Sun, outings, rain, books, sun, lunch, rain, bus, sun, dinner, rain, laundry

[ailbhe]

We got up and read this morning to go out to the Farmer's Market but the weather turned on us almost as soon as we left the house and Rob walked to the market alone while Mum and I took the children on the bus to the World Shop at RISC. We browsed, the children played some of the musical instruments, and Mum and I bought gifts for my niece's third birthday - Mum got a bag and some fingerpuppets and I got a bag of Mais, cornstarch art building block things. It's pointless to send normal art supplies, because obviously every child in my extended family is swimming in the things already, and it's cruel to send stuff which takes up space or isn't consumable, because neither family lives in a large house, so semi-consumable unusual art materials are a good compromise.

For myself, I bought a breadbasket and a new wallet/purse thing, and for the children, I bought a copy of and Tango makes three because I saw it on display at the front of the book section and thought it looked cute. On reading, yes, it is cute, in the way of thousands of wholly unremarkable children's books, and I am not at all sure that my children will realise that there's anything different about it as a book, any more than books where the core plot point is that Molly didn't mind having blue wellies after all and went out to play quite happily, or whatever. Rob read the actual words to Linnea for her bedtime story.

We had lunch in the Globe cafe, because it was raining, and I asked the man serving us to stop calling me "my love" after the first half-dozen times, because it got irritating. It was clearly a mindless verbal tic, and I didn't like it. He apologised, twice. He also took our dairy-free order very carefully and was very helpful. I had a hummous and olive sandwich, which was lovely.

After lunch we went and bought Emer an umbrella of her very own ("icebrella," I have no idea why) and then we got Rob some sandals in Altimus. And home on the bus and then roast pork tenderloin for dinner with microwave chocolate cake in a mug for dessert.

Now Rob and I are going to watch the winning Eurovision entry. Missed the rest of it.

Comments

[mrs-warwick.livejournal.com]

Eleri has a 'sunbella'.

I managed to miss the winning song both times it was performed, because I was settling Eleri back to sleep after she'd been woken by the dog barking at shadows.

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

I really don't like And Tango Makes Three because, although the pictures show a variety of families, the words are stonkingly heteronormative - Roy and Silo are the only gay penguins in the world, and Tango has the only gay dads in the world. How helpful is that meant to be to kids with actual gay dads? Or is this all about making the heteronorm families feel like they're reading something daringly diverse to their kids?

[ailbhe]

I'm not sure. It read to me very much like stories about being the only child with short hair, or whatever, and it's-ok-to-be-different, but I have no idea who the target audience is. It didn't feel daringly diverse to me but may have done to Rob.

I like penguins though.