The Amazing Blue Star
From the moment we got out of the City Hall station, Nigel really wanted that Blue Star. They were selling them for $2 at some stands along the way to the Marina Bay area where the NDP was being held. When he bugged me, all I said was "we'll get one later in the bag". So the question changed from "can I get the Blue Star?" to "can I get the Goodie Bag?".
To be honest, I wasn't even really sure if there was going to be a star in the bag, and a blue one? - even less sure! But how do you deal with kids? You do your best to delay - throwing distracting comments and answers in-between hoping they would forget. But it doesn't work with the kids these days - and that's where the tic-tac comes in. That's another story.
So, after our long trek through thousands of people, security scans, X-ray machines and military police galore, we got our 2 (randomly picked by me) Goodie Bags which I had to carry like a donkey slung on both sides (- mainly for balance). We then climbed over a hundred steps to our seats and settled down with twenty seven thousand other people, all looking hot and flustered.
The moment we sat down, a little voice said "Daddy, can I get my Blue Star? Can I get it?". The moment of truth had arrived - after all that distracting along the way, I had no escape and was essentially backed into a corner. Was there a Star in the bag? Was it going to be Blue? Would I need to whip out the tic-tac?
So I reached for the first bag and opened it up - and lo and behold - amongst the hundred of other items inside was a Blue Star!! What a pleasant surprise for me - I was prepared to do a whole bunch of explaining, maybe even running back to the MRT station with a two dollar note. It was a a real "whew" moment for me when you feel that everything was going to work out perfectly. As for Nigel, it was no big deal - he was like "thanks Daddy, I knew it was there - why did you keep me waiting so long. Now stop messing with the bag and help me with the batteries."
The other bag had a red one, which he politely offered to me.
He spent the rest of the evening waving his Blue Star around and covering his ears.
To be honest, I wasn't even really sure if there was going to be a star in the bag, and a blue one? - even less sure! But how do you deal with kids? You do your best to delay - throwing distracting comments and answers in-between hoping they would forget. But it doesn't work with the kids these days - and that's where the tic-tac comes in. That's another story.
So, after our long trek through thousands of people, security scans, X-ray machines and military police galore, we got our 2 (randomly picked by me) Goodie Bags which I had to carry like a donkey slung on both sides (- mainly for balance). We then climbed over a hundred steps to our seats and settled down with twenty seven thousand other people, all looking hot and flustered.
The moment we sat down, a little voice said "Daddy, can I get my Blue Star? Can I get it?". The moment of truth had arrived - after all that distracting along the way, I had no escape and was essentially backed into a corner. Was there a Star in the bag? Was it going to be Blue? Would I need to whip out the tic-tac?
So I reached for the first bag and opened it up - and lo and behold - amongst the hundred of other items inside was a Blue Star!! What a pleasant surprise for me - I was prepared to do a whole bunch of explaining, maybe even running back to the MRT station with a two dollar note. It was a a real "whew" moment for me when you feel that everything was going to work out perfectly. As for Nigel, it was no big deal - he was like "thanks Daddy, I knew it was there - why did you keep me waiting so long. Now stop messing with the bag and help me with the batteries."
The other bag had a red one, which he politely offered to me.
He spent the rest of the evening waving his Blue Star around and covering his ears.