‘And then I got a panicky call from school’

Image: Unsplash

Every month a mother tells about the moment in motherhood when things went horribly wrong.

Esmeralda (40), mother of Elske and Amelia (8) and Jelmer (1):

“I counted seven girls in the schoolyard, even though I was sure we had only sent six invitations. It was my daughter Elske’s birthday party. The twins had turned seven in January but due to the lockdown and the weather we had moved it to summer. I had set up a bouncy castle and inflatable pool on the lawn and told everyone to bring bathing suits.

Elske and Amelia are in different classes, they were allowed to throw a party separately and each asked six children. I saw one more now. That wasn’t right. But Elske and her friends claimed hyper and elated that they had all had a ticket. “Everyone really, Mom. Real.’

Also read – ‘This is why I also invite brothers and sisters to my children’s birthday parties’ >

Mistake

Apparently I had made a mistake under the influence of my post-pregnancy hormones. I had given birth to Jelmer three months before and it was quite chaotic in my head. I really didn’t remember which names we had or hadn’t invited.

Unsuspectingly I took all the children home and gave them cake. Of course I should have sounded the alarm when it turned out that one girl, Rose, had no gift and no swimwear with her, but I thought it was more sad than crazy. I quickly grabbed a present from our stash and a spare swimsuit from the girls.

stowaway

Only when after half an hour I got a panicky phone call from school because a girl from Elske’s class was ‘missing’ did a bell ring. I could have fallen through the floor when I had to confess to the teacher that the lost child was in the pool with me. I felt terrible for her mother, who was completely stressed at work.

Afterwards it turned out that Elske knew very well that we had not invited Roos. The little smart-ass felt so sorry for her that she devised a plan to smuggle her in. And this mom was totally blown away by that.”

This article is featured in the Kek Mama Summer Special 2022.

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