That Glisten moment

Today I have a guest post from my sister Annabel as part of a blogger challenge for Glisten – do check out their geodomes! Also, Annabel has recently started her very own blog – Fiandmi – and that is definitely worth a look too.

“This has been the best day ever!” My son exclaims.

Score! As a mummy this is the closest I get to a good work appraisal. No meetings with my boss, no personal development reviews, just endless days trying really hard to be nurturer, nourisher, educator all rolled in to one without the merest hint of a ‘well done, you’re doing really well’ or a ‘you could try doing that slightly differently for a better result.’

I am working blind, clinging on to some faint vestiges of hope that I am generally an OK mum but no-one ever says one way or the other and certainly not to your face.

So, I take what I can and “best day ever” seems about as good as I am going to get.

“But what prompted this exclamation?” I here you cry.

Well, it was this.

Fossils.

Oh yeah!

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My son simply can not get enough of anything paleontological; his wild high-octane interests he gets from me, who generally gets more excited by a good game of Boggle than sky-diving, base-jumping, etc.

On a sunny holiday day we had ventured to the Jurassic Coast of Lyme Regis.

I had done my research.

There was an amazing little fossil museum owned and ran purely out of love for fossils and dinosaurs by a former paleontologist, Steve. We headed here immediately. Steve informed us that the best place to find a real life fossil was on the stony beach away from the crowds where we were guaranteed to find ancient remnants of a time long passed.

Now, being the adrenaline junkies that we are, I had pre-packed an explorer’s back-pack for my son including a magnifying glass, camera, goggles and a small hammer – I know, get me!

We had been surrounded by flood waters for so long that I was beginning to pair the animals. Not today. Today the sun was shining and it felt so, so good. We broke away from the crowds to the stone and rock formed beach. I looked out ahead of me and saw my back-packed son setting off with a steely determination to reach fossils.

It was not an easy terrain.

DSCF0080Both the Small Ones seemed to have no bother as they scampered on ahead while we stumbled behind in what, at best, was inappropriate footwear (all my organisational efforts had gone into the back-pack and not stretched as far as my feet).

I precariously perched on a rock whilst my son identified the ‘fossil spot’ and there the time disappeared. For hours they both roamed free gathering rocks, sliding in mud and generally being children free from the restrictions in the adult world with rules they normally occupy.

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I was disturbed only by the chattering background noises, “I’VE FOUND A FOSSIL!!!”, “It’s an AMMONITE.”, “I need a wee.”

A holiday or even a single day in which we as a nuclear family are all together is a rare thing so we have to seize the opportunity when we can to make the most of it. Sat there on my precarious rock I watched the Smalls scamper unfettered and free and it was indeed the ‘best day ever’.

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10 Comments

  1. Liz
    21 April, 2014 / 9:10 pm

    Well done Finn!! If I can’t make a geologist out if Oscar, then I will plough my energy into living vicariously through Finn instead!

  2. 22 April, 2014 / 11:15 am

    Ha, yes, he does love the fossil finding. I actually thought of you when we were on the beach-thought you’d like it and wanted someone who could tell me what all the different rocks were!

  3. 24 April, 2014 / 10:56 am

    What an amazing post – such a brilliant adventure! I want to take my daughter fossil hunting now :-) x

  4. 24 April, 2014 / 1:49 pm

    So funny as we’ve been talking about doing just this trip! F is so excited that he will be going on a dinosaur adventure, I really hope he finds some fossils too! x

  5. 24 April, 2014 / 5:40 pm

    great post! my kiddos can’t wait to go fossil hunting again

  6. 24 April, 2014 / 5:55 pm

    I have such fond memories of fossil hunting! lovely post x

  7. 24 April, 2014 / 9:01 pm

    Lyme Regis is on my list of places to take my daughter – will be copying the backpack idea :)

  8. 24 April, 2014 / 11:15 pm

    Love this post and just popped over to your sisters blog – very stylish :) I think days spent at the beach with young kids is the best :)

    Laura x

  9. 26 April, 2014 / 7:23 am

    I love days like this, where your planning pays off and everyone has a good time – and being told it just makes it all worth while!

  10. 6 May, 2014 / 7:34 am

    Do a lot of this – granny and granddad were geologists during their working days… my garden is full of stones found from all over… like a massive treasure hunt!

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