We had a plan for today. One of those we-have-no-plans-today-so-lets-do-all-those-jobs-that-need-doing plans. But then we woke late, which was good actually because we never get to lie in anymore, being parents. Waking at 8:08am when you have to be somewhere at 9am is a funny feeling these days. Since becoming parents, having to be somewhere at 9am is no a big thing because we are awake from 7am at the latest.

So we scrambled out of bed, showered, dressed and headed off. Job number one got ticked off the list. Back home again we ticked job number two off the list, then job number three. Job number four got started but then we got waylaid, distracted by a parcel arriving in the post.

Job number five was re-scheduled for the afternoon when we realised that time was slipping away and we’d have to hurry to make it to our friends’ house for lunch. The plan was to have lunch, a drink and a chat, let the children play for a while and then head off to finish our jobs.

Number four needed finishing and number five would entail writing a shopping list so it actually became job number six and the list-writing became job number five. Job number seven would have to be done today because The Bavarian needed to do it and the DIY shop is closed tomorrow. Jobs number eight and nine had to be done by me because I had been postponing them all week. Jobs number ten and eleven were the boys’ responsibility.

Going to our friends for lunch wouldn’t hinder the job-doing. We’d have to stop for lunch at some stage. In fact it would make us more efficent, I reckoned, because we wouldn’t have any preparation or clean up to do. Plus, we would be rested and relaxed and ready to face our afternoon chores.

So we visited our friends and ate a delicious lunch outdoors. It so so nice, we had another glass of wine, because Saturday lunch-with-wine-al-fresco isn’t an everyday thing. The children all played nicely together and, so as not to interrupt, we had dessert and coffee, staying just a little longer than planned.

A shower started and got heavier, so we couldn’t leave then. We’d be soaked. Our toddler started his nap, the rain continued and the Switzerland-Poland match started. And ended. More friends arrived and new conversations began. We ate some more and there was procsecco, because the children were still playing nicely and it was still to wet to venture out.

The toddler woke, hungry and cranky. The Northern Ireland- Wales match began. The weather clearted up, the sun came out and so did the children, with water pistols, which distracted the toddler nicely. So we sat and chatted another while.

Once the children’s bedtime was approaching, we left, walking home as a happy family. Balanced, relaxed, fed. The Bavarian bathed the boys and I popped to the supermarket just before closing time to buy some milk because I suddenly remembed we were down to our last carton.

Relaxing with friends, letting the children play for hours on end, having a drink in the afternoon, watching the matches, laughing till we had tears in our eyes, taking part in a water pistol fight and having an all round good time weren’t part of the plan for today.

Then again, buying milk wasn’t one of the jobs on the plan either, but we needed it. We almost forgot that too.