3 of 8

Day Three



6am: Earlier than normal because I have a full day of training at work for an apprenticeship I have decided to do – mainly for the student discount card. I feel very jaded from last night. Get a VERY sleepy SB out of bed but he is happy because he will be going to breakfast club (£5 already paid).



I shower to wake myself up, feed fluffy P and make a black coffee for myself (I left the milk in the fridge at work yesterday). Make packed lunch which is the same as yesterday with a Frube yoghurt thrown in for luck. SB will have breakfast at club, so he just needs to wash and get dressed. Easier said than done, but we leave the house on time.



7.40am: Get to breakfast club and find a lunchbox SB lost last year. He left it in their cupboard and they forgot to tell me. He loses his stuff on a regular basis, which is really frustrating. He is already down to one school jumper and left a coat at Cubs a few weeks ago which we never got back. I have said that he will be buying the next thing he loses out of his own money. Pay for SB’s school trip to London at the office. £22.50



8am: Get to work and have an hour to sort through emails, call clients and get ready for the training.



3.05pm: I am late leaving the office to pick SB up from school. I get there and he has gone to after-school club, so I run around trying to find him.



3.45pm: Get back to work a bit late, so get SB settled at my desk with his homework and go back into training. He is given everyone’s leftover lunches as per usual and I have to tell my lovely colleagues NOT to give him any sweets or chocolate because they feed him too much and he expects it all the time.



6.30pm: Stayed behind to catch up with work and uploaded my coursework from training. Forgot the milk again! Buy more on the way to the bus station (89p) and SB buys Detective Pikachu on DVD with his birthday money, which he will give me when we are home (£10). Bump into a good friend of mine who offers to give us a lift home because it is raining, again. I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say it has rained every day this month. We accept the offer.



7pm: Home a bit earlier than I thought, which is lovely. Feed and cuddle P while SB shows me some dance moves he made up. I have to keep a straight face because he is being very serious. We dance and sing some more while I do the washing up and heat up chilli and rice (again). I often cook something on a Sunday that will last us a few days so I don’t have to cook every day after work, but it does get boring eating the same thing all week. SB has the leftover coleslaw with his chilli and broccoli that is about to go off, and yoghurt for pud. I do life admin.



7.45pm: SB goes up to his room because he and his little mates have all arranged to meet online and play Minecraft together. I make him read to me first and of course he has a moan, but it's only for 10 minutes. A while ago he broke his headphones which had a microphone, but he still shouts and giggles along as if he is involved in the group conversation. I feel sorry for him, so order some more headphones with a mic – I’ll surprise him with these when they arrive in a couple of days (£14.99). While I am at it, I buy a birthday present for SB’s friend’s party in a couple of weeks. Five Nights at Freddy’s plush teddy thingy (£15), both with free delivery. SB has been doing really well at school with his work and has been trying to make friends with a boy that is being bullied – this makes me so proud! I want to show him how doing nice things will pay off, instead of him just asking me to buy him something over and over and over again.



9pm: My turn for chilli and rice, then remember SB is still awake so go and tell him to go to sleep and turn the lights off. All of a sudden he needs a number two, so proceeds to sit on the toilet while bellowing down the stairs, telling me how Messi and Ronaldo are the best football players ever in the world, and about some YouTube videos he watched with his uncle blah blah blah. I'm not really listening (if I am going to be completely honest) but give verbal nods while trying to sort my dinner out. Because it’s just the two of us and he has no siblings, I don’t mind him going on about something he enjoys, even if I have no idea what he is talking about.



11pm: I watch TV for a couple of hours. Let P out and usual face/teeth routine then BEDTIME.



Total: £53.38