Super Fun Mum

You’ll know by now that I pride myself on being a super fun mum. There is no such thing as being bored in my house; me and the kids have a great time playing together and exploring together and laughing and having the best time ever at ALL times. At least, in theory.

Of course, I may have bigged myself up a bit here. In fact, I totally have.

You see, my bubble was burst the other day when my 6 year old son looked so despairingly crestfallen because no-one would have a water fight with him. And it suddenly dawned on me that he hadn’t even thought to ask me to play. Surely if I really was super fun mum I’d be the first person he thought of, not the last! Then I realised that I’ve never actually had a water fight with the kids. I’m usually found cowering in the corner pleading with them not to get me wet – and how is that being super fun?!

Thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve ever been much fun when it comes to shooting games. I recall my teenage self running around a dark quasar laser maze screaming my head off anytime someone ran after me or ‘hit’ me with the laser. I seem to remember spending a lot of that game hunched in a corner until the game was over. And then as a student I braved a game of paintball, which was terrifying because all I could think about was that episode of Byker Grove when PJ got blinded by the paint. What if that happened to me? And so, that was another game spent screaming my head off anytime someone came near, but this time there was nowhere to hide so I literally had to just run around in circles screaming and hope for the best.

Maybe this was my chance to right those wrongs. This was my chance to be spontaneous and fun and cool and not give a hoot if I got sprayed in the face with water. How much damage could a 6 year and his cheeky little brother actually do?

I marched out to the garden and heroically armed myself with a water pistol. At least I did once I’d got the washing in, moved all the trip hazards, told the children not to spray any windows (they’ve only just been cleaned), ordered them to stay away from the cats and not to spray or kill any bugs and not to spray water over the neighbour’s fence.

Super Fun Mum was ready for action.

Aside from my usual frustration at not being able to run blah blah blah, I ended up having an absolute blast. The cooling effect of water spraying in my face and down my neck was the exact tonic I needed to combat the extreme heat that day and I would recommend it to anyone who is struggling with the heat.

Incidentally I did get VERY wet. The trouble with not being able to run means that you’re pretty much a sitting duck.