Spring Break Pursuits – Sand Art & A Sleepover

It is always fun to do things with the kiddos but it is more RELAXING when someone else hosts an activity and you just go towards the end for a cup of tea and to marvel at the wonders your child managed to create!

So carrying on with the spring break mania, the third day of the holiday had my 6 year old doing sand art and stepping out for her very first sleepover at a friend’s place. While the first activity gave me a good afternoon nap, the second had me tossing and turning half the night.

My friend and now neighbor had the girls over in the afternoon for sand art and she was nice enough to give the other mommies a break. “I will help them with the activity, you all just come over for tea and a bite to eat once they are done”, she said and we were more than willing to oblige!

By the time I hopped next doors at 5 p.m., the girls were all done with their activity and snacks, their artistic creations all neatly labeled and zip locked, arranged on the coffee table for the moms to view, admire and pick up. They would have played on and on had we not hustled them home citing the sleepover in a couple of hours. For once, they trailed back home without complaining.

Fast forward to 9 p.m. and my daughter who is usually a slow eater and even a slower getting-ready kind of a kid was done with dinner, had her overnight bag packed and waiting at the door with her favorite stuffed to toy, telling me to hurry up.

I went to drop her (daddy wasn’t strong hearted enough to do that!) and hung around for a while, hoping it would dawn on her sooner or later that Mommy wasn’t going to be around at night and that she was away from home and that realization would have her jumping back into her car seat and home with me. But of course, nothing of that sort happened! She waved me a cheerful good night and with a tight hug slipped away to be with her friends, excited about the sleepover. It seemed like her first step away from me.

The house definitely missed her presence and so did her sister. Me, I couldn’t sleep for half the night, not worried; just missing my baby.

She came home next afternoon chatting about the games they played staying up all night (Mom, we were up the whole night, till it was 1.30 a.m. !!) and a yummy breakfast. No talk about missing mommy or home, I observed. But then I didn’t expect any different, the sleepless night hadn’t been in vain. I had a good talk with myself and although to start with I was a little sad about her being away from home, by the time I slept I was happy that my princess was going to have so much fun and felt content for being blessed with the support system of having friends who I could trust my daughter with, so far away from my own home.

The baby sister was not feeling as contained as me, though. “Didi” she squealed, as she came running and threw herself flat at her older sibling. “oh nanu, I missed you sooo much, did you know we had brownies and pancakes and even watched a T.V. late in the night?” her didi enveloped the baby into a bear hug and held her tight like she hadn’t seen her in ages!