I get up at 8am for my Sunday morning shift and finish the second draft of my creepy lighthouse story. I have time for a bit of breakfast and to get some pulled pork cooking in the slow cooker before I need to leave.
The Elderbeast has a party to go to, and his best friend is also going. The Elderbeast’s best friend’s Mum is going on a lunch date, so she has asked if I can take her son to the party–which I can. This clearly my penance for having a bonus #childfree night: I go from zero children to an excess of of them. I pick him up on the way to collect the kinderbesten from their Nan’s house. He talks at me at great length about Zelda on the way, which makes him an almost exact clone of the Elderbeast. I then have to stop by the shops to pick up a gift card (for the birthday boy) which I’d forgotten to pick up yesterday. Doh.
We get to the party a few minutes early and lurk suspiciously in the car until we see other people turning up. I drop the Elderbeast and his friend off, and have to summon the Kinderbeast back as he has automatically wandered in to join the party. The two of us head home and watch Jurassic World, or at least a bit of it until the Kinderbeast gets bored.
A few hours later it’s time to pick up the Elderbeast and his friend. I get to the party and there are a couple of parents relaxing in the driveway. There’s no noise. No sign of kids. They’ve hired the ‘Game Vault’ for the party: basically a truck which has been fitted out with a bunch of games consoles, and all the kids are inside. As the father says: “It’s the quietest party ever!”
We get home and the Elderbeast asks if his friend can stay for a few more hours, which I agree to. I manage to shut out the incessant noise of their play until the friend eventually gets taken home. Then it’s time for dinner and bed.
I invite the Elderbeast to watch 10 Cloverfield Lane with me, and he accepts. I’m glad I’ve managed to avoid reading too much about the film, as it keeps me guessing right to the end. The Elderbeast is almost literally on the edge of his seat, asking: “Why is this so tense?!”
Needless to say we both enjoy it. I’m particularly impressed by the way the script navigates the is he/isn’t he conundrum. Afterwards the Elderbeast capitalises on the movie, complaining he’s too unsettled to sleep in his own bed, and scores a night in mine.