That went wrong: ‘The next day we were all broke’

Monique (41), married to Erwin (42), mother of Eefje (12) and Fiene (9).

“Together with my daughters, I had booked a weekend at a holiday park in Groningen as a surprise for my husband. I was looking forward to a romantic weekend: when the girls were in bed cozy together in front of the fireplace, watching movies or going for an evening walk. After dinner we drove off. A drive of more than two hours from the Achterhoek.

great idea

Pretty soon the girls in the back started yawning, they were tired of all the excitement surrounding the surprise for daddy. I knew it would be a drama to get them into bed if they fell asleep now and I just wanted some quality time with Erwin. The whining kept getting worse.

Hoping that the sugar would revive them, I picked up a bag of wine gums, handed them to the girls and said, “Just have a few.” A great idea, they became more and more cheerful, the sleep crisis was averted. Upon arrival at the park, it looked as if two rabid monkeys had been released from their cage. Eefje and Fiene wanted to swim to the playground and ran around screaming. Naively I thought they were just excited until we unpacked the car and found the empty candy bag.

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Hyper-the-beeper

Around ten o’clock we put Eefje and Fiene to bed, after our regular ritual of washing, brushing our teeth, reading and singing. Normally they sleep immediately, now the couple was downstairs again in no time: they couldn’t sleep. The children remained hyperactive throughout the evening. At half past eleven we gave up and went to bed ourselves, in the hope that it would become quiet.

Unfortunately. We spent half the night trying to calm the girls down. The next day we were all broke and unable to enjoy ourselves. In the end we all just took an afternoon nap and went to bed early that evening. Thanks to the sugar overdose, the desired romance was nowhere to be found that weekend. Every time the girls ask for a piece of candy, we call out here at home: not the whole bag!”

This one that went wrong is in Kek Mama 15-2021.

Curious about more mothering blunders? Every Monday you can read a new ‘That went wrong’ story on Kekmama.nl.