If you follow my blog, you’ll know that Tyler is a very shy boy – group activities with other children have always been his nightmare, hiding behind me whenever anyone tried to talk to him. Well on Tuesday a miracle happened – he lost his shyness!

We had gone to intu Uxbridge for a bit of shopping and to check out the Beano takeover. You see the Beano floor as soon as you walk in from the car park – can’t miss that stripy floor.

After a Happy Meal at McDs – we’re on a mission to collect ALL the minions toys – we were on our way to Next where I wanted to do a return. On the way there, intu have a soft play area in between the escalators. Normally Tyler steers well clear of this because of the other children in there. So I was expecting the usual ‘NOOO!’ when I asked him if he wanted to go in. Instead he was like YES and dived straight in. He was laughing and playing with the other kids, taking turns to slide down, just being free! Not shy! Ahhh – I was amazed! He didn’t want to leave, after about 20 minutes, I dragged him out.

We walked through the shopping centre where they had the Beano colouring event. Again with these activities that shopping centres organise, Tyler normally shies away – other kids, nooooo! Well this time he went straight in and ran around first. I said to him, come on, let’s do some colouring! And he actually sat down and properly concentrated. Amazing!

There were 4 little tables, each with 4 chairs, a pot of Crayola felt tip pens and lots of Crayola crayons. Each table had sheet of ‘Gnasher’ from Beano to colour in. Around the sides were those long gym benches that remind you of school – a nice touch. I guess that was for the parents to sit on, but I got stuck in too – well it does seem that adult colouring-in is the latest trend!

Next thing you know, a little girl sat opposite us. Normally this would freak Tyler out and he’d hide behind me. This time he was absolutely fine! He got a bit funny when she used the felt tip pens, and I said to Tyler, that’s ok, we are SHARING! So then it was ok. What a miracle, my boy is not shy anymore!

We said hello to the Beano girl at the entrance, looking really cool in her red and black stripy tee. She told us about the intu Kids Club, which I hadn’t signed Tyler up for before as he was not into group things. But now we can join in group activities! I filled in our details on a form, and Tyler got a backpack of goodies in return. He was well happy, and so was I as it was all free!

We popped into Debenhams as I wanted to check out the sale. And I’m glad I did, I bought this gorgeous Jasper Conran jacket for Tyler. He already has the yellow one which has lasted years, so this is the next size up at age 3-4. I let Tyler choose blue or green, and he went for green (good because I like the green better!) and it was down from £24.99 to £16.40. Happy days 🙂

If you fancy checking out the Beano takeover at intu Uxbridge, it’s on until 16th August and these are the next activities:

Now – Fri 7th Aug, 11am – 5pm : Beano Colouring Fun
Sat 8th – Sun 9th Aug, 11am-5pm : The Prank Academy
Mon 10th – Thurs 13th Aug, 11am-5pm : Joke Wall
Fri 14th Aug, 11am-5pm : Dennis the Menace visits!
Sat 15th Aug, 11am-5pm : Cartoon Workshops

Address: intu Uxbridge, High Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 1LA (next to Uxbridge Tube and Bus station)

Sabrina x

   Please note: I have not been paid to write this – I just love Uxbridge! 🙂