Home James! Or Is It Jane? July 14, 2009

Hubby, against my wishes, bought our Eldest son his first skateboard at the age of 3 years old.  He came into the house with the glow of a father who had just given the ‘ultimate’ gift to his son.  I must admit that all the fancy toys I have bought, for their educational purposes, toys that were requested on Christmas and Birthday lists, all get played with seldom but a request to go outside to have “a little skate, just a little one Mom”, is a daily occurrence and the thrill has obviously not worn off.

Over the last few months Hubby has been taking Eldest to a a local skateboard park, not that much skateboarding gets done due to our child being as young as he is, but he loves to watch the more experienced skaters.  It was at about this time a few mutterings were made by Hubby that he would like his own skateboard so that he could skate with Eldest instead of standing around doing nothing. 

The surf and skate shops around our area have had blowout sales and it was on one of my ‘hunter gather’ expeditions that I found some skateboards that were discounted! As Hubby’s birthday was in a few months time I decided to buy him the skateboard he was obviously going to buy himself.  That evening he turned the board in his hands and a boyish glint could be seen in his eyes.  I had the glow of a wife who had finally presented her Hubby with an ultimate gift!  He was desperate to get out there and skate, even taking his board out in the empty parking lot at work for a secret session!

Last week Sunday we finally revealed to Eldest that his Dad has his own board and would finally be joining him on the ramps!  Not wanting to interrupt the Father and Son bonding moment I left them to it and took Wee One for a little stroll.  When I returned I found Hubby standing, watching Eldest skate and doing nothing!  As I approached I was met with a grimace of pain clearly displayed on Hubby’s face. 

 

“I came so left and fell on my arm.  I am sure it’s just muscular because I can move it!”

 

Mmm.  As the afternoon wore on Hubby’s pain increased and he got paler by the hour.  There was only one thing for it – Emergency Room.

He returned with his arm in a sling and was told that the x-rays would still be reviewed but nothing was obviously broken.  What a relief!  However he still could not put any pressure on the arm and I had a new title to add to my long list of  job descriptions, that of chauffeur!   Yesterday we learnt that there is a fracture and that Hubby needs to keep his arm in a sling for the next three weeks!  So for three weeks I will be doing Hubby’s work run and the kids school run.

On the drive home I heard the following conversation take place between father and son.

 

“Dad, I’m so sad you hurt your arm.”  sympathised Eldest.

 

“Don’t worry boy, it won’t be long and it will be fine.” reassured Hubby.

 

“But Dad, are you not going to skateboard with me anymore?”

 

“Of course I will!  Once my arm is okay we will go skateboarding again.”

 

“Thanks Dad, thanks.”

 

As I turned into our driveway I could only sigh and wonder what lay ahead of me and my extream sportsmen!

Recalling 25 Firsts. July 8, 2009

I have reached the middle point of the holiday break and still holding on to my sanity!  Don’t get me wrong I LOVE my kids, but my Eldest has the worst case of verbal diarrhoea, (an affliction he apparently inherited from me), and from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to sleep it is non-stop chatter, questions and commentary!  Wee One can still attend his little playgroup in the mornings but once he awakes from his afternoon slumber it is as if somebody has let the Tasmanian Devil lose in my house! 

So due to lack of energy and time for any thoughts whatsoever I am entertaining you all with a meme I read on Charlotte’s Web.  It looked like fun and sometimes it is fun recalling a few firsts in ones life!

Here are my 25 Firsts: –

1.  Who was your first prom date?  Proms are not really done in South Africa but we do have a “Matric Dance” which I  have always believed to be similar.  The high school I attended was co-ed (boys and girls) and for some or other harsh reason we had to go to the dance with somebody in our year from our school.  My date for the evening was a Robert, who did driving lessons before school started so that he would be able to get his drivers license and  drive us to the dance.  There was no romance there whatsoever, well at least not from my side, as I had just met my ‘Future Hubby’.  I do believe, thinking back, I could have been a better date to Robert.

2.  Do you still talk to your first love?  The young dude who I thought was my first love was probably my first crush, the last time I spoke to him was as I was leaving to study at University.  My first ‘real’ love was and still is Hubby and thankfully after nearly 10 years of marriage we still talk!

3.  What was your first alcoholic drink?  Mmm, at a sleepover, me and two of my friends got into Mom and Dads drinks cabinet and had a few tastings of “Irish Cream”.  Luckily, my parents were never big drinkers and Mom only found out about my bit of mischief months later!

4.  What was your first job?  Doing children’s shows for a promotions company.

5.  What was your first car?  A lovable little blue and white VW Citi Golf!  He came to our family with the name Henry and when we had to part ways I vowed never to get into a personal relationship with a car again!  It broke my heart! 

6.  Who was the first person to text you today?  A dear friend of mine who is also at home with her energetic little boys!  We are hoping to join forces tomorrow and brave the madness!

7.  Who was the first person you thought of this morning?  Batman.  I didn’t have a choice my Eldest woke me up dressed in his Batman outfit asking me to tie on his cape for him.

8.  Who was your first grade teacher?  A Mrs Swart, I will always remember her as the person who taught me to read, something I had always wanted to do! 

9.  Where did you go on your first flight in a plane?  My first flight was with my mom and brother to the then “South West Africa” now known as Namibia to visit my grandparents who had recently relocated there from Cape Town.

10.  Who was your first best friend and do you still talk?  A stunning person, Leanne, who I was always in contact with even after my parents relocated to KwaZulu-Natal.   We lost touch after the Varsity Years but actually saw each other over Christmas last year again.  Facebook is good for some things after all!

11.  Where was your first sleepover?  Funnily enough at Leanne’s, a whole group of us decided to form a band and practice our music at her house as she had a ‘loft room’.  I think we still disturbed her parents with our noise at 2 am!

12.  Who was the first person you talked to today?  Its a bit fuzzy, either it was my Eldest son dressed as Batman or Hubby who brought me coffee in bed to ensure that I got out of bed as he was leaving for work in half an hour.  Being a deep sleeper has its drawbacks!

13.  Whose wedding were you in for the first time?  Not that I remember but apparently my Aunts as a flower girl.

14.  What was the first thing you did this morning?  Tied on ‘Batman’s’ cape!

15.  What was the first concert you went to?  If memory serves, it was a “Live” concert.

16.  First tattoo?  What?  And have it sag half way down my body as I age – no thanks!

17.  First piercing?  None!  Mom had me facing the ‘firing’ squad’ for my first set of earrings at 3 years of age and Dad thundered into the jewellers, whipped me off the chair saying “If God wanted my daughter to have holes in her ears he would have made her that way.”  I never bothered to get them done or had any desire to wear them.

18.  First foreign country you went to?  Deutschland. 

19.  First movie you remember seeing?  Bambi and I balled the whole way through from the moment Bambi lost his mommy! Nothing else mattered – Bambi didn’t have a mommy and that was earth shattering to my 4 year old mind!

20.  What state did you first live in?  I was born in the Western Cape,  the province that boasts fine wines and Table Mountain.

21.  Who was your first room mate?  A strong and brave girl at Uni, named Wandi, who I have sadly lost touch with.  I often wonder where or what she is doing in the world.

22.  When was your first detention?  Who me?  I was the good girl! ; )

23.  If you had one wish what would it be?  To live in a crime free South Africa, now wouldn’t that be paradise?

24.  What is one thing you would learn, given the chance?  Homeopathy.  Although the chemistry side leaves me paralysed with fear!

25.  Who will be the next person to post this?  Whoever would like a trip down memory lane!

Party Panic & The Pinata! July 2, 2009

There is one day in every year that my Eldest son yearns for, this excludes Christmas and Easter, and that is his birthday.  We constantly get asked how old he is and “Four Years Old” has never been good enough, he has always been 4 and a quarter, 4 and a half or 4 and three quarters as the year progressed.

Now most kids get excited about their birthdays and are quite happy for their moms to lay a table of sweets and get on with it but my son plans his birthday literally a year in advance!  After his fourth birthday I was informed what the theme of his fifth birthday would be – the boy didn’t waiver on that and as this particular Superhero is seen as ‘unpopular’ at the moment finding party themed material became impossible!  The real humdinger of a request was that this year he wanted a Pinata – and not just any Pinata – it had to be his Superhero of choice.

Thank goodness for the Internet as this very important ‘guest’ was ordered in Gauteng, who arrived 2 weeks before the big day and for his safe keeping our Superhero Pinata slept in my bedroom out of my overexcited sons reach!

The day of the party finally arrived – I managed to paint signage, find colour co-ordinated balloons, book the jumping castle, shuddered as almost every child we invited was going to attend – all 32 of them including the addition of their siblings and the weather was good!

My Eldest was ecstatic but the excitement only increased when it was time to ‘smack’ the pinata!  My main concern was that none of our party guests would become an additional pinata – so I made sure the children were lined up a safe distance away from the child with the stick!  When our Superhero finally succumbed to his fate, the children dropped to their knees with glee as it ‘rained’ sweets and treats, the mothers looked on glumly knowing that the rest of Saturday afternoon would be sugar induced mayhem, the fathers knew that they would have to corker for a pinata at their kids next birthday and I sadly picked up our fallen ‘Superhero’.

I had grown quite fond of the paper mache little chap.