As the rain fell for what seemed like the hundredth day of the school holidays, my Facebook newsfeed filled up with smug status updates:
‘Wellies on – let’s go puddle-jumping!’
‘Picnic in the rain lol’
Leaving aside the fact that ‘LOL’ should simply never appear in one’s own status update, nothing makes me reach for the ‘unfriend’ button faster than the sort of smug parenting update more at home on the Bounty message boards.
I loathe going out in the rain with children, and I defy anyone to say they actually enjoy it. It is occasionally a necessary evil, to be endured for as little time as possible, and only when the object of the journey (buying chocolate, perhaps, or delivering children to a grandparent) far outweighs the pain.
There is an unknown element in raindrops which slows children to a crawl so that every step takes twice as long as it should. No matter how well equipped you think you are, hoods fall down, umbrellas are redeployed as groin-height missiles, and every passing car will drench you with muddy water.
As for puddle-jumping, where on earth is the fun in that? Soaked clothes, cold feet and irate passers-by showered with dirty water, thanks to your infant splasher.
Come on, admit it, no-one actually enjoys that. Be honest with yourself – and your Facebook entourage – and give your status updates a dose of reality:
‘rain again: time to stick the kids in front of CBeebies and open the gin.’
LOL.
It didn’t rain yesterday, but we tested our new wellies anyway, sent to us by M&M Direct. Our verdict? Dry, comfortable and bright enough to cheer up even the rainiest day. With the children’s school demanding a pair of wellies to leave in school all term, I don’t want to spend a fortune on duplicate pairs. Evie’s pink floral ones are just £4.99, and Josh’s cool camouflage boots a little more at £6.99. My fabulous Union Jack boots were £16.99 and I wore them the entire day, they were so comfortable. Mind you, I got some funny looks in Tesco…
