LiannesGuide
I hate cooking, I hate cleaning, I hate Dutch weather, I hate being cold, I hate the mess around the house, I hate living so far away from family, I hate being tired all the time.
That’s me in a nutshell. Also I’m an entrepreneur, have worked too many jobs to list but mostly as a consultant, mostly in digital photography and new media and quite a lot of teaching. I am a mother of 4 little kids (7,6,4,3). I live in a small village 20 min outside of Amsterdam and am Canadian. I am happy to be working again after 3 years at home with the kids. Personal balance is my challenge.
Last week our 8 year old son received an invitation to a “real” party given by 3 about to be 10 year old girls in his class. He is in a “combi-class” which means grade 3 and 4 together. It said “formal attire” and was being held on Saturday from 7-10pm.
A late night for our son is 8:30pm.
My friend had texted me about the invite before I saw it - I mean seriously, our 8 year olds going to a real party? I was not impressed. My son didn’t mention anything about it until a couple of days ago. He slapped the invite on the table and said “I want to go”. Oh…
He didn’t mention it again so I figured he’d changed his mind. Then on Saturday morning he brought it up again. I’m going with my friend. Oh…
So I called the friend’s mom and she has agreed to let her almost 8 year old attend as well. The whole class would be there after all. We agreed that 9pm was more than late enough for our kids and she would pick them up. At this point I realized that my husband was not in the know about this. So I called and updated him, confirmed that it was OK.
Fast forward to 18:30. We’ve just eaten. Adam has ketchup all over his face. We suggest he get ready, wash his face, brush his teeth and put something nice on. Formal attire. Right. So I dig out a new super colorful t-shirt which he loves, he finds a nice pair of pants and his best running shoes. Then this happens…
He brushes his hair. Not only that, he used the de-tangling spray that I have to sneak on him in the mornings, never mind brushing it out. He combs it with our new “Knot Genie” ( I will talk about this great thing another time). My husband offers to give him a bit of scent ( I said, really???) which he surprised us by using. A very very little bit.
He and I walked to the party which was just 5 minutes away. We walked passed a house that had lit a fire in the backyard. Adam was not liking that his smell might be replaced by smoke. I had no idea that this could matter to him. He was also concerned that his hair might be messed up by his helmut which is why we walked instead of biked. I also had no idea this mattered to him. I’d given him a phone to call us if he wasn’t having fun. We arrived, music was fantastic (I thought about staying myself), he was offered some kid-champagne, balloons everywhere and off he went. Dancing, hanging out with the guys, playing with the fun straws. I left (after a glass of wine!) feeling somehow proud of my little guy.
My husband and I were going out for drinks and I wanted him to get a peak of this “first” party. Just as he put his head in the door, Adam came out with the phone on his ear, attempting to call us. Oh, we said. Do you want to come home. And he said: I just wanted to call you to tell you how much fun I’m having. Wow, I thought. We are doing something right…
For my husband and I, it was a big moment. For Adam - when we asked him this morning how his “first” party was. He looked at us and said, I go to parties all the time. Meaning, this was just another birthday party.
Lucky for us…
We still have a bit more time…
-
gamemi likes this
-
liannesguide posted this
