Sauntering Vaguely Downward

What’s the biggest challenge in your life right now?

• Humuhumu can ride a bicycle! Before lockdown we struggled with getting her to even attempt it, and she would spend most of her time shouting at Daddy either to help, or stop helping. Lockdown rules meant she had a long break from it. When we finally did manage to extract her bicycle from the shed post-house renovation, she hopped on it and rode down the road with a jaw-dropping level of nonchalance.
  
  
• Keiki can also ride a bicycle without stabilisers, with only minimal assistance from Daddy. He’s not far off being able to do it on his own, but probably isn’t quite ready to cycle to school just yet.
  
  
• Last weekend they had their first swimming lessons in months. We were quite worried about how this would go. Humuhumu didn’t swim without a float in one hand, but two things were very encouraging: she can now time her breathing with her arm strokes in front crawl, and she stayed entirely off the wall and in a middle lane. Once Keiki started paying attention to his teacher (always his main issue), he also did very well, doing star floats, kicking with a float and simultaneously blowing bubbles without being prompted.
  
  
• Side note: The swim teachers can no longer be in the water with the Stage 1 children, which must be extraordinarily challenging. There were five children in Keiki’s class, and there was a stark difference between the three children who had been doing lessons for months before lockdown (including him) and the two who had joined only a few weeks prior. The former children were able to follow the instructions given verbally and with partial visual demonstration by the teacher from the poolside. The latter were almost completely lost, even when watching the other children do as instructed. It’ll be interesting to see how things develop in the coming weeks. I don’t think this is a sustainable way to teach children who are total beginners.
  
  
• Granddad has been doing almost-daily morning lessons with the children. He sings with them, reads them a story, plays maths games, and drills Humuhumu on her times tables. He started this in person while we were staying in Norfolk during the house renovation (once "bubbles" were allowed) and has kept it up since. It has been tremendously helpful. Go Granddad.
  
  
• Finally, we have been watching The Mandalorian as a family. Keiki, who has become completely obsessed by Lego and building spaceships and tanks and weaponry, was told about Star Wars by an older cousin, and demanded to be allowed to watch it. We duly procured a copy of The Mandalorian, having been told that it was (a) family friendly and (b) good, which cannot be said of all the Star Wars oeuvre. We’ve got through four episodes. It’s not a passive viewing experience by any means. We’re peppered with questions continuously and there are cuddles needed during the scary bits. Still, everyone is enjoying it immensely. With popcorn.