Mummy on a mission.

I'm a great believer that kids need to grow up without the belief that their parents were only put on this Earth to provide them with constant stimulation, 24/7, in the form of entertaining, amusing and costly activities. They need to learn how to 'be bored' sometimes and if they are, work out constructive ways themselves of filling in these times. After all, there will be many times in their lives when they will need to push themselves through this 'boredom barrier' and just get over it, instead of expecting someone else to deal with it for them.

My kids have more than learned this lesson over what has been quite a tough year for them and have been so good and patient and understanding that I could cry. Now things are better, I think they deserve a few treats but I'm on a mission to only go places this summer where we don't have to pay to get in. I've cheated a bit, as I've got a small collection of days out tokens, annual passes and memberships to use, plus places connected to Wakehurst I can get into and, of course, there are no end of parks, woodland trails and beaches to explore. Oh, and plenty needs to be done in our garden - the ultimate free 'day out'. I may sound 'cheap' but this is the first year when the price of petrol (well, the price of everything, really!) has been a real worry so, although there are sometimes extra things to pay for once you're in places, the less cash I have to part with the better!

Today we went to Paradise Park near Newhaven, which was much better than expected - a really great day out.