Today I did something selfish. I also did something that David would never agree with. I gave myself a gift that was intended for someone else, two "someone elses" actually . Quite honestly, I took presents from children and used them to my advantage.
Today is Sunday and both kids have Birthday invitations for later. Both parties start at noon and end at four and are in different parts of the city. Lucky for me, in Brazil, start times are suggestions, so being late isn't considered rude, it's considered normal. I'm sure Americans are some of the only people on time around here.
Last night, I thought really hard about the best way to get both kids to their parties, stay with Camryn, and then get Aidan after his party ended. The plan- drop Aidan on time, go with Camryn late, leave with Camryn early and pick up Aidan a little late.
Yesterday we went to the overpriced toy store at the mall and chose gifts that would be acceptable, had them gift wrapped, and only spent $R190.00, the equivalent of $120 US dollars on two $20.00 toys, a nerf gun and a Polly Pocket play set. This was not the original plan, but David's work trip was extended and the suitcase full of toys is stuck with him.
After awakening this morning at 4:30am I realized I had a more serious logistics problem. the day I have to take Aidan to school early and pick him up late for a field trip, is also the day that my driving hours are restricted. The Birthday party relay didn't seem like such a big deal anymore.
When the kids got up, we made French toast and ate breakfast with the Birthday presents piled on the dining room table taunting us with the party plans later. The kids were excited, but I was dreading the cross town marathon.
Then an idea crossed my mind. Maybe I could bribe the kids into not going to their parties, but it was going to a hard sell, or so I thought. Camryn immediately took the bait and was ripping into the Polly Pocket before Aidan could even think about his decision. And then Aidan too disclosed that he really wasn't that thrilled about being dropped off at the party in the first place. Maybe my Mother's intuition was telling me we might all be better off staying home or maybe the kids were just missing their American toys so much that they'd rather sacrifice four hours of partying.
Either way, I'm breathing a sigh of relief. I feel I've been gifted a day of rest.
The kids already have their swimsuits on and are excited about spending some time just hanging at the pool. I'm excited that I don't have to brave the streets for one day and I don't think the Brazilian children will miss us one bit, but the $2500 Brazilian Birthday Parties with over 100 guests, are a whole new post.
No comments:
Post a Comment