A Pleasant Morning.

As I staggered out of B&Q this morning, exhausted and drenched with sweat (big girl + 3 hours worth of vigorous cleaning = Not A Pretty Sight) my mobile phone bleeped and I found that I had received a text from Best Friend 1: would I care to join her and Squidgum at 'Just Play*' for a couple of hours?

"Sure" said I, breezily; "just give me an hour or so to wash and change and I'll be right with you."

At 10:15 we met at Tesco Cafe and downed our customary choice of drink - her tea, me the bane of health freaks everywhere: Pepsi - before setting off in the direction of Just Play. It was a pleasant walk, chatting and laughing about nothing in particular; the kind of walk that you don't mind where you're going or how long it will take. Thirty minutes later we bumped the pushchair through the double doors, signed ourselves in, released Squidgum from her sumptuous Maclaren prison, and walked into a wonderland. There was an area with a bouncy castle - unfortunately recently deflated; they're doing away with it in favour of bumper cars apparently. Idiots - and a large space with tables and chairs dotted around it, and then, just a little further back, Child Heaven lay. Climbing frames, ball pits (plural!) slides, tunnels, rope ladders, squidgy steps, giant bean bags...you name it, it was there. There was even a splendid round based cannon from which you could launch plastic balls several feet into the air.

So! Shoes off, bags and pushchair dumped, doll dropped like a stone, and we were off. Or rather, on.

I, fat and unfit and dressed - wisely - in a skirt and barefoot having - equally wisely - turned up not only skirted but wearing sandals, gamely joined in for a while, clambering labouriously up to level 1 - there were FIVE different levels; how cool is that? - and squeaking my way in an incredibly undignified fashion (why oh why did I decide to wear a skirt?? It's not as if I was unaware that we were going...) down the only non-enclosed and non twisty slide a few times. Then I took a step back and watched Best Friend 1 and Squidgum have the time of their lives. Up and down and round and round they went, trying every thing in every way possible. It was great to see, as well as incredibly funny; especially the huge yellow slide - the only one I had been brave enough to try - as I had a clear and unobstructed view of them whizzing their way down in various positions. I formed the opinion that Best Friend 1 was having more fun than the toddler, a theory that she cheerfully confirmed after a particularly spectacular zoom headfirst down the slide that ended with a breathtaking slam into the wall (most kids fell short of reaching that, thankfully, though it was squashy just in case).

After a few more tentative forays up the ladder and down the slide - having mastered the art of tucking my skirt in just so, allowing me to actually slide down rather than squeakily shove myself inch by inch. I did screech to a halt a few inches from the bottom though, forcing me to heave myself off of it and then clamber to my feet trying to shield my modesty from the curious gaze of two-four year old's (why must they stare??) - both Best Friend 1 and I collapsed into chairs to get our breath back under the clever guise of allowing Squidgum to eat lunch. But it wasn't long before she was off again, dragging us - or rather her mum with me hanging back to watch and drink another glass of Pepsi - back into the fray again.

Glancing casually at the clock, it was a surprise to find that nearly two hours had past and that we only had a few more minutes worth of playtime left before Best Friend 1 had to go home to get ready for work**.

Squidgum took our departure in her stride. She did have a bit of a paddy when she realized that yes, mummy actually DID mean it when she said "one last go" and caught her up and plopped her onto her lap to put her shoes back on, but it didn't last very long, especially once her doll was back in her arms and she realized that going outside meant having her little backpack on***. So we left, a little regretfully on the part of the adults, and began the trek home.

Thirty minutes later, we hugged and parted company, and I walked away with a happy glow inside of me.

And as I sit here now typing this, almost two hours later again, it's still there.

Gosh, today was nice.

* A children's playground/indoor park type area. For £3 per child you get a free hot drink and an unlimited stay. Great value if you care to use it.
** cleaning like me; two hours a week. It brings in practically nothing, but aids her sanity, so it's worth it.
*** Reigns, designed to contain antsy children that enjoy running off and keep them safe while still allowing them a bit of freedom, are coming back into fashion. Now, though, rather than a plain old harness, they generally come in the form of a diddy little backpack for the kidlet to wear. Grand, eh?