Whilst I was off having a fine old time at the CyberMummy Conference (and what a fine old time it was too), Dave was left in charge of the boys. He had known about it for months but had sort of forgotten it was on the horizon. When reminded somewhat pointedly, he felt relaxed, safe in the knowledge that he could skip down the road and take the boys off to visit Grandma. After all this is one of the great benefits of moving back home - friends and family on your doorstep.
What he didn't have in mind was that Grandma might be busy. Doing something else. Gasp, shock, horror, not going to be in! Outrageous, grandparents having a life of their own!
The reality dawned. He was going to be in sole charge of the 2 boys (and dog) from mid-day on Friday until Saturday night. 'Pants'* he said to me 'it is time for the boys to start doing boy things. We..' and he may have paused for effect at that point .. 'are going to go on a guys trip camping'. And they did. Dave found a fellow Dad with suitably aged son and off they went.
By all accounts they had an absolute ball. There was fizzy lemonade and toasted marshmallows. The boys raced around until 11pm but then slept until 8.30. There was tree climbing and stories involving running away from cows. Dave remembered the tent pegs and how to get the tent up (neither of which is guaranteed, speaking from bitter past experience).
By the time I got home on Saturday night there were 2 knackered children as fast asleep as it is possible to be. There was one exhausted Daddy, who went to bed far earlier than I have ever known. And there was a totally trashed house. Ah well, to have come back to an untrashed house would have been unrealistic. I had to pay in some way for having such a great time at CyberMummy and laughing so much with so many bloggy friends. Can we do it again soon please?
*ok, he might not have said Pants. He may have used my real name. He may have said I can't believe you are abandoning me to go off and have a jolly jaunt in London with all your bloggy mates don't go getting addicted to twitter. Or something like that.