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Even though it was still before 7am and I hadn’t had enough sleep it was great to see the family. My son told me he wanted to be just like me. Unluckily for him I think he’s going to get his wish. Careful what you wish for. But it’s a lovely thing for a dad to hear, even if it’s tinged with the sadness of knowing that I don’t deserve the accolade and the prize won’t be entirely worth the having.
But still, that five or six day absence really brought home how much I like hanging out with these idiots and I didn’t care if they were too loud or too silly. It was all gravy. We played with Phoebe’s new toys and I successfully put together a Back to the Future Playmobil set that had flummoxed the other adults.
I had been determined to get back for Phoebe’s party to make up a little for missing her actual birthday and somehow, in spite of not enough sleep and a need to recover from he drive, I had the energy to really enjoy the soft play. There was a huge structure to climb to the top of - Ernie sat in a little bubble sphere at the top, banging on the perspex with no fear that it might pop out and send him falling to his death. We came down the slide and then I played on a nice little basketball court/soccer pitch with my daughter. I ended up in goal with kids shooting footballs at me. Some of the kids were with our party, but some were not. It doesn’t matter who you came with at soft play - you can play with anyone. I did a pretty good job of keeping the balls out of the goal as most of the kids’ shots were weak and the goal was small. I wasn’t going to give any freebies. They had to learn that I was superior. Phoebe’s friend Matherew (that’s how she still says it) was a bit better than the rest and knocked in a couple of powerful shots. He then managed to smack a ball right into my groin and impressively got a square hit on my remaining testicle. It was the first time in a while that I’d felt the swelling pain of am impacted bollock and the first time it was just one ball on its own. I guess that made the pain 50% less bad. It was a relatively light hit, but was still enough for me to decide my career as a goalkeeper was over.
The kids had lots of fun, but a seventh birthday is bitter sweet, as you’re all too aware that it won’t be long before self-consciousness kicks in and it might be the last time you see these kids having uncomplicated fun. On the plus side we’re getting close to the time when we can just drop our kids off at a party and come back when it’s over (one family did this today). Will the 8th birthday be such uncomplicated fun?
At least we have a four year old so we still have a few more carefree parties to come.
