When Half Term Doesn’t Go To Plan (Featuring The Tiger Who Came To Tea).

Every school holiday I promise myself that I won’t plan too much in – and every time I plan too much in.

Last week was no exception but they were all fun things involving various friends who we don’t often get to see during term time.

I was really looking forward to it, even if I was a little worried that Freya wouldn’t have enough time to just chill out.

As it turned out she had more than enough time to relax because on the Monday I woke up feeling dreadful. It was too much effort to even move off the sofa and get dressed let alone drive to the beach.

I was loathe to do it but I had to cancel our plans – and not just on the first day but we only made it to one of the scheduled outings (and that was on Friday).

I discovered the tolerance for illness of the average five-year-old runs to about a day but I just felt so bad. I was full of cold and for the first two days every muscle in my body hurt. Freya was being so good but by day three I knew I had to rally and I forced myself to take her to The Tiger Who Came To Tea exhibition at Blickling Hall, which we were supposed to go to the day before.

Freya is a big fan of the book, by Judith Kerr, which was first published in 1968. It celebrated its 50th anniversary last year with an exhibition which has been touring the country.

I thought she’d get a kick out of dressing up and having tea with the life-size tiger (and I was right) along with searching for miniature versions throughout the house (this was good for me too because I actually had time to look around and enjoy the rooms).

The exhibition also features original illustrations, notes, sketches and a film about Judith’s childhood. It’s not just inside either, there’s a trail in the gardens, which we really enjoyed as it was a nice day.

Freya thanked me for taking her on the way home so I knew the extra effort was worth it – although sadly I felt even worse on Thursday so we had another day mainly at home.

Today, as she returns to school, I’m finally feeling better. It’s a massive shame that we missed on doing fun things with our friends but at least Freya got some time to chill out. She’s already counting down the days until Easter when I am going to try not to plan too much in (although I’ve already booked a week away with my parents. Oops).

If you’re in the area, there’s still time to see the exhibition, which runs until Sunday (March 3^rd). Please click here for more details.