WHY do they put those pillars in car parks?

You know the ones – the narrow metal girders (to save space) but then some evil bastard planner gave a twisted smirk and made the bases really wide, just low enough to be impossible to see. Then, to add insult to injury, they use bright yellow paint so the scrape shows up really nicely on the side of your car when you misjudge it.

Of course, it’s my own stupid fault. I should have not let the guy travelling inches from my bumper phase me and taken more time over getting into the space. To compound my error, I let instinct rule on hearing the sickening crunch sound and yelled “oh SHIT!” Which would have been okay, but my five year old was in the back.

Akra Jr hasn’t repeated it… yet.

Can’t afford to get it repaired at the moment, so my poor little Micra will have to remain scarred for a while. Still, top marks to Akra who cheerfully strolled in this evening brandishing a bottle of T-Cut Metallic and declaring “oh, it’s not that bad a scrape, is it?” and “don’t worry, it’s only a car!”.

I think I’ll keep him.

Okay, so half term is nearly over, but if you’re at a loss for what to do with the kids tomorrow then visiting the Cbeebies Springwatch site might spark some ideas.

Akra Jr and I have had quite a bit of fun cutting out and colouring in the Spotter’s Club membership card and looking out for things on the Spotter’s Club list (a nature-based scavenger hunt). He gets very excited about going home to tell Jelly and Justin what we’ve seen by clicking the ticked boxes on the website. There’s lots of great information provided about the wildlife we’ve seen. Best of all, it’s all free (and doesn’t that make a change for a half-term activity!)

It appears to be a part of a greater BBC Springwatch theme with lots of events around the country this weekend (although frustratingly, none near us). The survey there is likely to be more age appropriate for interested adults and older children.