Aunty Cake

I feel I must preface today's blog with two little pieces of information:

1. My children call most of my nearest and dearest friends "Aunty". What started out as a little joke when we were younger (and childless) has now blossomed into a habit, in which I am 'Aunty Sal' to the majority of my friends' kids, and my girlfriends are Aunty Gertrude, Aunty Esmeralda, Aunty Hedwig, etc. You get the drift.

2. I spent so much time at (Aunty) Gertrude's place during Year 12 that her family became mine, and mine hers. As a result, I gained three sisters (and a Mummy Wubbleyoo and a Daddy Wubbleyoo - this would take too long to explain but those who are in the know will understand my ramblings!!!) who to this day I consider my extended family. Gertrude and her two sisters know all of my faults and yet still appear to love me - goodness knows I love them all to bits. For the purposes of today's blog, I shall name my younger extra sister Anne, and my older extra sister Cake...for reasons that shall become clear as this blog progresses!

I don't know if the kids are out of whack due to Daddy's illness, Christmas excitement, Maisie's teething or just plain old tiredness, but in the past week bedtime has become one long joke. As a result of this, the team have been waking up quite late in the last few days - and by this I mean 7 or 7:30am, as opposed to 5:30 or 6! Maisie decided to break the mould this morning, and woke around 4am. To keep her quiet, I took her into bed and fed her back to sleep (bad habits die hard!), which meant that Jack and Phoebs didn't pile into our bed until nearly 8. Not bad!!!

We went off to our swimming lessons, splashed madly for half an hour, and then dried off more carefully than usual. We had been invited to a farewell party for our friends who are moving to America for a few years. It was really important to me that we attend, even if we brought with us the stench of chlorine. So Jack-the-toonkynunk, Phoebalicious, Maisie Mouse and Poor Old Daddy hopped in the car for a nap and let Mummy drive through the pouring rain and feral traffic to the party. (I'm not bitching. Really. As if I needed a nap? Please *withering look*) Anyhoo. I had a wonderful time, as the kids were exceptionally well-behaved and I managed to actually hold conversations with other adults...in person...without many interruptions! Jack had mates to play with, Maisie had a polished floor to slide on, and Phoebe had lots of grown-ups to charm...and charm she did!

Now, my surrogate older sister was our hostess, and she never fails to entertain multitudes of people with beautiful food, a comfortable house, and a calm, warm welcome. The house was full of people and babies and food, and amongst all the chatter and commotion, my elder daughter managed to be in the kitchen when the desserts were being prepared. Her eyes fell upon a plate piled high with tiny little cupcakes in multicoloured patty pans. When she was asked what her favourite colour was, Phoebe was handed a pink cuppy cake, and when I prompted her to be polite, she whispered, "Thank you, Aunty Cake!". And proceeded to gobble up her treat before anyone else could take it!

I refuse to be sad about my friends leaving, as it is a wonderful and exciting thing for them, and it was also such a lovely day that what is there to be sad about? We all got together, chatted and laughed and ate, there were no tantrums (not even from the kids!) and it was one of those relaxed parties that you remember for years to come. I shall miss them, of course, but that is why God invented Facebook!! Haha. The kids slept all the way home (and by kids, I mean Jack, Maisie and Christian - Phoebe kept me company!) which was great. Unfortunately, the good behaviour came at a price...a very steep price. It is now nearly 10:45pm, and we have only just settled all three children. They all took it in turns to disturb the other two tonight (Jack being silly, Phoebe going to the toilet 26 times, and Maisie with her enormous top tooth trying to break through the gum) I can only hope they sleep until a decent hour - I'd be happy with 6am! Cross your fingers it's a better night than last night...and off I go to bed. Lots of love to all the gorgeous aunties out there!!