We spent the weekend at hotel in Cornwall that is very popular with families and goes to great lengths to help entertain the kids. The weekend culminated in a Saturday night fancy dress disco. My girls, aged 6, 7 and 9, even talked me into buying some pointy damsel hats from the NHS shop we visited that day, so they would look the part.
I let them put on some of my makeup for the night; pink lipstick, shiny lavender eye shadow and just a trace of brown eyeliner and pulled back their long hair, still sticky after spending the afternoon in the pool, and fastened their princess hats. They looked gorgeous.
We arrived at the disco and soon discovered they were the oldest children there! A load of toddlers were scattered around the hall in worn blue Cinderella dresses and fairy wings. The girls knew many of them, they had made all kinds of two-year-old friends at the playpark, pool and jungle gym that day.
But something about this scene took me waaaay back. All the parents were there, hovering around their offspring, dancing with their little ones. There was a toddler in saggy nappies and a boy in a spider man outfit. A dad sat with his 18-month-old daughter, helping her do the movements to head shoulders knees and toes, holding her hands and helping her to clap them together.
Me and hubby sat back and watched from a distance. My 9-year-old instantly bonded with the girl closest her age, an 8-year-old wearing shorts and a Justin Bieber T-shirt. A two-year-old and her four-year-old sister showed up in Hello Kitty pajamas. The parents were dressed nicely, and looked like they were going to put the kids to bed and then head out to dinner.
As I sipped my Pimms, several thoughts went through my head. Oh how I missed that stage, where you have to help your off spring with everything. How glad I was that we are passed that stage. And wondering what comes next.
Photo credit: Ben Spark
