A Day In Durham. Child Led Day Out!

   Do you ever just go along with what the kids want to do?  Whether it be at home, during play or going out?

I decided to do just that the other day with Amelia and after suggesting she chose our plan for the day we ended up in Durham.  It was all down to her, I gave her free reign on what to do and where to go, for a 4 year old she really did surprise me with some of her choices.

First up was a tough decision, she said she wanted to visit the cathedral but also NEEDED an ice cream.  We walked along past the shops in the direction of both, all the while with her talking about how much she needed to do both.  After a little encouragement to choose one and the promise that we would indeed do both she opted for an ice cream.  A giant banana split to be precise!

She watched with awe as it was made and the fact it was way bigger than she imagined absolutely delighted her, I have never seen her eat so much either!  She almost devoured the whole thing!

After filling up on ice cream she said we were heading to the cathedral and thankfully it wasn’t too far from the parlour.  Unfortunately the castle section was closed to viewing – not sure what was going on but it was guided tours only and I know she wouldn’t have had the patience to walk and listen to ramblings at the same time.

We headed out and she spotted a doorway into the information centre which said there was a free Breath exhibition on display and she wanted to go see it!  Following her lead I entered the hall and told the lady it was Amelia’s choice to visit.  She was lovely and spoke to Amelia, telling her where to head and what it was all about which I think made her day!

We got to listen to music about breathing, watch video snippits and, the most obscure of all, listen to people breathing down the telephone.  That one freaked me out slightly, not the kind of thing I like to hear when I pick up a phone but Amelia thought it was fascinating trying to decide if the people on the other ends were happy, sad, annoyed etc….personally I think they all just sounded pervy! ack!

Once we finished at the cathedral I was told we were heading to the shops.  She wanted to buy a new outfit!  Now, this is the girl who loves to dress in boy clothes, won’t entertain pink or unicorns so I thought we would be heading for the jeans and t-shirt section.  Nope!  She went straight for the cute denim dress covered in flowers, pretty little animal adorned shoes to match, glitter ear headband and of course the prettiest rainbow sunglasses!  Be still my heart!  She of course wanted to try them on in the changing room too which was so much fun!   She also chose some glitter tattoos from Accessorize which make a difference to the Superman and Spiderman ones she usually has.  She surprised me in so many ways.

Finally we walked past a nail salon and I mentioned coming back through to get my extensions done.  Amelia turned and said we should go in as she wanted her nails painting too!  She was delighted when they said they would love to do her nails, she chose a pretty blue and sat with such a huge smile on her face all the while.  My nails were done too and she sat playing on my phone, giving me a thumbs up the whole time and loving every minute of our mother and daughter day out.  I did too!

It really was a day full of everything I feel a girls shopping trip would involve.  Not at all what I expected from my little red headed fireball but most definitely something I would do again!

XOXO

Debbie