Sunday morning...

Sunday morning: Eben and Luca did sleep reasonably well, though both were awake not long after six a.m. Our usual routine, for early mornings like this, is to start with some limited TV time and then to move on to playing games or (weather permitting) getting out of the house for a while.  Here, the boys have just got dressed, Eben opting for part of the 'special occasion' outfit that he chose in a charity shop recently.   Eben's discovered a BBC Bitesize game that's all about recycling. In a rare moment of calm between them, he showed this to Luca and they took turns pressing buttons to choose different kinds of materials to test and recycle.  Eben is drawn to phones as to a magnet, so we all keep his exposure to them brief.  So far, this is working out all right, and after a brief interlude it was back to indoor games.

Later things went downhill for a bit. Ruth had some work to do at the farm.  In retrospect, I should have agreed to keeping the boys with us while she got the jobs done. That was her initial preference. But I was tired... I knew I was developing a snotty cold... and it was a beautiful morning.  Knowing that Eben and Luca have often enjoyed helping out at the farm, I suggested that she come to ours on the way, and pick me up with the boys.
This idea was fine by Luca but really went down like the proverbial lead balloon with Eben. "I hate the farm!!! I'm never going there again!!!" And so on. Full-on tantrum.  Eben rarely does this, these days, but when these emotional storms descend they can be ferocious.  Ruth stayed patient for quite a while but eventually lost it herself briefly.
Anyway... eventually we all did get to the farm together. After some time, Eben gave Ruth a big hug and an apology, and calmer times returned. Later, they all had a pre-birthday get-together for Ruth in their garden, with some friends and a bonfire, and all went well.