Clothes Shopping

Too many strawberries!

Children are funny things.

Today we had a good day -or so I thought.

Chasing sheep

In New Zealand all children in CYFS care get a clothing grant every three months. This morning H and A's was in the bank so they took the day off school to go shopping. We had a bit to do first - Daniel had a dental nurse appointment and the regional rep from the Correspondence School visited. So it was lunch time before we piled into the car hungry.

If you are ever lucky enough to go to Whakatane in summer they have the most amazing cafe on the outskirts of town - Julian's Berry Farm. With  draw cards of good coffee, real berry ice-creams, strawberry picking, a playground and petting farm it is a mecca for local families.

H and A have never been so we went their for lunch. I have heaps of photos of smiling faces, strawberry coloured mouths and overflowing containers. We had lots of fun in the picking field. H ate so much he couldn't face  an ice-cream and his mood soured from then on. He was rude and distracted when we shopped for clothes and refused to try anything on. Normally he loves shopping and I just put it down to approaching adolescence. He bought an MGP scooter, the latest craze, and cheered up trying it out at the Whakatane skate park. Back in Kawerau I dropped him off at the local skatepark, his favourite place, and he whizzed around, learning new tricks and skills until dinnertime.

That night, curled under his blankets waiting for stories and prayer time I asked how his day had been.

"It sucked!" he replied. "It was the worst day ever."

A cloud has descended on my usually happy, sweet 12 year old. But why?