Getting better

I have had a few days off work. One of which was when I was unwell.  I had taken off the day of the EU elections as my son was off as his school was being used as a polling station.  

We went for a walk in Dedham, one which he was not too keen on at first.  Sadly he was not too well in Friday so had to be off school, but improved once he did not have to go in.  It was a shame as he missed “Break The Rules Day” which he has been looking forwards to. The weekend was quite boring as we cleaned the house, but on Bank Holiday Monday, we visited my mother and collected my mother-in-law to baby-sit the kids on Tuesday, which is a long day where they are together.  Yesterday I had plans to take them to Thorpe Park, but sadly I was too unwell.  Tuesday was a long day for me, and one where I was not too well, Wednesday was one where I started to improve.

I got to watch Arsenal lose the UEFA cup final (sorry, the Europa League) with Tony, so all in all, yesterday was particularly cheerful.  We played well in parts of the first half, but our defence, which has failed us so many times failed us again, four times in the seconds half.  

Anyway, that is the end of the quick recap of the last few days.  I am off to bed now.

Miss Havisham

Long story short, we ended up in Faversham today.  Due to the recent rain, there was no cricket today, which was just as well as I needed to nip into work today.  

Anyway, we ended up for one reason or another in Faversham, Kent.  I napped on the drive there and when there we visited a church and had a great lunch.  We had a bit of a tiff when it came to where to eat, but we ended up in a place that has served the best burgers that I have had in a long time, possibly ever.  We had planned to walk about the town more, and for me, to visit the brewery, but as we arrived late and due to the rain and it being cold, the visit did not take in as much of the town as I wanted.

And it was only on getting back and preparing this blog post that I realised that the character from Great Expectations is not Miss Faversham.  Which explains why the family considered me to be insane when talking about the book...

Monopoly

Today’s has been a quiet day.  My wife was not that well, so I took the kids out for breakfast.  We have been to the Bungalow Diner before, and we know and like the food there.  After a relaxing meal we returned home and later, while my wife rested, the children and I had a game of Monopoly.  We have played this before and the children are aware of just how competitive I can be with it.  My daughter has beaten me once before but the children failed to do so today.  After the first game, my wife came down to watch the second.  After being beaten in the first, they decided to work together to take me down in this one.  And they almost succeeded.  I managed to drive a wedge between the two and while my son did very well at the beginning, the tide of the game turned against him.  After his sister almost bankrupted him, he gave what remaining assets he had to me. But his sister still had the advantage.  It was a much more close game than before and with a bit of luck, I managed to gain the upper hand.  But this was exhausting, and while we all enjoyed bonding together, what I have learned is not to play two games in one day!

Remember not to celebrate May the 4th

Today was fun.  The kids had to play cricket, but my son, who does not practice enough did not want to go as he felt that he would be useless.  We keep mentioning that this is a self-fulfilling prophecy if he does not practice, but he does not want to be proven wrong most of the time.  However he and his sister did well and enjoyed the morning.  

Later we all pulled together to do some housework, though my son wanted to annoy me (we have since worked his out).  While my son watched television later, my daughter and I went out for a bike ride in the summer showers.  I had to get a new seat for my bike as my old one broke, so we cycled to the shop to get it replaced.

Later in the day, we all watched a film.  I wanted to watch one of the Star Wars films, but I was overruled and we watched Crazy Rich Asians instead which we loved.

Will Quince and education funding

Earlier this year, I got an e-mail from my children’s schools about the issues with funding that they faced.  I forwarded the one from my daughters school to my MP, and he actually answered.

Dear Will Quince MP

I write to you as a constituent to ask what is to happen with school funding?  I specifically ask about funding per pupil taking inflation and cost increases into account.

I have been sent the following letter from the school of my daughter which details the funding ‘challenges’ that they have to face.  The primary school that my son attends also is facing similar issues (he attends Hamilton Primary school).  I know from listening to PMQ’s that this issue has been raised on numerous occasions, and I understand from Twitter, before you blocked me (a decision that I accept is your right), that this is something that you stated that you were interested in.

I do hope that you take the time to answer me (I did not get an answer from you when I contacted you last time) and I look forward to reading your letter/e-mail if you decide to respond this time.

Yours truly

He has worked to raise this matter in parliament and locally reflecting the concerns of his constituents, me included.  It is just a shame that the cuts that schools have faced are taking place.  The Conservatives are right when they mention that funding per pupil has increased, and that funding to education has increased, but in PMQ’s, they do not admit that funding per pupil in real terms (taking inflation and cost increases into account) has not increased.  And it would be nice if my MP admitted that we was wrong to continue with the restrictions to school funding which has been an issue since Labour were voted out of office in 2010.