18

Yaya turned 18.

There was a long period of time i.e. till I was about 23 I never thought about becoming a mother. Then one evening while laying down in my bed and watching Fresh Prince of Bel Air, a friend phoned me to tell me that she was expecting. Until that moment I was only ever jealous of people who had normal family(practically everyone I knew had normal family and all I ever wanted was a normal family). But that evening I felt extremely jealous when I heard my friend was going to be a mom. Then the journey became one that was full of heartaches and tears. And then Yaya came and made me the happiest  person on earth. When Yaya celebrated her 18th birthday, I celebrated 18 years of motherhood. And it felt so good.

Yaya got

18 gold sovereigns that I collected one/year.

An Amethyst pendant set with diamonds. She loves purple and I wanted her to have something valuable that she could give to her grandkids..

A masala Dabba. This was part of her hope chest and I felt I better give it to her now that she is going to be on her own and is going to cook her own food. I had always wanted a steel masala dubba with all those little lottas inside. I don’t really have any reason why I never bought one. Perhaps it is because I am reluctant to give up the masala containers I have been using until now. I bought Rajah spices that came in little containers when I was in UK and it travelled with me all over the world for the past two decades.

A boss Bluetooth headphones. I did buy her one last birthday with the caveat that if she destroyed it, I will never buy her another one as it is really expensive. Unfortunately for her, Kirra went in to her room while she was away and chewed it up. What was most remarkable was that when this happened, her brother offered her his headphones because he knows how much she loves to listening to music while studying. Since it really wasn’t Yaya’s fault that Kirra ate her headphone, I bought her a new one.

Baby bought Yaya a St Christopher pendant and got it engraved in Latin ‘Sit Vis Nobiscum’ (may the force be with you) Apparently St Christopher is the protector of travellers and Baby felt it was something she wanted Yaya to have. As Yaya is embarking on her life’s journey. She also bought Yaya fluffy socks that Yaya can wear at night when it is cold, a bag to carry her passport etc and a silver nail polish to replace the one she spilled couple of months ago.

My son bought Yaya a Tshirt that said 1998, aged to perfection, a makeup brush set and a Ferrari ride around Brisbane.

Then we went to Hog’s breath restaurant to have lunch. My son was attending a conference and only had 45 minutes to spare. Since this was the last time I have all three kids at home to celebrate Yaya’s birthday, I pre-ordered the food, picked my son up, went to the restaurant and had a quick lunch. We have been going to Hog’s breath for lunch on Yaya’s birthday since we came to Australia and Yaya like me is a creature of habit. We had a good lunch.

Later in the evening, Yaya booked a room at  hotel in the city, organized a slumber party with her friends.. The hotel upgraded her room to a suite on the 67th floor with a view that is worth a million bucks!. She had 10 of her friends over, enough alcohol to feed an army and celebrated. The floor had white carpet and I am really happy that no one spilled any drinks or vomited. (Yaya told me later that the first thing she did when she checked in was to photograph every singe stain on the carpet so she won’t lose her deposit, I must say I was really impressed.)

All in all she had a great birthday.. and as her mother I must say I raised her well.

 

10 thoughts on “18

  1. WOW, Sarah, I can’t wait to see what you do for her wedding !!!

    BTW: In response to your reply to me on June 28, 2016 ( WHO) ……
    Neither do I. Just thought you might enjoy practicing some basics since you’ve expressed an interest in acquiring Spanish ( South America ).

    Sincerely, Paul

    • MS: 18 is the legal age for drinking here! Yaya is the youngest of all the kids in her group.. so this has been a much awaited moment..

  2. A little late, but Happy Birthday Yaya! :). She’s finally a grown woman and am sure she made you very proud of her with her accomplishments and the love she has for you 🙂

    PS: Yay for June babies ! (my birthday is also in June :))

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