Friends Galore!

With the cycles of preschool, kindergarten and now primary school, Big Bee has gathered many good friends along the way and I must stress that her social life is really busy at a young age of 8! 

At the beginning of the holidays, she requested for a playdate with her best friends from kindergarten, Rachael and Lizzie. By this age, all the playdates and parties are unaccompanied by parents, which means the hosting mum would need to be extra vigilant over the visiting kids, providing apt entertainment and refreshments for them. I love to host big kids though - they are absolutely charming to chat with! 

So, one fine Monday afternoon, Rachael and Lizzie descended unto our humble abode, to the pure excitement and delight of Big Bee. She was literally jumping around for joy when they arrived, and the trio was hopping and whooping in big kids' heaven when they gathered. Little Bee was also thrilled by their visit, and was eagerly following all the big jie-jies around like a little puppy, wanting to participate in every activity! 

It was a fun-filled afternoon - they acted silly, talking about boys in Big Bee's bedroom for a while, then proceeded to have an indoor picnic in my living room, feasting on snacks. After tea, I brought all 4 girls out for a session of boisterous bubbles, after which the 3 big girls proceeded for a rowdy tryst of outdoor catching and hide-and-seek at the clubhouse while poor Little Bee rested at home reluctantly. We had another teabreak at the cafe, and that was my favourite part of the playdate. We gossiped about boys, school, vacations and every girly thing under the sun. I was glad that the girls were very open with me around and yakked like normal. I hope to be Big Bee's friend in addition to my role as her mummy as well. 

We then adjourned back home where Little Bee was anticipating our arrival, and all 4 of them settled down for a bout of quiet play over the board game, Game Of Life. What a fun afternoon!

A couple of days later, Big Bee reunited with Rachael and Lizzie at their former classmate's birthday party. The trio was the only girls at a party full of boys, and Big Bee came back, somewhat shocked at the rough play of the boys - mentally tousled and bruised! I stifled a giggle at the great divide of the gender from such a young age, and finally roused her to a state of grudging cheeriness after an hour of coaxing! 

Big Bee and her primary school buddies fooling around after a concert in school.

Above all these, Big Bee still had invitations for gatherings with her primary schoolmates (which poor her could not attend because this Mum needs some rest after our holiday!) as well as outings with our good friends whose children had since become the Bees' good pals too. What a busy holiday indeed!