Things the kids are enjoying at the moment

I have three children, aged 3, 7 and 9. Being at different stages, they all enjoy different things, but there are a few commonalities that are drawing them all together at the moment. I often spend time dwelling on their differences and dissonances; sometimes it's really nice to think about their shared enthusiasms, the things we enjoy together as a family.

They all love Horrible Histories. Oh, how they love them! This started with the eldest's school project to research a famous person in history, and her decision to look at King Henry VIII. I thought she might enjoy the HH song about old Hal; she did, so did her sisters, and one thing led to another, and now they're on constant rotation. They each have their favourites; the eldest loves the Kate Bush-esque Mary I song, the 7 yo likes the Lady GaGa stylings of the Cleopatra song, while the 3yo is completely besotted with the brilliant Addams-family riff, The Borgia Family. (Well, it is fantastic. Just watch and see).



They are all enjoying the Olympics. The older kids are both doing units on it at school and have been learning various factoids in the build-up to the Games, and were very excited to finally arrive at the Opening Ceremony yesterday. The 3yo wasn't too taken with the opening ceremony, except for Mr Bean (loved that bit) and the lighting of the flame (we *all* loved that bit), but she, like her sisters, really enjoyed watching some of the Day 1 highlights this morning, including the Australian gold medal swim in the women's freestyle. Great stuff.

They are all devoted, DEVOTED, to reading and books. This has long been the case for the elder two, of course, but the 3yo has just started sounding out some basic words and is completely obsessed with "weading, I want to wead it, help me do it!!" The big kids are stepping up to this challenge in a major way, sitting with C, reading to and with her, and cheering on her efforts. I love to see this so much.

They are all very interested at the moment in food preparation and cooking. Their interest is, admittedly, taking different forms - the eldest is into the science of cooking, while the 7yo wants to learn techniques, and the 3yo wants to bake ALL THE THINGS. We are in a phase again where I can cook with more than one of them, sometimes even all three, and have it be a happy experience. That's a really lovely thing for me.

It's nice, that they have overlapping interests and tastes, as well as their many individual preferences and passions. Common ground is a wonderful promoter of family harmony, I find.