Tag: children

It's the Third of Bleptember, and this routine-loving pupper is still confused by the fact that the elder child doesn't come on the school-run morning walk any more, instead leaving early to catch the bus to her new school. Look at those big anxious eyes, poor thing!

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A French Bulldog wearing a harness stands in a cluttered hallway, looking sideways through an open door. Her tongue is sticking slightly out.

The Second of Bleptember brought back the morning school run into this doggo's routine. And while she was glad of the extra walk, she also seemed glad of the opportunity to lie down in a quiet, child-free hallway upon our return home.

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A champagne-coloured French Bulldog lies on a rug, with her tongue sticking out almost enough to touch the floor.

The dog came out for a walk with the eldest kid and I, but we couldn't stop her sticking her head down rabbitholes!

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In a grassy field, a girl in a red dress and comfortable boots kneels with her head completely vanished down a rabbit hole.

(Oh, and the dog kept doing it, too.)

Looking forward to the school run starting again next week... so I get a bonus excuses for walks around our beautiful village!

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Paddock with horses under a sky of mixed clouds and an arching rainbow.

Happy Stone Circle Sunday! The youngest and I went out to Avebury Henge, the world's largest neolithic standing stone circle and henge.

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On verdant grass and under clear skies, a boy in a white-and-blue 'Sonic the Hedgehog' t-shirt strolls in front of a line of about half a dozen enormous standing stones.

I don't want to withdraw any of our children from sec [sic] education lessons.

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Part of an email, written in Comic Sans, reading: Ages 10 – 11 Puberty for boys and girls revisited. Understanding conception to the birth of a baby. Becoming a teenager. All lessons are taught using correct terminology, child-friendly language and diagrams. / Content on relationships is compulsory for all children as well as work on reproduction and body parts, which is also covered as part of science lessons. However, parents can decide to withdraw their child from sex education lessons. Class teachers can provide more information if you wish to discuss this with your child’s teacher. / If you would like to withdraw your child from sec education lessons, then please put this in writing by the end of this week 6th June.

However they're spelled, they're a great idea, and I'm grateful to live in a part of the world where their existence isn't the target of religious politics.

But if I can withdraw consent to receiving emails about sex education in Comic Sans then that'd be great, thanks. 😅

Today's Hide And Seek With The Kids is brought to you by the Bishop's Palace, St. David's, Wales.

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Dan crouches on a stone spiral staircase.

What's that, girl? Two children are lost somewhere in this bookshop?

Yeah, I should probably find them and take them home for lunch.

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Dan, in a bookshop, holds a book called How To Speak Dog, alongside a French Bulldog.

Y'all seemed to enjoy the "overworld" map I shared the other day, so here's another "feelie" from my kids' ongoing D&D campaign.

The party has just arranged for passage aboard a pioneering (and experimental) Elvish airship. Here's a deck plan (only needs a "you are here" dot!) to help them get their bearings.

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In the style of a passenger ferry, a floorplan for a dirigible, weighted down by polyhedral dice. Fantasy world quirks like bilingual text in Common and Elvish and the emergency exit sign depicting a fleeing witch complete the effect.

In preparation for Family D&D Night (and with thanks to my earlier guide to splicing maps together!), I've finally completed an expanded "overworld" map for our game world. So far, the kids have mostly hung around on the North coast of the Central Sea, but they're picked up a hook that may take them all the way across to the other side... and beyond?

Banana for scale.

(If your GMing for kids, you probably already know this, but "feelies" go a long way. All the maps. All the scrolls. Maybe even some props. Go all in. They love it.)

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On a dining table lies a old-style map comprised of 12 sheets of A4 paper, sellotaped together. The map shows the 'Central Sea', an inlet from the 'Terminic Ocean', around which various settlements, forests, mountain ranges, and swamps can be found. An underripe banana sits in one corner of the map, weighing it down.