Parenting in Sussex: If Carlsberg did weekends...

I don’t want to fall into the stereotype, but would I even be British if I didn’t mention the weather?

This time last week I was basically a snowman, at the weekend I almost got blown away by storm-force winds, then on Monday morning I walked the children to school in relative warmth for the end of November. It is confusing to the max, and makes it hard to plan outfits and excursions!

That said, I’m happy for the dramatic swing in temperature if it feels like my house isn’t trying to freeze me solid. Last week, I felt like I lived in a giant fridge. And if I attempted to put the heating on so I could take off one of my 11 layers of clothing, the smartmeter showed the price increasing so quickly it actually had more than the desired effect as I was sweating buckets at the cost.

Give me fairly mild winters any day. I’m a much less grumpy person for it, and that’s got to be better for the world (and my family in particular!).

I want to go out and know that wearing a jumper and coat will be enough whereas last week I put on most of the items in my wardrobe, plus an eclectic range of accoutrements to keep my head, hands and neck warm, and I was still crying in the cold.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t realised the Joey Tribbiani approach to getting dressed (IYKYK!) wasn’t necessary at the weekend as while it was windy, the temperature had increased by about ten degrees! So on one of the days I went for a walk in full Michelin Man garb only to be boiling by the time I reached my destination.

What do we want? Weather stability! When do we need it? Now!

Now I’ve rinsed half a column out of one of the inevitabilities of life, I’ll bang on about some other bits.

I started Sunday by singing and I ended it in the same way. No, I haven’t joined a choir (anyone who knows me will be singing Hallelujah to that!) but I did join the masses in buying tickets to see Wicked.

My daughter and I were joined by my mum and sister for what I imagine was one of many packed screenings at the Connaught on Sunday morning. I saw the musical in London just a couple of months ago, so I wasn’t sure I needed to buy into the hype of seeing the movie on opening weekend. But my daughter was keen, and it’s good to say yes to things when you can. And wow, thank goodness I did as it was INCREDIBLE. And kudos to the film-makers for splitting it across two parts. That is a sure-fire way to double your money right there, as I for one cannot wait to see the next instalment.

Also, just to clarify, I said I was singing but it wasn’t out loud. Just enthusiastically miming along to Defying Gravity as if I’d been possessed by Idina Menzel (again, IYKYK!). Don’t worry, no Worthing residents were made to suffer the excruciating ‘beauty’ of my voice while trying to enjoy one of the cinematic highlights of the year.

After a quick pit stop at home with my family, a quick catch up with some friends at my bestie’s house, I was back out for an evening of music with my dad.

Rag’n’Bone Man was waiting for us at the Brighton Centre (well, he wasn’t really, but I thought it sounded like a nice way to start the sentence). We had tickets for his latest tour, and *spoiler alert* it was brilliant, even if he insisted on starting at 9pm on a school night!

Three hours of cinema magic, time with friends and family, and two hours of top-notch live music – if Carlsberg did Sundays…!