Cinderella

It's our wedding anniversary on Friday. Of course we'll celebrate, but it's the Lower School Carnival on Friday, 11-yo's last since he'll be moving on to Middle School next year, so he wants (I want) to go. On Saturday, there's an indoor soccer match one of us has to be at. Our lives aren't ruled by our children, honestly, but sometimes the diary is. Just a little. We are under the deadline of a not terribly exciting Groupon which expires on the 31st, so maybe Thursday, although what kind of a non-celebratory night is Thursday, for heaven's sake? Or perhaps Sunday, but Sunday night is a cosy night in, not a fun night out, as eny ful no. (Do other people's minds work like this...?)

I took my youngest two to a production of Cinderella done by our local youth theatre on Saturday. It was very good (though looooong - at what age can you teach actors a bit of pace?) There was a raffle in the interval, and one of the prizes was a 'Night Out Basket', giving two tickets to the opera in February, dinner for two, a night for two in a hotel, chauffeur-driven car, and one or two other goodies that escape my memory. I knew I was going to win. I only bought one ticket, because I had worked out that in the cosmic scheme of things, if not in a maths text book, my chances of winning were as high if I only bought one ticket as if I bought a whole clutch. And I knew I was going to win.

I didn't win. As it happened. Bummer. 7-yo gave me a hug and patted my hand.

On Sunday night, all the 'ready for the week' boxes ticked, or enough of them to make it function on a day to day basis at any rate, we went up to bed, and there was an envelope on the pillow. On the front, there was a fairish stab at our address and a little picture of a stamp drawn in the top right hand corner. On the back was written 'you win!' The page inside read:

Ms. Manhattan and Mr. Manhattan are going to have a hotel in their house till March first. there will be one hostess named 7-yo Manhattan. She will get you breakfust in bed. She will make you lunch and dinner. She will get you what you need whenever you want. She will dell with 14-yo and 11-yo Manhattan. it will be $6.00 for the whole 2 and a half months.

from,

7-yo

I married Prince Charming 16 years ago (glass slippers would have been usefully waterproof on that snowy London pavement, but awfully cold). I now have my very own small, soft-hearted fairy godmother living right underneath my roof (one with a sharp eye for a business opportunity). I shall go to the ball, courtesy of Groupon, on Thursday night, but sometimes I can see that the ball is happening around me every day anyway.