A weekend in December gave T his first taste of a beloved childhood tradition.
As a parent, I wish for T to enjoy all the common childhood experiences, such as camping, birthdays and sleepovers.
He had his first “sleepover” two summers ago at his grandparents’ cottage. He slept in a tent outside with his Aunt and cousin, while we slept inside.
We recently reconnected with his foster family, after a four year break during the pandemic.
His foster parents kindly offered to take him for the weekend, when T’s extra curricular activities winded down.
They took such great care of T in his first year of life before we adopted him and we gladly took them up on their offer, as it also allowed T to spend time with his foster brother – both of them pictured at top at ages 1 and 3.
Sleepovers were a fun tradition for me when I was T’s age, spending summer and holiday weekends with my cousins.
There are precious memories associated with sleepovers and I was glad T was going to experience this.
As his foster family live an hour away, we met up halfway with his foster dad and brother at a hardware store parking lot.
His foster dad gave us a few garbage bags of hand me downs T’s foster mom packed for him.
Nothing suspicious at all about three men exchanging a young child for garbage bags in a parking lot. 😂
His foster dad told us to relax and not worry.
I joked out loud, “We’re changing our names, address and phone numbers after you leave.”
The boys were excited to meet up.
As we watched their car drive away, I felt sad, because the hubby and I had never been separated from T the same time like this before.
But we also recognized this was a rare gift of respite and time to ourselves and we were going to take full advantage of it.
We went to the movies – Wicked, awesome and Ariana Grande is Oscar worthy – then dinner.
It felt strange coming home to a quiet house and not having to struggle with T at bedtime. But boy did I miss him so much.
Despite vowing to take full advantage of a night off, I passed out shortly after 9! 😂
It was equally strange waking up the next morning without T.
“It feels weird not being called a fucking bitch or to shut up during breakfast,” I told the hubby.
We had an entire morning of quiet relaxation. I savoured my coffee, reading, relaxing. Then shortly after lunch, we made plans by text message to meet up with his foster family for pickup.
I jokingly replied to their first text, “Who is this?”
T had a great time during his short visit. His foster dad took the boys to the movies, Moana 2, then they played at home.
His foster mom said T did great, had fun, was very polite, helped tidy up and the boys played well.
She asked what his new liquid medication was and without skipping a beat, I said, “Holy water.”
It’s called Amantadine, in case you thought I was serious.
We said we’ll plan to do this again and we thanked them for this wonderful experience for T and for giving us a break.
When we got home, T told the hubby that he had a lot of fun but he felt bad for leaving quickly and not saying bye and giving us a hug.
So he stood on the couch and gave his daddy a big long hug.
It was nice to be missed by our T. 🥹
My Life With T 
here’s to a few more free nights. I found the first one so stressful, couldn’t sleep a wink.
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Thanks Gary! I can definitely relate with the sleepless first night. 🙏 And I do hope there’ll be more to come (free nights, not sleepless ones. 😆).
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All your posts, Ab, are so heartfelt and memorable—and you have a great gift for wit. I loved this: “Nothing suspicious at all about three men exchanging a young child for garbage bags in a parking lot. ” Most importantly, the post is threaded with love from beginning to end and the photo warms my heart like the rest of this well-written piece. 🤍🤍
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Thanks so much, Stacy! Life with T is filled with many moments, mostly good and the ones that are challenging can always be regarded with humour in hindsight! 😊
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So true! I guess the underlying theme is: ENJOY IT ALL!
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Emotional young guy!
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Yes, he sure is! 😊
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What a well deserved break! So tell me, did you talk about T all during dinner? Every time we go out to eat we still talk about the kids and grandkids even though we say we won’t. The separation makes everyone appreciate each other more. What a nice couple they are and now all I can visualize is the three men exchanging a boy for garbage bags. 🤣
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Thanks Diane! 😊 Yes, we ended up talking how about how much we missed him. 😆 Absence does make the heart grow fonder! 💕
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How sweet, and I am glad he had fun. My daughter was terrified of sleepovers after a traumatic one where they thought it was a good idea to have the kids watch Chucky….
