Learning about ladders and getting up into the trees.
Saturday 4 January. Cold and sunny. 3°C
The Christmas Twinkle Trail has finished in Victoria Square and it’s time to take the lights and the elves down. 24 lights and 4 elves. We pack the ladder into the car, remember our gloves and bring a bit of paper and a pen to keep a tally to make sure we get all 28. We also bring squirrel nuts ready for extra entertainment.
B isn’t sure about the ladder. “What if I fall off?”
Me: “I’ll hold you. You’ll be fine.”
The lights are tied into the trees just above where an adult can reach too. It’s not hugely high but its just a 5 step ladder and B has to get to the top step to have a hope of reaching. I’m not sure she’s going to be brave enough.
We head to the first light.
Me: “Do you want me to do it”
B: “NO!”
She heads up, wobbling a bit, and I hold the bottom and make sure I’m near enough to stop her falling. It takes her a while to undo the wire but she’s very focused. The gloves are discarded quickly. She manages to unhook the wire and unwind the tag. We move on to the next one. B is not letting me do any of them. She gets more and more confident on the ladder, though if it wobbles a bit she gets scared. There are a few she can’t reach and she’s visibly disappointed when I have to step in.
It’s not the most creative afternoon but it’s definitely outside with lots of fresh air. B starts to learn how to climb from the ladder into the trees. We carefully write down the tally for each one but when we get to the end we’re either one up or one down and it takes us ages to go back and work out which one we’ve missed.
B carries the ladder easily between trees, enjoying being strong. I get to carry the box which is more boring. We get to check in on the Friends of Victoria Square gardening morning.
We never got to the nuts. Turns out the trees are more interesting. We don’t quite get to them all though. As it nears lunchtime B’s energy levels suddenly drop and we call it a day. I’m hoping I can get B there after school one day to finish them off and have a proper squirrel interaction.
At home B looks for more things to climb and more lights to take down. She’s been a bit inspired I think and is definitely braver. All in all a very satisfying morning.
