Today was one of those days which didn’t go to plan, it probably went better.  B8 has been coughing for days, not just a little scratchy cough, a big impressive, “that must hurt cough”. So this morning, just as I was about to start Maths with him I suggested instead that he hop back into bed.  He agreed straight away.  This is unusual for him, although he occasionally gets sick, he rarely stays in bed and even more rarely goes to the doctor.

I happened to have borrowed a book on cd, The Penderwicks which had been recommended by Semicolon, so I put it in the cd player and he started listening.  I wondered whether he might go off to sleep but he just kept listening, taking a break for  lunch and then going back for more.  Whenever I looked in on him he related an amusing line or incident.  Toward the end of the afternoon he emerged from his room disappointed that the last cd would not play anymore, in the last chapter of all places.  It ended up not being a problem as I had borrowed the book as well.  He thoroughly enjoyed it, and asked if there was more.  We will try and pick The Penderwicks on Gardam Street up at the library tomorrow.

He is also engrossed by the Mistmantle Chronicles, which I am reading to him.  We almost finished the second of three  this evening.  The characters are all  animals (usually not a big favourite with me) living in towers, fighting in battles, awaiting prophecies and always looking for adventure with a little bit of romance thrown in.  I am just as interested as he is, but don’t take quite as much notice of the battle details as he does.

While he was listening and resting, I caught up on marking and decided it was time to try a couple of gluten free recipes.  I have hardly baked at all since I started eating gluten free but I would like to have a a variety of quick recipes that I can rely on for snacks and treats.  The first were called Marshmallow Ooeys,  and the name says it all.  They are very sweet, too sweet, I think, but I really like the base without the melted marshmallow on top.  I think it would work as a base for other toppings.  The second mixture was for peanut butter cookies, which everyone liked.

I was able to browse through a few books for our Canadian History unit on WW2 also.  Too Young to Fight: Memories of our Youth During WW2 is a compilation of memoirs by some of the Canadian authors we have read before and gives the perspective of the children who watched their world change and made sacrifices on the home front. Canada Remembers is a magazine style book approaching WW2 with the intent of sharing with today’s students the impact of the war on Canada and Canada’s contribution to the war on so many fronts.  So my day of cookies and books was a nice change and hopefully my boy will be feeling quite a bit better tomorrow.