Banana Bread for Two Monkeys

Am I the only person in the world who finds it's ten times harder to entertain small children in the winter? Luca (3) and Niko(2) were so full of energy today, it was as though they were in serious training for the London Olympics. For all possible events. And I mean all of them, including judo and the pole vault. They spent the morning running round in circles and climbing on anything they could find (ie each other and the furniture) and they clearly had masses of extra energy to burn. All of this would have been fine had we been in a gym...but in our living room it became a little more complicated. Take them outside! I can hear you say....but in fact I tried that too. I guess this is where our Finnish roots just aren't deep enough! Neither of them was in any way seduced by the idea of going out when the temperature was -10 degrees. They were not interested in building snowmen or anything else. We managed to get to the post box and back plus a (very) short walk down our road...but that was it. They absolutely and unequivovally wanted to come back inside....and I can't say I entirely blame them... I have said before that I think the Finnish winter is incredibly beautiful - and I still do -but I have to say that I spent most of today wishing for the snow to melt and for the sun to come back - so the boys could run outside wearing t-shirts and no shoes. I can't wait for them to be able to run outside without having to dress them up as though they were flying into outer space. Perhaps I am the only mother in Somero who thinks that life is simpler in the summer, I don't know, but today I practically counted the minutes until the sun is back with us again. In the end I took the easy option. I didn't have the energy or courage to get them dressed for a trip to the shops, so we decided just to manage with what we could find in the kitchen and ended up making banana bread. Niko took the view that tasting it before it was cooked was the secret to a good cake, as you can no doubt see from the evidence around his mouth. Still, at least it kept him occupied for a few minutes, although if I am honest I have to admit that now he is back to running again. It's only five in the afternoon and I am ready to go to bed for the night.

Just in case you're wondering what he is wearing around his neck, it's a scarf I bought in France and which he immediately stole. It looks better on him than it does on me actually. To all the exhausted mothers out there...I am with you in spirit!