Alice persuades me that Queensgate is a fun place

Alice and Paddington Bear in Queensgate.
What a magical place!

Alice slept over last night because Max and Inna wanted to celebrate their anniversary. It meant there was no early start, although she was awake at the crack of dawn, so no early drive but no lie-in either.

We were going shoe-shopping with her to buy new shoes for starting school and we’d booked a fitting slot at Clarks in Queensgate. This is a big moment … your first school shoes, but also the end of individualism and the start of conformity. All Alice’s shoes are colourful or glittery, these were black with the smallest bow, also black; and a pair of pumps (also black).

We did buy a pair of pink trainers as well and she was delighted with those until she saw multicoloured shoes with flashing lights in the soles in Skechers.

I’ve decided that Queensgate is in decline and has no shops worth visiting, but Alice saw things very differently. It has multi-storey car parks and you can drive right to the top, there’s a lift that takes you down to the shops at the touch of a button and, when the lift doors open, you’re presented with a bright, shiny play space that makes you want to run.

After looking down on the buses, she charged forward and when we passed Lush, she couldn’t believe it. “Look at all the soap grandad, it smells amazing!”

Clarks was a more serious business, but very interesting, then there was a long escalator and electric cars that you could drive in the main square. She loved St John’s Church, she loved Wildwood and, I have to say, I left Peterborough with a much more positive view than I’ve had for a long time. Shopping was never so much fun.

Why do I keep falling asleep?

 It is 5.20pm on Friday and we’re going across to the Rose & Crown in an hour for dinner with our friends Pauline and Chris Coakley. I’ve just woken up after a two-hour sleep. I only woke up because Mabel, our Springer Spaniel, realised it was dinner time and leapt from my bed where she’d also been sleeping.

I have been sleeping a lot just lately, I can fall asleep just about anywhere and any time from 10am through to 5pm. I also get about five or six hours at night. Last Saturday, we took Arthur and Saoirse to the Luxe Cinema in Wisbech to watch Bad Guys II and I fell asleep during the film for about 45 minutes.

I’m not sure if this is a natural progression in my life; like an old dog, I’ll sleep more and more until eventually I don’t wake up (not a bad way to go) or whether it’s a sign of a more serious health concern. Perhaps I should Google “falling asleep during the day” and find 20 things that could be the end of me?

Well, apart from sleeping, what’s been happening in my life? We are coming to the end of our Monday Alice duty, which has been a fixture of our lives for almost four years. Alice starts school in just over three weeks and we will get an extra day during the week to do things (or to fall asleep). I’ll miss looking after her. Of all our grandchildren, I’ve had the chance to watch her grow through two car seats (backward-facing to forward-with-seatbelt) and develop from a baby, through toddler to a proper little girl. She’s given us endless pleasure and we’ll both miss Mondays, although not the 7am start in winter. I think we’ll still see quite a lot of her during school holidays, so that will be something to look forward to. We’ve already booked one of the beach cabins at the Le Strange Arms in Old Hunstanton for the autumn half-term.

Alice is more than ready for school. She enjoys nursery/pre-school where she’s spent three days a week from the age of around nine months. She’s confident, mixes well and I think she’s popular with the other children. We meet one or two of them when we’re out and about with her on Mondays and they’re always delighted to see her. Like all our grandchildren, she’s super smart and also has a good vocabulary, although it has been delivered in a stronger and stronger Leicestershire accent. Tom asked me what a Leicestershire accent sounded like and I struggled to describe it; it’s not northern, but some of the vowel sounds are similar.