Children singing for Christmas. Cold weather continues.

This morning I was the designated adult for our smallest grandson, Lewis, so that he would not be the poor sad child with no adult to cheer him along at his nursery’s “carol concert”. His mother has already asked for time off work his week to go and watch his big sister be an angel in her school nativity play and felt she could not justify two such absences in one week. So she asked me to go along to the nursery for 9.00 this morning. 

So I set out to catch a bus at 8.42, which was supposed to deposit me opposite the nursery at 8.46. Our bus, as I may have mentioned before, does a long run from Ashton Under Lyne bus station to Oldham bus station, via various villages and housing estates. It drives into the village, turns around and drives back out again. There are bus stops on both sides of the road near the crossroads. I saw it approaching and, as it was so cold and I didn’t fancy waiting to catch it on the return trip, In crossed over and travelled round the village on the bus in the warm.

Of course, it was school run time and at the point where the bus needs to turn and go through a back road to turn around the road was blocked with cars parked outside the local primary school. It took almost ten minutes to get through. The bus driver was harrumphing furiously the whole while. Justifiably so as the road was blocked even for emergency vehicles and it is highly likely that many of the families dropping children off at school live within walking distance but had decided to drive as it was rather foggy and cold. Even as the sun came up the fog persisted in the valleys.

Consequently I arrived only just in time for the carol concert, which was not a carol concert at all but a bunch of three- and four-year-olds singing “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer”, “When Santa got stuck up the chimney”, “I’m a little Christmas tree” (to the tune of “I’m a little teapot”), S A N T A ( to the tune of “B I N G O and Bingo was his name - oh”) and other such. Some doting parents videoed the whole half hour. I captured a couple of bits to show our little chap’s doting mummy. My best bit of film shows him turning off to examine the jumper of the small girl nest to him because it had one of those sequin features that change colour if you alter the way the sequins lie. 

At the end of the concert there was some confusion. Some children who don’t normally attend nursery on a Monday had attended specially were putting their coats on to go home with Mummy or Daddy. Some of the remainers crying crying because they wanted to go too. Our little chap just went to get his coat and hat in a sensible fashion but accepted quite happily my explanation that he was staying to play with his friend and could come and play with me on Thursday, 

I walked home. The fog had cleared, the sky was blue and the views were splendid. A perfect day for a morning walk but still very cold.

My son has sent me photos of snow in Buckinghamshire or at any rate a picture of his daughter building a snowman. The radio news tells me that some parts of the country have reached -15° but that  much further north than here. 

 

In Solihull children have drowned after playing on frozen pond and falling through the ice. What a sad end to a winter adventure. When we walked past frozen duck pond on Saturday our 6 year old granddaughter commented that when she is old enough to ice-skate perhaps she will be able to skate there. We need to make sure she is aware of the dangers. She is, however, an eminently sensible child at the moment. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone.