Playdates
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
(Note: This was written on October 18th 2021. Elementary school was still doing distance learning at the time.)
Have you ever woke up feeling like you don’t have it in you to adult? You don’t want to parent, you don’t want to be responsible for anything. Basically, you just want to stay in bed in your pajamas all day, playing on your phone eating chocolate. Thats how I felt yesterday morning. I was tired, after a couple of late nights with my 3 year old that ended with me falling asleep on the sofa… My coffee seemed to be broken. It wasn’t working. Could it be (gasp) decaf؟! No. it wasn’t. I just needed to sleep.
Instead of sleeping I took 4 out 5 kids to Chuckie Cheese to meet up with my 10 year old’s best friend who he hasn’t seen since March 2020 when schools closed.(Not an ideal afternoon for a sleepy mom.)
My plan was to stop by a cafe and get some real coffee for me and the friend’s mom but because of a new detour, and leaving the house at rush hour, we were late, so I didn’t. Friend’s mom also needed coffee so we ordered our coffee from Chuckie Cheese. Not the best coffee in the world. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t finish my cup. I love coffee and sometimes I’m picky. I did sip at it politely not wanting to offend a new potential friend. That’s the thing about meeting your kids’ friend’s moms. You really want to like them, so your kids have multiple playdates and see each other often, you have hopes that this person will like you too. Making friends as a kid was so simple. I remember my first day of school in Saudi Arabia. I was in the 5th grade. We had just moved back home after living the first part of my life in the US. I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t speak Arabic very well. The teacher had me sit at the round table in the back of the classroom until they brought me a desk. One of the students would look back and do a sad face-happy face (because apparently I had a sad face) then I smiled and were friends! That easy! As an adult it isn’t that simple. Though I think usually we are good at getting along with parents for the sake of our kids. But when you both click and become real friends, that is an added bonus. So many thoughts for a trip to a kid arcade/pizza place…
Thankfully the trip was a success! The kids had a blast. Friend’s mom seems like a potential friend, someone I wouldn’t mind spending time with every couple of weeks our kids could play together. Her kids were very well behaved and I wouldn’t mind having them over to play without their mom or with her. After two hours and a half of loud noises, kids running around, pizza, soda, cotton candy, cheap toy prizes and bad coffee. We went home. My kids all thanked me but my 10 year old thanked me multiple times all the way home. Definitely worth the headache.
We took the leftover pizza to my oldest (13) who enjoys an empty house and had a wonderful afternoon by himself. (Grandma was home downstairs) I knew the pizza wasn’t going to be enough for dinner and with the headache I had acquired throughout the day I ordered somethings to help make dinner (sandwiches) simple. Fresh spicy labna salad (a type of sandwich spread), and a bologna salad (not so heathy) I added a bag of potatoes sticks to share for added crunch. Dinner was simple and successful. I was on a role.