Rainy days, Sundays and bank holiday Mondays

It just wouldn't be a bank holiday weekend if there wasn't torrential rain and gale force winds to accompany it. After all, if it was sunny and fair, all of those loyal campers and caravanners heading to Cornwall would remain dry and optimistic. And we cannot have that. They - along with the rest of the population - would have nothing to complain about. Well except for the astronomical price of diesel. And the cost of groceries. Actually, they'd still have a fair bit to complain about, but complaining about the weather is Britain's national occupation and we shouldn't be deprived of it.

The horizontal rain does, however, somewhat affect what you can do with two small boys . We considered going to the country fair at Highclere Castle, but figured watching wet hunting dogs and wetter fisherman wasn't going be a fantastic barrel of laughs. It also ruled out all the local fetes and car boot sales. We've already ticked off a long walk in the rain stomping in puddles. So it left us with three things to do:

1. Go to the shops. In our case, go buy some compost and string and other exciting things from Homebase. And a new iron from Argos. What fun we all had. How the time skipped by.

2. Go swimming. This involves a trip to the local leisure centre where apparently they have a 'we don't clean on bank holiday weekends' policy. I actually think they have a 'we never clean' policy. You know a place is pretty grim when your 2 year old who is perfectly content to wallow in mud puddles refuses to put his feet on the floor because 'there are bits on it'.

3. Watch TV. Which is how the rest of the family is currently occupied. I am psyching myself up for a heady afternoon in the potting shed planting carrot seeds. And my evening treat with be ironing (with our shiny new iron).

I remember the days before children, large mortgages and a never ending list of household tasks that needed to get done. Weekends like this might have involved a lie in, a browse around antique shops, a long lazy lunch involving at least one bottle of wine (but probably a bit more), possibly a visit to the cinema (do they still exist?) or simply the joy of listening to music that doesn't include 'the wheels on the bus' while actually reading a newspaper from cover to cover.

So if I am brutally honest - bordering on being a bad mother - it's really not the weather that is cause for complaint. It's the addition of children that turns a rainy day into a very long weekend. That said, we've yet to have a fight about toast today. So that's something. Always look for the silver lining...