recently cleaned tiles, the gently wash and splish splosh of water lapping against the pool side and hands hitting the water.

The learner pool is empty. I try to tempt TBT in for a dip but he gets it in his head that he wanted to do softplay first, the reason for this was that I had said the food came with softplay and in fact he is hungry. He isn’t just hungry, he wants something, anything from one of the vending machines, orange Lucozade, Ribena or crisps.

It is with great difficulty that I get back to the car to pick up lunch.

From here, as we are going to be near the vending machine for some time pressure, I decide to take a seat. He finds a way onto the balcony so I follow.

The heat makes me feel sick.

You need to be wet and in swimming to appreciate it’s warm, cosy comfort. I find it unpleasant. May face feels scorched. Droplets of sweat prickle along my hairline.