I know, I know, it doesn’t sound that exciting does it?? but Cameron quite firmly pointed out to me yesterday “you choose what we get to do everyday and I never get to choose”. He was pretty much right! Although I do try to think of things which I hope he will enjoy and engage in, through the eyes of a 7 yr old he probably is thinking “I never get to choose”
So this morning after a rather slow start I told him it was entirely his choice as to what we did today and we could either go out or we could stay in and spend the day by the pool. His reply came back “I’d like to go and see Lego Movie 2” My heart kind of sank as that was the very last thing I wanted to do but I wasn’t go to go back on my word and he already knew it was on nearby as the cinema is only about a 10 minute walk from our apartment so he had previously spotted the the adverts outside!
Duly I looked up the times and booked the tickets. He was so excited and we went bounding up the road at a great rate of knots. He is not the fastest of walkers usually but today he was like a rabbit out of a trap. We ended up arriving early so we killed a bit of time and I commiserated myself on the gruelling 97 minutes ahead by treating myself to a bottle of Channel No.5 from the department store next door!
I’m not going to lie, it was possibly the longest 97 minutes of my life. I won’t even try to review it as I think I zoned out about half way through, but Cameron enjoyed it and that was all that mattered. He sat glued to the screen, munching on his popcorn and giggling intermittently.
We had planned to go out for dinner later, but as we left the cinema we spotted a Marks & Spencer’s Food Hall opposite and on investigating we discovered lots of familiar goodies and Cameron announcing that he didn’t want to go out for dinner but wanted to go back to the apartment and eat snacks!! He had already eaten half his body weight in popcorn but nevertheless I agreed.
The lesson I am learning is that children don’t always want all the tearing around and sightseeing, sometimes all they need & want is to feel the familiarity of home comforts. Today was just that, we did ‘stuff’ that we would do at home; movies, food shopping and a cosy evening in munching snacks. Cameron is happy, relaxed and content – long may it continue.
During our last trips we have moved around so much. Yes it has meant that we have seen a lot of different places but as fun as it has been it was also exhausting being on the move every 2/3 days and no where ever felt like home. This trip we have longer so are are taking things at a much slower pace. Cameron is so much more settled for it. Our hotel in Kuala Lumpur was faultless but we feel so much more at home having an apartment in Singapore, we have a cosy little sitting room and a small kitchenette. I never thought I would be so excited to see a washing machine but it’s amazing how you start to appreciate things more when you have to live without them for a while!
Our adventures will continue and I know we have lots more incredible experiences ahead but I shall be making sure I factor in a few more ‘homely’ days as well. After all life is about balance but it’s rather like riding a bike – in order to achieve it you have to keep peddling!
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