The Road to 40 Day 295/365: Celebrating Birthdays

Vino attended a friend’s birthday party on this day, but it was a different experience than I’ve gotten used to.

Since we arrived in Singapore, most of the playdates saw parents dropping off kids then letting the host deal with them. For birthdays, it’s always been a limited number of kids somewhere.

This time, it was a swimming party in a condo. When we got there, I was told I could hang out if I didn’t have anything to do. Since I played basketball in the morning, I thought I’d rather not overextend myself by walking/running while waiting. They offered a can of beer, and I sat down to watch the kids play.

I get nervous seeing the kids play in the pool, but the host parent was a dad to three boys. Seeing him just hang back despite the chaos gave me a bit of assurance that everything’s going to be fine.

It’s difficult as a helicopter parent to a single kid to let him do what he does with his friends, but I have to learn at some point, I guess.

After the party, I’m still happy that Vino takes my hand when we walk. While he says he wants to be more independent sometimes, he would still seek my hand when we’re outside.

It’s a small thing, but I feel like it’s one of those things that I will look back on when he’s older.

For dinner, I asked him if we could eat outside so that I don’t have to clean up. He obliged, reluctantly.

We had to wait a bit, but he enjoyed the food well. It was good recovery food for him after the long playdate.

I cooked for him, but didn’t eat the meat. I’ve worked hard to bring my weight down, and hopefully, my cholesterol as well. I even had tea for drinks.

We got home later than expected, but it was a fulfilling day for us. Che was out with her officemates, so I tried not to bug her so that she could fully enjoy her time there.

For us, we played and watched stuff on TV, but I had to ask him to sleep at 11:30pm. It’s days like these that remind me how much he’s growing up, but he’s still my baby boy. He’s slowly forming his own world, but I’m happy that he knows that my hand will always be there for him when he reaches out.