The long vacation seems, in theory, such a beautiful idea – six long weeks to do in what one pleases. If only the working world would take on board such an innovation, oh how much happier, healthier society would be, I thought to myself as yet another day rolled on juggling kids’ activities, childcarers and work that, no matter how much you clear the decks, just keeps getting piled on.
My frustration came to a head last week when, after days of childminders looking desperately at me for suggestions of what to do with the kids on cloudy afternoons, I was relieved by my mother coming to stay for a week, only to throw the same gauntlet down just as I was heading out the door for work.
Oh, I don’t know Mum, I hollered back at her. You hardly ever see the kids, I harrumphed, years of bitterness erupting in a moment’s bile. Google’s your friend. Do anything. Just don’t make me have to think about it, I yelled as I slammed the door, reverting to a perennial teenager, as is our wont when parents are under our feet.
As it was, they had a lovely week, though I suspect Ma dearest reverted to Pokémon Go rather more than I would have, but over the course of it, they managed to go to the Ragged School Museum (quite interesting – lots of things to make), Victoria Park (local innit), Borough Market (how expensive were those cakes?), The Clink Museum (what a rip off!) and take the dog for a fair few walks along the Regent’s canal. By Thursday though, with exhaustion creeping into my every fissure, and mother’s knee playing up, I was so ready for a day off I reneged on my optimistic promise to take Tom to the gin distillery up the road after work, and fell into bed at 9.30p.m.
This meant, though, the next morning – a day which dawned as perfect as any summer’s day could – I was up with the lark, busying about so when Reprobate Kate turned up at 9.30 a.m. for our planned girls’ day out, I had coffee in the pot, and the outside sofa swept and ready for a quick cuppa before heading out with Ava and Lola to the Royal Institute for the world premiere of Project MC2 (that’s squared, for those like me, who don’t understand anything in superscript) season two.
If you haven’t been party to the delights of season one, never fear, it can be summed up thus: four slightly oddball American tweens with a penchant for technology and “interesting” fashion go on a secret mission to prove that being clever doesn’t mean you can’t be cool. The show comes with a range of dolls, natch, as well as other accessories, and we were invited courtesy of Carousel PR. Given that Ava doesn’t like (actively rejects) dolls or anything overtly girly, I was worried it wouldn’t be her thing, but, thinking it might help me provide a morning’s entertainment, we dutifully watched a couple of episodes of season one on Netflicks (it’s okaaaay, she said- one of them’s really cuckoo – I think she meant Spanish kook Adrienne) and invited Lola to come along on the basis that she LOVES anything girly, and would be a foil to Ava’s general reluctance to get hashtagEXCITED!! about anything.
Given Ava’s recent autism diagnosis, this is hardly surprising, but I have been wracking my brains with what to do about a girl who, given the choice, would rather watch Minecraft videos on YouTube more than anything else in the whole world. But to my surprise, this event might just have provided the answer.
It wasn’t so much that it was super well organised, though it was, with Project lead-girl lookalike McKeyla greeting us at the door and giving the girls a password to enter, and actors who led the kids around the Institute, setting them range of initiative tests – both Ava and Lola jumped straight in, suspending disbelief. It wasn’t even the science experiments – hosted by party and holiday camp provider Mad Science – on offer, from playing with dry ice, bubbles, making crystals, dough characters or oil-and-water glitter globes. Or the delicious lunch of sandwiches and fruit platters with Oreos (known in my household as crack cookies)for the kids, which wasmore than plentiful. Or the free dolls to take home – which, to be fair to the manufacturers, are actually beautifully designed – not too “sexy”, for all their false eyelashes and well put together wardrobes, and some even come with their own science experiments – both Lola and Ava typically went for the lead character McKeyla doll wearing a Pug Life tee shirt. It wasn’t even the bag of Propercorn popcorn they were given to watch the new show – which, given the demographic of little girls and mums (with a few dads and brothers) who could bring them into central London on a scorching Friday, was probably a bit old for most of them, but still enjoyable enough with it’s girl power theme and clever-can-be-cool motif.
No, it was the institute itself, in which venerable, pale males of science stared down from their inscrutable busts and gloopy portraits onto the tweenage mayhem which was ensuing amid its hallowed walls of knowledge. It was this incredible venue, which finally, I believe, offers something to get my daughter excited about. She’s always had a scientific bent, what with her love of animals, brain for Maths, and preference for a non-fiction book – what better place than the Royal Institute, with its Christmas lectures and summer schools, to offer her a head start in science? Because, for all it ticks the right boxes without being too worthy, watching a few episodes of Project MC2 on Netflicks, sadly, ain’t gonna do that for her, but it might help get the message across that it’s okay to be a bit different.
But in any case, we all had a ball, and returned home to Ma, who’d been Pokemon Going around the park with the boy and the pug. But it was,of course, Ava who solved the problem of how to fit the hose pipe adaptor onto the hot tap to warm up the paddling pool. And when Grandma Kat asked her what she might like as an alternative to the Harry Potter Cursed Child book she’s bought for Jonah, she said she’d be happy with a Royal Institute membership.
I’m not surprised, then, that two days later, Ava’s McKeyla doll is still firmly in its box. Nonetheless, this event was well worth attending to see her come, momentarily, out of her shell – and for unwrapping the kernel of another idea that may bring greater rewards to a rapidly growing up girl who isn’t yet confident enough to really believe that being clever is cool. But she will. I’ll make sure of that.
Discover more from Looking at the little picture
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
