Trumpets, cracked pots and flames...or whistles, playdough and flags

Exhausted! Delivered holiday club for the under 5s today. (Gideon) We watched bubbles come to rest on a fleece and then on the floor, thought about superheroes like Sporticus and Tommy Zoom (CBeebies, if you're unfamiliar) and charged around the church with pots containing playdough, flags, pom-poms and toy whistles to scare aware the imaginary Midianites.

Kids ministry is great but it doesn't end because you then return home to minister to your own kids who are on half term - need feeding, playing with, fetching drinks for, (possible but hard work)and need the ways of the world, God and all things visible and invisible explained (impossible but great).

So my youngest was the mummy and I was the 'sister' in our game, but when she put me to bed for the night on the sofa with her blanket and a rag-doll, I fell asleep, even though her real big sister was thumping an eclectic tune at the piano and various brightly-coloured plastic toys were playing strange sound effects. It was a good job daddy was home.

It was less of a good job daddy was at home, when he decided his daughters could have a sleep-over - like big girls do - two small giggly, over-tired children in a single bed. Great! He gets to go out then for two hours, to footy and the pub, leaving me to keep running up the stairs every few minutes and deal with exhausted children the next day. As it turns out he ends up pacifying the children who can't understand why they are now not allowed a sleep-over (kill-joy mummy) after all and mum and dad end up very cross with each other - family life eh!