Feb 25 2008
Monday’s Child: Caspar loves plants…
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After my “Meh” post about my birthday, the evening turned out to be a lot of fun. Big Sis and her B made dinner for me and bought a cake. It was just a nice quiet “family” thing but I think you should always have a family thing even if you’re going to party hard. That’s always what we did with birthdays and Christmas when I was growing up but Big Sis and I have been having trouble working up much enthusiasm for these events after years of it being just the 2 of us, and now that we’re living together they are even less of an event because, well, we’re sisters.
However, adding that new, unofficial family member made a big difference because he has all the infectious enthusiasm while we alone are just too “familiar”. So it was a great night, with just some simple food, a birthday cake (which you’ve already seen all over Caspar’s face), good company and a bottle of wine. And at the end of our meal, and my snap-happiness (because I’d actually charged the batteries for my camera), I even conned Big Sis and B into putting Caspar to bed.
They said, Yes, before realising that they’d need to hose him off, change his nappy, put him in his jammies, brush his teeth and read him 3 books, but they did it anyway.
Now, before anyone thinks I’m a bad mother because bedtimes are sacred: I know! But I do it every single day. We have dinner and then I do my mummy work: bath, clothes, teeth, books, cuddles, bottle. I’m not complaining, because it is the best kind of work in the world, but I can’t remember the last time I was able to sit and actually digest my food. I hate doing things right after dinner. The dishes get done in the morning.
So on my birthday after dinner I sat in B’s garage (we’re on a dual occupancy block) with my glass of red and digested. And it was great.
Except, of course, it wasn’t. Or, at least, not entirely.
Because bedtimes are sacred.
I spent the rest of the evening at home wanting to wake him up so we could have our cuddles, so I could say goodnight “properly”. It’s all very well to have a little help now and then, but my instincts tell me that everything is my job all of the time. Of course, sometimes being a good mum means not letting those instincts take over, and leaving room for other people in your child’s life, but just because it’s okay doesn’t mean it’s comfortable.
Besides, sitting and digesting food is now… weird.
But now I’ve digressed and am a long way from what I was intending to write about. Why am I talking about my birthday? Because today I went with Big Sis to organise my present.
I am getting new glasses!
I got my new prescription and picked out the frames and ordered the lenses. And I’m sooooo excited. My poor old broken and lost ones were ancient and ugly. And my new ones are stylish and slick and flattering. I can’t wait to pick them up!
We had B’s card and he told me I could spend $300 but I really didn’t want to do that because I knew that money was coming out of the savings he Big Sis has been putting away for a new car. (B, obviously, is generous to a fault, so he lets Big Sis manage his budget, which he then breaks.)
Anyway, we went to the local shopping centre. The first shop didn’t have any appointments for a week. Er, uni is starting! Then we went to OPSM and they had an appointment that day but I would be lucky to get even the simplest glasses for less than $300 there. So no way. Then we found the next one. They’d had a cancellation and could fit me in at midday. And not only that, but all their frames under $200 were 80% off. 80%!
So I got the coolest (yes, I know that isn’t a cool word) $170 frames for $34. I not sure when they’ll be ready to pick up, but they put a rush on them for me and soon…
I WILL HAVE VISION!
