So after all the debacle of the keys, the cake and the speeches we were finally able to relax - at least I was!
I started as I meant to go on and cracked open a bottle of red!
The children were brilliant - they both danced until their legs fell off. TJ, who is normally the more reserved of the two, was holding court on the dance floor - he was spinning and doing cartwheels and the splits in full - thank goodness his trousers went with him... TJ has hyper mobility and can do amazing things with his body. I remember once when we were at a local shopping mall and TJ suddenly slipped and went into the full splits - sideways! I rushed over to check he was ok and a lady grabbed my arm and said, "Did you know he could do that?" I replied that I did to which she said with a startled expression, "That's not normal for a boy - I think my husband has just fainted!"I looked over and her husband had indeed gone a strange colour...... It always amazes me that people are so happy to tell you exactly what they think about your children. I just smiled, picked TJ up and went on with our shopping.
But the wedding reception was in full swing. TJ and his cousin discovered the Nintendo DS - so we lost both of them for a while. I make no secret that I am not a fan of hand held computer games - but the boys seemed to be having a great time and at least they were playing together.
It was all going really well - a fantastic atmosphere. Then I was summoned by my Aunt (who has a habit of summoning people) "Nan wants to go back to her room, we need a wheelchair," came the order (I would say request but to be honest....) As I was obviously now part of the staff I went off to find the organisers - who I had met the previous day when we were assembling the cake. They were brilliant and a large gentlemen led me around the back where we explored the storerooms to find the wheelchair. We duly found it, dusted it off and after we assembled it got it back to the venue to take Nan down the drive to the cottages where we were all spending the weekend.
My aunt took over and loaded my Nan into the chair - Nan was not too happy about the experience but having been on the sherry herself was soon to admit that she was probably better off being wheeled back to her room (which thankfully was on the ground floor of our cottage). We took Nan down the ramp - but didn't realise that between the ramp and the drive there was a patch of grass - of course the front wheels caught on the grass and the chair came to an abrupt halt... it was sheer luck that Nan didn't fly out of the chair - she wasn't happy. "If you keep this up I shall walk!!!!" she threatened. I thought about that but realised that the threat was real - if we walked Nan down the drive, which was about 200 yards, then it would be at least half an hour before we could get back to the party, so my Aunt and I agreed to push the chair together. Unfortunately, my Aunt had also been on the same sherry as my Nan and as I tried to push I noticed that we were veering to the right, back onto the grass verge. "Watch where you are going!" screamed Nan as a tree loomed before us. "Yes, watch it!" shouted my Aunt who then slipped, grabbed hold of my arm and erupted into peals of laughter. "Maybe you should hold onto my arm and not the chair?" I suggested. "I think thats a good idea," said my Aunt and so I valiantly pushed the chair down the hill whilst supporting my aunt who was now singing away - she has a lovely voice, so it wasn't all bad, although I'm not sure if Nan appreciated it, she as more concerned about the flight of steps that led down to the cottage door - "Don't worry Nan," I said "We'll take the driveway that the cars use - no steps there.." "Can we just get home," she said, "My feet are killing me!"The irony of that comment escaped her I think....
We got Nan into her room and made sure she was comfortable in bed before I helped my Aunt back up the hill and back to the party. I wont mention my Aunt nipping to the loo and coming out with her dress tucked into her knickers.... although she and my Nan found it hilarious - I on the other hand was now in a state of shock... "This better not end up in your blog!" my Aunt giggled... "Urm.. ok," I lied....
As I got back The Sprog came up and said, "Daddy, I'm tired now, its past my bedtime." One of the things that The Sprog needs is constancy - he doesn't like her routine to be interrupted - even at a party. That is quite common for adopted children, so the therapist says, where they have been brought up in chaotic homes in their early years they crave order and routine and become a little unsure if that is broken in anyway - consequently whilst a lot of adopted children can cope with school they find holidays very difficult and that's when there can be behaviour issues. This is very apparent in - TJ was a baby when he came into care so it doesn't effect him as badly - anyway, at that point TJ was jumping on a table and beatboxing with my younger, much cooler cousins. Papa came to the rescue and took The Sprog to his room, which was above Nan. Nan was by now in bed reading her book so she agreed to listen out for The Sprog and call us if there were any problems - although as my Nan has pretty poor eyesight I did have visions of her shouting into the TV remote control thinking it was a mobile phone but as it was, all was well.
TJ went back to the dance floor. I went to join him - he pushed me away, "No, you're not as cool as them." he pointed out my younger cousins. Great, my 7 year old was already ashamed of me... but not to worry - I can now officially Dad dance!!!!!!! So I gave him something to be really ashamed of as my two very beautiful (and by now very merry) female cousins and I danced whilst doing Girls Aloud and Lady Gaga routines - Britney Spears and Will-I-Am had nothing on us... Once TJ realised we were just all there to have fun he was soon forgot his embarrassment and we all danced together until the small hours...
