22Oct07 - Forbidden Corner

Today is about Joshua time. Joshua is on holiday this week for half term and I have taken a few days holiday to spend at home. Lucy was at nursery all day so it was just the three of us. We went to "The Forbidden Corner" which is near Middleham in North Yorkshire. It is a kind of mystery garden and you have to find all sorts of different clues by finding you way through mazes, secret paths and underground passages. We have all been before and all love it. I asked Josh to write about what he liked about today and this is what he wrote,

"The best thing about today was spending time with my Mum and Dad, and when I was scared in the underground bit my Mum and Dad gave me a big cuddle. On the wet parts where you can get squirted with water from different objects, I always made them go first so that I never got wet.
Even though I like Lucy being around I really like it when its just my Mum and Dad because we can do what ever we want like go down steps and stuff and don't have to worry about feeding her"

Joshua has always been the most caring brother Lucy could wish for but I am glad that he is as honest as he is. It just shows that we must make more of an effort to make special time just for him. Walking around with Joshua today was like taking a step back in time. Everthing just seemed so easy and we were able to just relax and enjoy ourselves, with no prying eyes, inquisitive looks or strict timetables. It is sad that we have to feel this way but it is certainly one place that we will never be able to take Lucy because of the access difficulties. The cruel irony is that the steep winding steps, tunnels, stepping stones and narrow paths that children love about the place, are the very things that exclude children like Lucy.