Day 20: 03/07/17 Start of boatschool proper.

Today was to be the start of full on boatschool. Up until now we have been on a reduced timetable of reading, French, and a bit of WW2 work. Now I needed to add in Maths and English. The general consensus is that children need a month of deschooling for each year they have spent in school, and possibly more if School has been traumatic. I had no worries about Esmé as she loved school but AJ's time at school had been much more of a mixed bag. I did wonder if starting schooling now was a bit early for AJ but Esmé was more than ready.

We started off with the usual morning reading, AJ was more enthusiastic than Esmé who really wanted to stay in bed until lunchtime! After breakfast there was much enthusiasm and I was really pleased with both kids' work. Only when we got to maths did things get a bit tetchy with AJ so I backed right off and said we would revisit it later.

Meanwhile Patrick hitched a lift to the local DIY store with Paul the English guy, to buy some plastic sheeting to wrap the mast. He also continued de-rigging the boat. After lunch I walked to the closest supermarket to do some shopping, favouring lugging it all back myself over dragging kids and Patrick along. It wasn't a great supermarket and it took a long time to figure out meals for 5 days on our small budget. I also wanted to stock up on a few treats. Our crisp cupboard was low so I chose a few packets and then picked up the super cheap soufflés gout cacahuete. On returning to the boat I realised that I seemed to have bought peanut flavour crisps.... should be interesting. We had invited Paul and Carol over for drinks later in the evening so I was quickly trying to cook dinner when AJ and Esmé asked when they should go and get them. I explained that they were coming for drinks afterwards and could perhaps have some desert when the kids went very quiet. AJ looked very worried and eventually said that he had invited them over for dinner. Cue me in blind panic as although I usually cook far to much, this was not one of those nights. Patrick gallantly agreed to go and sort the misunderstanding out and we were back to dinner for 4.

Paul and Carol arrived bearing wine and we had a lovely chat (even better when kids had gone to bed) when Carol started laughing. Ollie their dog had decided he no longer wanted to wait in their cockpit and had come to find them...bringing Carol's shoes with him... and then dropping one in the water. Paul's quick work with the boat hook meant that the shoe was only wet and not lost, however Ollie's appearance on the boat meant that the kids were back on deck! After a few cuddles they went back down below and soon after Paul and Carol made a move.

Despite it being very late at this point AJ asked to re-visit his maths and I agreed as I think he does better without Esmé listening in. Finally kids in bed by 10:45pm... still not in any kind of routine... will it ever happen?