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With apologies to your daughter, but a horror movie sleepover sounds absolutely delightful to me! 😆 I can’t wait till T is older to watch horror movies with me. I guess, in that sense, you’re right. Traumatic for young kids!
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She was five so a bit bit too early for this kind of fun 🙂
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5?! 😂 Does she have a lifelong phobia of dolls now?
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Pretty much lol
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I love this so much! What a great experience and I loved that it went so well. When my kids have been gone, I have the same reaction – the quiet house is so strange!
I’m still laughing…”Nothing suspicious at all about three men exchanging a young child for garbage bags in a parking lot.” Right!
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The garbage bags trade off struck me as funny as it transpired in real time. 😆
It was indeed a lovely experience for T and us and I’m looking forward to making more of these memories for and with him this year. 🙏
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How wonderful that he got to go to a sleepover!
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Thank you! It was wonderful and we’re glad he got to experience this. 😊
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Oh this is cool Ab! Ha, ha, dinner out with T? How was it? I’m betting you spent the entire dinner talking about T. Ha, ha. Sounds like it was a healthy and happy time for everyone. Good for you guys.
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Thanks Brian. It was wonderful having some time away from him, and yes, so very healthy, as much as we missed him. And yes, for sure, we spent the time talking about how much we missed him. 😆😂
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Awww, this blog post is filled with so much love, and comedy! 😂 It’s really nice that T got to experience a proper sleepover, and by doing that he gave you and your husband a rare time to just chill and relax. Wicked was such a great, touching, and fun movie, wasn’t it? Passing out so early at night is something I definitely can relate as I get older!
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Thanks Bama. Our life is one big dramedy. 😂 We’re so thankful he got to have his first real sleepover. And I really enjoyed Wicked. I’m not much of a musical person but I thought it was very well done and Ariana Grande was such a pleasant surprise. I can’t wait for the sequel!
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My heart is singing! Love this post…your humor…garbage bags in the parking lot….”who’s this” texts. You are one in a million, Ab. Thank you for the morning smiles. 🥰☀️🥰
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Thanks Vicki. Life is full of delightful moments that make us laugh (and cry) – and it’s all cuz of our little T. 😊 Glad I gave you some morning smiles. We’re gonna need more of them in these trying times!!!
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I hear you…sending hugs to all three of you! 🥰
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I’m sure it was a bittersweet feeling for T to have his first real slumber party. He’s growing up so quickly. Sounds like you all enjoyed the experience though! And yes, I’m sure it was a nice feeling to be missed by T. That and not being called names at breakfast!
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I think sleepovers are so great and something you’ll experience with M one day too! Bittersweet is the best way to describe this first experience. And yes, it’s nice to get a break from the name calling! 😆😂
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Not sure once aga
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WordPress is so finicky, Vickie! 😆 I decided to update my settings so those who comment as Anonymous (which seems to be happening with you) can have their comments show up right away without me having to approve it. Sorry for all the commenting headaches!
It was a lovely weekend for all of us and I’m so thankful got to have this childhood experience. And yes, we absolutely loved Wicked!!!
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omg you had me laughing! Great Blog!!!! I’m happy you had a better wake-up conversation!!! And got to spend some quality time even if you did fall asleep at 9!
on another note , wasn’t wicked incredible!!!!!
💚
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I’m so glad for all of you, it really was a win-win, and reminded all of you how much of a family you really are and how much you love each other, in spite of the very hard days.
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Thanks Beth. As cliche as it sounds, this was a great case of absence really making the heart grow fonder! 💕
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You just have the sweetest boy and he knows exactly when to show just how important you and hubby are to him. His bestest dads. I hope that by next time you get a night for just yourselves you can make it to at least 10 😉
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Thanks Deb. 😊 He is truly a sweet boy at his core (and once we wash his mouth with soap 😆). This was such a great experience for us, especially him. And yes, I’ll need to build up my stamina for these Saturday nights again!
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Another incredibly heartwarming vignette about life with T. You do such a wonderful way of intertwining every story with love. You and your hubby obviously need some practice at taking full advantage of slices of child-free time!
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Thanks Jane! Getting these child free time, especially an overnight, is so rare for us. Hopefully we get more opportunities to practice again in the future! 😆🙏
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