A piece

Hallam loves jigsaw puzzles. He did every single puzzle in the whole house, this morning. And then again, this afternoon. He does them all by himself, comes to find me, tells me he has a surprise for me and then “tada!” he declares, showing me his masterpiece. There is a routine, I ask who helped him, running through a list of potential candidates before – oh my goodness, he cannot contain himself – “I helped me!” he shouts. His birthday was in October, he definitely couldn’t do them then. It’s all so quick.

Esme watches her big brother picking up the – quite small, actually – pieces. She is amazed, occasionally picking up puzzle pieces and putting them in her mouth.

Murray, officially ‘overweight’ (thanks to a neighbour who feeds him every morning at 6am) purrs around, hoping for food.

Further maths

30 lengths is 1 kilometre, in Worthing. 40 lengths for the same distance in Exeter. It takes 30 minutes to swim, 30 minutes to get to the pool and back, and get changed. Bit longer if I want to pop to the supermarket too. Bit less if I go home half dry. Esme sleeps for 30 minutes, 3 or 4 times a day. Hallam spends 3 hours at preschool. I have 2 children – they are 3 years 3 months and 6 months old. I am nearly old enough to have children now. 27.

I was offered a better job last week, in Exeter. We have moved 4 times since Hallam was born. It means going back to work 6 weeks before I was going to go back anyway.

Our house here would rent for more than double our current mortgage repayment, which will go down by 0.8% soon. A letting agency will charge us 8% plus 20% to manage the letting for us. We’ll pay off our mortgage in 33 years. Renting a house in Exeter would cost 1.7 times our current monthly mortgage payment. The train from Worthing to Hove costs £135 a month. In Exeter, I’d walk. The removal company (and hell, no, there is NO WAY I WILL EVEN CONSIDER MOVING WITHOUT PAYING SOMEONE TO MOVE OUR STUFF) will charge £1000ish. I have a 10% discount from a removal company in Exeter.

There are 4 classes of primary school, as far as OFSTED are concerned. There are at least 3 ‘outstanding’ schools in the centre of Exeter, all with catchment areas you need to live in. Some schools are ‘outstanding’ for some sections, but just ‘good’ for others. Would I like Hallam to learn about inclusiveness or maths? Which aspect of your child’s education are you willing to pick up a bit more slack for at home? If we sell our house in 12 months, what are the house prices like in the areas of Exeter we like, that are near the right schools? How much more does it cost for an ‘outstanding’ school? Can we have 4 bedrooms? Are we just having 2 children?

Hallam has 6 cousins in Exeter. 2 sets of grandparents. 8 aunts/uncles.

I can buy 12 more Worthing swims for the price of 10, if I pay for them up front. Is it worth it? Because, subject to satisfactory references, I accepted a a better job last week, in Exeter. We have moved 4 times since Hallam was born. This will be number 5.