So as you know, getting lost is kind of a big deal for our family.
It all began at the very beginning of the merging of our two families….
It was last year and it was the youngest of my daughters 6th birthday and we had all gone out to dinner. Me and my two girls, James and Krystal, Mum, Dad, my brothers and sisters.
It was early days and to say things were fraught would be an understatement. For those of you who have blended a family you will know it is never smooth sailing – particularly not at the start. There is jealousy flying around everywhere and fragile ego’s all looking for attention and reassurance that they still matter.
Birthday’s seem to make this worse – with all the focus on one child. Such was the case on Sophia’s birthday and by the time we left the pizza restaurant Krystal was crying and saying she wished she had never met us, Bella was crying and Sophia was declaring it the worst birthday ever. I had no idea what to do and was near tears myself.
We walked down the road to my car. James by this time had headed off with my Dad (first time they met) and my brothers to the ice-cream shop. Despite only parking there 2 hours before I couldn’t find my car. With 3 crying children things were getting tense and thankfully I found my car.
Once I found my car we swapped over the seats into James ute and headed off to Mission Bay for ice-cream.
I took a wrong turn but was fairly sure knew the way. “Are you sure we are going the right way?” asked Mum. “Totally” I said, “I’m pretty sure it loops around up here”
It didn’t.
After about 30 minutes of driving it is abundantly clear that we are lost. The kids in the back have stopped crying to listen to the conversation in the front about how lost we are. The phone rings, its James – “Where are you guys?” he says. By this stage in fits of stress induced laughter Mum and I both say “We have no idea – we’re lost!”
That was it. It was all it took.
Tears turned to laughter. The adventure was on and for the first time since the three girls had met they weren’t rivals for each others parents attentions they were allies in a great adventure that was unplanned and unscripted by the hapless adults in the car.
The fun that we had as we made our way to Mission Bay that night was unparalleled. It was joyous, it was crazy, it was madness – it was the beginning of us.
By the time we arrived at Mission Bay it was officially “the best night ever” and family birthday’s would never be the same again because that night our first family tradition was born – at the end of each birthday dinner we would get terribly, wonderfully, utterly lost.
Getting Lost 