I had so much fun catching up with one of my friends yesterday it’s unreal. I read somewhere, last year that women should meet up with their girlfriends at least twice per week. I laughed my little dreadlocked head off. I’m lucky if I manage to meet up for my regular monthly book club these days, let alone find time for 7 more occasions of debauchery and gossip! And yet, every time that I do manage to go out and wax lyrical with a girlfriend, my soul feels so much better for it. So why am I, why are we, not all making more space in our lives for these activities?
I met up with my friend Denise for a child-friendly lunch date in nearby Hertford. I mentioned her before when I spoke of social media friends becoming real friends. Why it’s important to take friendships offline when you have a chance. We only live 30 minutes away from each other, yet it still took us a good few months to set a date to meet up due to our own busy schedules over autumn and winter. She is an amazing woman with so much natural energy and she instantly puts you at ease. Also, she’s a true friend because she didn’t cut any side-eye at my nearly three-year-old toddler who decided to spend our lunch date doing flips off the back of my bucket seat. You can’t buy that kind of friendship I tell you!
After re-energising each other, and destroying Hertford Theatre with the Pom Bear crumbs and discarded socks (all my child’s doing, not hers!) we parted ways just in time for both of us to do the school pick up. Denise had about 20 minutes to make it on time. I’d given myself over an hour because I know my toddler. Rainbow is going through a new phase of not wanting to leave places where she’s having fun. So even though Denise had already left, I still ended up chasing a giggling, giddy Rainbow around coffee tables, bemused coffee drinkers and the most patient staff I’ve ever met, for 20 straight minutes.
I’m obviously doing something wrong because it shouldn’t take that long to coerce a tiny human to stand still. I tried the “ignoring her” technique. I sat down, seemed disinterested and feigned boredom. I tried chasing her. I pleaded at some point. In the end, the good old golden arches of Mac Donalds won. As soon as I offered a detour to a drive-through, she basically launched herself into her stroller. Can you imagine, SHE told me to hurry up and help her with her discarded socks and coat. Sigh.
Anyway, we set off in search of where I’d parked the car in a nearby supermarket. The walk to the very child-friendly Hertford Theatre we’d sat down to have our lunch, had seemed straight forward. But obviously I’d not paid as much attention to the roads as I thought I had. Within minutes I was by a canal path and Rainbow was transfixed by a load of ducks bobbing their entire bodies into the water, trying to fish out their own lunches. It was too late to turn back and good old Google Maps informed me that this detour would eventually take me back to our car anyway.
I posted an image on Instagram of our nature walk down the canal path, watching the ducks, geese and swans. I think it really was the first time I’d taken Rainbow to look at them. So it was a bittersweet moment, I revelled in seeing her reaction and was also saddened that my busy working life had meant I’d not thought to do it sooner. Luckily her dad, aunts and uncles, and grandparents had all taken her to see ducks before. It’s just me that was letting the side down. There are definitely bodies of water closer to our home than the one in Hertford, but I think I’ll take her here again, maybe next time with a picnic!
We had a great talk about houseboats which I’m sure went over her head, but all the same I really enjoyed. We saw so many gorgeous canal boats and homes which backed onto the water. I’d never considered living next to a canal but being near a body of water at all times would be quite soothing, I’d imagine. I live in a village, nature is technically up the road from me. We have our own body of water within our village, but not one you can walk alongside. Definitely not one that attracts ducks! That being said, I’m keen to any free child-friendly activities that I can, so I’ll be making use of our own outdoor amenities too in the coming months.
Do you have a favourites outdoor space to take your own kids? Do you find ways to get out with your girlfriends regularly?
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