Play Date

Play Date

"Come and be 7 with me today," 

"I'm on my way" she said.

So we drove to the waterslide near the beach and parked our cars side by side. We squealed as we changed into our bathing costumes underneath our towels, and ran to the ticket office clutching our entry fees in our sweaty hands, our towels around our necks. 

Nothing else. 

No handbags

No phones

No change of clothes 

We told the lady at the ticket office we were there without our parents the ramifications of which she clearly didn't fully grasp or she would not have allowed us entry. Where the signs said, "no running" we ran, well, we kind of did a fast waddle, in a fiftysomethingkindofway. The same way middle aged non runners "waddle" along sidewalks in the slipstream of their younger selves in lycra leggings and support bras. We waddled with our arms across our breasts up the steps, as fast as our pre-knee replacement limbs would allow.

Our knees and hips were aching, but we were so exhilarated we didn't notice it until the next day when we found bruises on parts of our bodies we didn't even know could get bruised going down a waterslide. My bathing costume had a hole in it right where my coccyx made contact with the lycra but I consoled myself with the fact that it was almost winter and time for a new one anyway … in a size 8 (yeah right!)

According to our wristbands, we could slip and slide for an hour and before we'd paid our entrance fees, we had contemplated paying for morning passes but after about half an hour of waddle running up the stairs, being jostled by other small children (smaller than ourselves) and sliding down with the rushing water, squealing all the way, we decided it was time to retreat for a hotdog and a soda.

At the little hotdog kiosk outside we pushed the coins in our fists across the counter and in our most self assured voices asked: "What can we buy with this much?" After pointing out the hotdogs and the green and red sodas and toffees which would surely extract all our fillings and crowns, and soft serve ice-cream's, we agreed we would eat our ice-cream's first and come back for the rest because, as we informed the kiosk person … "Our mothers are not with us so we will eat our ice cream first" She seemed to agree with this logic and even suggested she join us the nextimewewere7

And so we did. 

We went back for hotdogs after we'd walked to the end of the beach and back. 

We went back twice and drank green sodas and ate toffees in the sun. 

And we didn't go back home until the sun set. 

We didn't make dinner. 

We went to sleep on hotdogs 

and bright green sodas 

and toffees that stuck in our fillings 

and ice-cream 

and we didn't feel guilty 

and no one told us off 

and the world didn't come to an end