All the P's!

As J attends nursery 4 days out of 5, he and his peers invite each other to their respective birthday parties throughout the year. As you can imagine, the formula for 3 and 4 year olds parties is pretty tried and tested and unfortunately can make for some very similar and tedious events. Not the one we went to on Saturday however. In fact, out of all that we have attended this year - so far - it will be the one I remember the most.

A paddling pool picnic party!

I kid you not, that's what Joseph was invited to at the weekend. It was the most beautiful Saturday morning and we had to get him to the paddling pool at "The Rookery" on Streatham Common for 11am. The birthday girl is Brazilian and her parents had laid on a fantastic spread of typical South American fayre, a piñata for the children (and some of the parents!) to whack the hell out of and all set 20 feet away from an enormous paddling pool which all the kids loved.

Standing in the shallow cool water, idly chatting in the sunshine with anyone who would listen, I realised that M and I expend far too much energy on looking outside where we live for childrens entertainment.

This is very stupid.

The paddling pool where we spent a wonderful couple of hours is approximately a 5 minute drive from our house!

If we took the time to look a little closer to home - in our own immediate area, around our own borough - I am sure we would find other little gems to keep us all happy.

What about you? Do you (like us) pore over the internet looking at the opening times of the Natural History Museum or contemplate rather expensive days out at Legoland or Windsor Safari Park?

Take a deep breath and learn a bit more about your own backyard - there'll be stuff going on you didn't even know about. Don;t do like us and say to each other, "where is that I wonder?" It could be your next favourite thing just waiting for you to discover it.

And next time you're in South West London, pop up to the paddling pool by The Rookery for a chat.

I'll be the one standing in the middle of pool with a smug "isn't this great" look on my face.

Marvellous!