A brilliant ending to an amazing day....
I started as I meant to go on and cracked open a bottle of red!
The children were brilliant - they both danced until their legs fell off. TJ, who is normally the more reserved of the two, was holding court on the dance floor - he was spinning and doing cartwheels and the splits in full - thank goodness his trousers went with him... TJ has hyper mobility and can do amazing things with his body. I remember once when we were at a local shopping mall and TJ suddenly slipped and went into the full splits - sideways! I rushed over to check he was ok and a lady grabbed my arm and said, "Did you know he could do that?" I replied that I did to which she said with a startled expression, "That's not normal for a boy - I think my husband has just fainted!"I looked over and her husband had indeed gone a strange colour...... It always amazes me that people are so happy to tell you exactly what they think about your children. I just smiled, picked TJ up and went on with our shopping.
But the wedding reception was in full swing. TJ and his cousin discovered the Nintendo DS - so we lost both of them for a while. I make no secret that I am not a fan of hand held computer games - but the boys seemed to be having a great time and at least they were playing together.
It was all going really well - a fantastic atmosphere. Then I was summoned by my Aunt (who has a habit of summoning people) "Nan wants to go back to her room, we need a wheelchair," came the order (I would say request but to be honest....) As I was obviously now part of the staff I went off to find the organisers - who I had met the previous day when we were assembling the cake. They were brilliant and a large gentlemen led me around the back where we explored the storerooms to find the wheelchair. We duly found it, dusted it off and after we assembled it got it back to the venue to take Nan down the drive to the cottages where we were all spending the weekend.
My aunt took over and loaded my Nan into the chair - Nan was not too happy about the experience but having been on the sherry herself was soon to admit that she was probably better off being wheeled back to her room (which thankfully was on the ground floor of our cottage). We took Nan down the ramp - but didn't realise that between the ramp and the drive there was a patch of grass - of course the front wheels caught on the grass and the chair came to an abrupt halt... it was sheer luck that Nan didn't fly out of the chair - she wasn't happy. "If you keep this up I shall walk!!!!" she threatened. I thought about that but realised that the threat was real - if we walked Nan down the drive, which was about 200 yards, then it would be at least half an hour before we could get back to the party, so my Aunt and I agreed to push the chair together. Unfortunately, my Aunt had also been on the same sherry as my Nan and as I tried to push I noticed that we were veering to the right, back onto the grass verge. "Watch where you are going!" screamed Nan as a tree loomed before us. "Yes, watch it!" shouted my Aunt who then slipped, grabbed hold of my arm and erupted into peals of laughter. "Maybe you should hold onto my arm and not the chair?" I suggested. "I think thats a good idea," said my Aunt and so I valiantly pushed the chair down the hill whilst supporting my aunt who was now singing away - she has a lovely voice, so it wasn't all bad, although I'm not sure if Nan appreciated it, she as more concerned about the flight of steps that led down to the cottage door - "Don't worry Nan," I said "We'll take the driveway that the cars use - no steps there.." "Can we just get home," she said, "My feet are killing me!"The irony of that comment escaped her I think....
We got Nan into her room and made sure she was comfortable in bed before I helped my Aunt back up the hill and back to the party. I wont mention my Aunt nipping to the loo and coming out with her dress tucked into her knickers.... although she and my Nan found it hilarious - I on the other hand was now in a state of shock... "This better not end up in your blog!" my Aunt giggled... "Urm.. ok," I lied....
As I got back The Sprog came up and said, "Daddy, I'm tired now, its past my bedtime." One of the things that The Sprog needs is constancy - he doesn't like her routine to be interrupted - even at a party. That is quite common for adopted children, so the therapist says, where they have been brought up in chaotic homes in their early years they crave order and routine and become a little unsure if that is broken in anyway - consequently whilst a lot of adopted children can cope with school they find holidays very difficult and that's when there can be behaviour issues. This is very apparent in - TJ was a baby when he came into care so it doesn't effect him as badly - anyway, at that point TJ was jumping on a table and beatboxing with my younger, much cooler cousins. Papa came to the rescue and took The Sprog to his room, which was above Nan. Nan was by now in bed reading her book so she agreed to listen out for The Sprog and call us if there were any problems - although as my Nan has pretty poor eyesight I did have visions of her shouting into the TV remote control thinking it was a mobile phone but as it was, all was well.
TJ went back to the dance floor. I went to join him - he pushed me away, "No, you're not as cool as them." he pointed out my younger cousins. Great, my 7 year old was already ashamed of me... but not to worry - I can now officially Dad dance!!!!!!! So I gave him something to be really ashamed of as my two very beautiful (and by now very merry) female cousins and I danced whilst doing Girls Aloud and Lady Gaga routines - Britney Spears and Will-I-Am had nothing on us... Once TJ realised we were just all there to have fun he was soon forgot his embarrassment and we all danced together until the small hours...
A brilliant ending to an amazing day....
