Day 749 Happy Easter 2022… we went on a bear hunt to find the Gateside Bear 🐻 (honestly I did…)

Those of you who know me will be amazed that I spent most of the day with 22 primary aged children. Me. Kids. 22 of them. And…. I actually enjoyed it once I stopped feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

Holly who runs the village pub, has organised a Bear hunt for the village kids.

Now…. I’m not a particularly kiddie person, I’m shy with kids and never really know what to say…. When I was “asked” to help I honestly wanted to say no with every ounce of by being. The new me doesn’t agree to things I don’t want to do. Yet the new me cringed and screwed up my face and agreed with an “if I really have to” look about me but already dreading the day in advance.

And suddenly it’s here….

I look way happier than I feel…..

The kids arrive and I honestly feel like a fish out of water. I don’t know where to put myself, where to put my hands, what to say, where to look, I just feel so awkward.

Then it’s time where I’m announced as a team leader and 4 little gorgeous girls find their way over to me… and I’m tongue tied, get their names mixed up and yet I try to introduce myself. I try to relax.

We head to the park. There are hidden envelopes for the kids to find which make up a bear’s name which will be the name of our team. We are Team Paddington.

I slowly start to relax and look after my 4 lovely little girls. They are so polite, so sweet and so innocent and I am blown away by their excitement for the adventure. They are genuinely so excited to be looking for the bear that has gone missing in the village and to reunite it with Mummy and Daddy Bear.

The next clue takes us to the Village Hall where we do arts and crafts. They decorate Easter cards and paint eggs. One little girl bashes her painted egg and just eats it. So comical, she has the blue paint all over her face as she scoffed the egg 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

We then get a phone call to say the Bear has been spotted in the Gateside Plant Centre and we have to head up there to find it!

You know what… I actually had a really nice day. It was nowhere near as bad as I thought it might be, I relaxed and realised how lovely it is to spend time with wee ones. Something I never do.

One girl said she had “no idea I would have such a nice teacher”…. She may have been talking about her actual teacher but I decided I was taking that!!!!

One wee girl clung to her mummy at the very start, terrified to be looking for a bear.

She walked back down the road to the pub, hand in hand with said bear. 🐻 🤣 it’s lovely to see that.

So, I’ve had a lovely day and no one is more surprised than me. We also blitzed the housework this morning too so everything feels fresh and clean.

I have a strange reluctance to part with my ears…. 🐻

Hope you all had a lovely Easter Sunday!

Some of us are working on Easter Monday for some reason so hey… no rest for the wicked.

Except for tonight…. Jammies on, feet up… as usual!

Stay safe everyone 🐣🐰🐻