Day 82 and 83
Note: I’m putting these two days together because the day continues…
I have taken personal leave today to prepare for the flight to Australia tonight. Stormy is excited and wakes early. She can’t stop talking about her day and asks how long until we go to the airport. When I explain that it’s after dinner, she starts to whinge. “But I can’t wait that long”. My explanation that it’s the only flight seems to be accepted.
I’ve arranged a play-date this morning to keep her occupied for at least a few hours. We scoot off the her friends house and stop at Great World City for breakfast at ToastBox. She spends the journey asking questions about the things around us. “Why does …?”, “Why is …?”, “Why do …?”. She asks these questions hundreds of times a day now. I actually find it satisfying that she’s taking such a great interest in the world around her. I drop her off at her play-date and I get a couple of hours to sit quietly with a coffee.
2 hours later I return to pick her up. We need to do some shopping, but decide to stop and have an ice-cream because she’s been so good. I put YouTube on my phone while we eat. This is the point that my boss decides to call. I tell her I need to take the call. Which is when she cracks it. She objects to me taking the phone away and somehow the laptop wasn’t good enough. The tears and pleading starts, all the while I’m trying to talk to my boss. I cut the call short and scold Stormy. I tell her she can’t have the phone again because she was naughty. She calms down, sniffs a few times, looks at me with her grey eyes and says “I’m calm now”. I explain that it’s not good enough and that she’s still banned. She’s upset, but before long it peters out and she accepts her punishment.
She’s very well behaved while we shop and continue home. She comes to help me pack and chooses her own clothes for the 5 days we are away. They mostly match so it’s a win. We also find space to pack her Elephant costume for the wedding. Her mother has bought a beautiful dress for her to wear, but still she wants to be an Elephant. How can you say no to that! I think the prospect of a small elephant at their wedding also excites the bride and groom.
She wants dinner at the airport so we hop in a taxi early and make our way there. It was a mistake. We arrive to find that our flight has been delayed until 3am. Nevertheless we make the best of the situation. She eats her dinner (chicken rice) and we explore Changi airport. There is a playground in the terminal which keeps her occupied for a few hours. Although she does lose sight of me while she’s playing (I haven’t moved) and I don’t hear her call for me. Scared, she runs to the nearest security officer who kindly points her in my direction as I run after her.
She starts to get tired at about 1am and we walk up to the gate. Singapore Airlines have put on tea, coffee and snacks to apologise for the flight delay. Stormy and I have a hot chocolate and sandwich while we wait. She falls asleep on my lap, waking only to board the plane, and sleeps through the flight until we’re nearly at Sydney. She spends the last hour of the flight watching cartoons and colouring in. She’s really good as we land and get through immigration. We are picked up by a couple of friends who drive us to Canberra via lunch of McDonalds. She spends the entire time playing, chattering and singing with her new friend in the back of the car while I have adult conversations in the front of the car. It’s bliss.
By the end of the day we arrive in Canberra. As we emerge from the car she see’s her mother and runs up to her. They hug for ages.
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