I’m writing from the train once again. It’s 7:37am at the time of writing. I was up just before 6 - a luxury afforded by half term, and the children not requiring clothing, lunches, or breakfast ahead of the school run.
The guy sat opposite just blew his nose, then used the same tissue to clean the screen and keyboard of his laptop. Please excuse me while I laugh into my socks. The (lack of) personal hygeine exhibited by some people astonishes me.
An older lady just sat down opposite me, with a truly enormous handbag. I have a theory on this that I just baked up. I don’t think women ever throw anything away in their handbags - they slowly accumulate stuff over their life, and require bigger and bigger bags to contain it. By the time they reach 60 or 70, they need one of those tartan boxes on trolley wheels. It all makes sense now.
What else can I turn my intellect towards this morning ? How about the dream I had last night, where my other half decided she didn’t like me any more and moved a replacement for me into the house (while I was still there). In an effort to win her back, I suggested we move to New Zealand - and she agreed immediately. I have the weirdest dreams.
On a more real note, the kids got up with me at 6 this morning and were downstairs watching cartoons as I packed my bags to leave for London. I sat down and had a quiet word with them…
“I heard that you two (pointing at little miss 4, and little miss 3) were naughty yesterday”
Little miss 7 pipes up with “Yes. They didn’t do as they were told all day
Little miss 3 - the chief perpetrator of procrastination at tidy-up-time started the discussion smiling at me just for being Dad, and just for talking to her. After my opening salvo, she is frowning at me in the manner a young Voldemort might.
“Are you both going to try harder to be good for Mum today?”
Little miss 4 doesn’t say a word, and starts sucking her thumb - turning her head to continue watching the cartoon. That sank in then.
Back in the world of train-dom, we are just rolling into Slough, and the train is strangely empty today. Yesterday was packed to the rafters - today empty. Go figure.