At that time, Thumper was 10 months old and I figured that 7 months should be enough notice to organise a babysitter. So DeepSpice and I decided to go, and happily VolubleK decided to come too. (Unfortunately in December/ January, the timetable for VolableK's relocation to France was brought forward and so she ended up missing the concert. But at least she gets to be in France eating lots of CHEESE!) I reactivated my membership of the fan club so I could get the fan club code that would allow me to buy pre-sale tickets. (Unfortunately, the code wasn't sent to me, so I spent a few days of emailing the promoter before I eventually got the code 'violin' but still was about to secure reasonably good seats... row Y.)
Then I booked up Gran and GrandPaul for babysitting and went about distracting myself with other things so I wouldn't get too impatient waiting for the big night.
At the time of booking the tickets, Thumper was happily breastfeeding morning, noon and night, and often having a few sups (snacks) in between, and neither of us had plans for her to stop. So I assumed I would still be feeding her in February and that we would go to the concert and come home straight after.
However, on 13 January, Thumper suddenly stopped breastfeeding. Just like that. Up until the day before, she had been having 3 - 5 feeds a day. Coincidentally 13 January was also the ten-year anniversary of my mother's death. And on 14 January, it was my first day back at paid work after 18 months maternity and long service leave. A perfect storm and I felt miserable: grieving for my mum, greiving for the end of my breastfeeding relationship with Thumper and having to deal with all this on my first day at work.
Thumper's weaning from the breast at 16 months was slightly less of a shock to the system than when BallFiend did the same thing at 13.5 months of age. At least I had some experience of the sort of emotions I was going to feel. And I had done some preparation for that day that I knew would eventually come... I had made a mental list of things I was going to do once Thumper weaned... all things I couldn't do whilst still breastfeeding. And top of my list was a night away with DeepSpice, sans kids!
The last time we had been 'child free' for a night (actually two) was back when BallFiend had a practice run staying with Gran and GrandPaul in preparation for Thumper's arrival, about 20 months ago. Back then, I was too uncomfortably pregnant to make the most it.
So, as the date for the Tim Minchin concert approached it occurred to me that this could be the right time to start my post-breastfeeding life with an entire 'night off'. DeepSpice raised the idea with Gran and GrandPaul. Gran was happy to have both kids overnight, but GrandPaul was rather hesitant. But after a few days of some gentle persuasion and it was all agreed: we would drop the kids over after lunch on Saturday, then pick them up on Sunday afternoon.
I was getting more and more excited as the date drew closer, as evidenced by my frequent Facebook status updates informing anyone who cared to read them. Whilst web-searching for suitable accommodation in St Kilda, it occurred to me that FunkyOrganMan and ThingMaker may well be going to, so I tracked them down on Facebook, with very pleasing results: yes, they were both on Facebook and yes, they were both going to the Tim Minchin concert and yes, they were both going on the same night as us and yes, they were also planning to stay overnight in St Kilda! Jackpot! We arranged to meet for dinner before the show.
Then calamity struck... Gran and GrandPaul had made last minute plans to attend a birthday lunch on Sunday and wanted us back bright and early (11 am) to collect the kids. My plans for a lazy Sunday morning sleep-in, followed by lunch in St Kilda were thrown into disarray. After coming to the conclusion that stomping around the house expressing my disappointment didn't seem to be doing much good, I did some quick thinking and phoned CutLuce... "would she and DesignerMonkey be able to mind the kids from 11 am on Sunday?" I asked wishfully, not expecting that my sister, with her busy social life, would be available. But as luck would have it, she said yes! I was overjoyed. I rushed to the internet and completed my booking for a B&B.
Our night away went off almost perfectly... we were a lot late dropping the kids off to Gran and GrandPaul, so instead of checking into our B&B at 2 pm as planned, we didn't get there till nearly 4 pm. Having slept badly the previous night, I decided to have a quick afternoon nap, then we dressed for dinner and headed out to Cicciolina's for dinner with FunkyOrganMan and ThingMaker. Much wine was consumed in two short hours (with ThingMaker picking up my slack) and then we ambled down to The Palais for what turned out to be a fantastic concert... exceeding my expectations. At interval I raced out to the mechandise stand and handed over my credit card: one CD for me, one for VolubleK, a DVD of Tim's previous tour (which we didn't get to go to due to Thumper's then extreme infancy) and a "Rock 'n' Roll Nerd" t-shirt for DeepSpice.
After the concert, we chatted for quite a while with FunkyOrganMan and ThingMaker, then wandered back to our B&B. In the morning, we were served a yummy cooked breakfast and then spent some time wandering around Acland Street. Mother guilt had me seeking out little gifts for our little ones - a hypercolour foam ball for BallFiend (which he subsequently lost at the swimming pool the following Monday) and a box of tiny Dr Seuss books for Thumper (which she has progressively been trashing), and a thank you gift for CutLuce and DeepSpice (iPhone app fridge magnets). We had lunch at Gypsies Bar & Cafe, then strolled along to the St Kilda market, where DeepSpice bought himself a new belt and we found a nice handmade soap to give to Gran as a thank you gift. Unfortunately, we didn't find a suitable thank you gift for GrandPaul, but at least he can be happy in the knowledge that we didn't buy him an ugly, touristy trinket that he has to pretend to appreciate.
Then it was time to come back to reality and start our (long and tedious, thanks to Punt Road) journey home.
On arriving home, we found BallFiend curled up on the couch with dummy and blankie, watching TV and Thumper, who had just woken up from her nap, nestled into DesignerMonkey's arms. Neither child was the least bit interested or excited to see us. It appears that we should have stayed away longer. Much, much longer...
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So we start planning for a two-nights-without-kids weekend?
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