The First Night (with Children)

There are several things that stick in my mind after our first night in the caravan with the children.

First was the weather. There were strong hail and thunderstorm warnings for areas about 50kms from us. We didn't get those, but it sure rained heavily! This meant that we were

stuck inside the van the whole evening and night with 5 very overexcited children. We also discovered the hard way that we had a small leak. A leak that was literally coming down through a screw and out the screw hole in the sky light.

The other thing that sticks in my mind are the smells. The gas stove, the rain on tent canvas, and a freshly brewed cup of tea.

The last was the noise. We'd not only managed to pick a night of heavy downpour, we'd picked a night where the pub across the road had a function which clearly attracted only those with piercings, tattoos, Mohawks and skeleton clothes. So we had loud noise around us, in the form of the pub band, and then later from the sing songs and instruments of the drunk, until about 4am. Good thing I had brought earplugs.

Those are the big things I remember. The overall theme of the exercise. But there were little things as well.

There was the colouring in that we did at our soon-to-be new dining table. There was the washing up; with a little helper drying. There were the moments of way too many excited little bodies... and far too little space. There were cups of tea, berries and cream, card games and books. There were a thousand trips to the toilet (okay, some hyperbole there). There were goodnight kisses in fresh new beds. Breakfast, which happened slowly. A morning devotional!! Something that doesn't happen as a full family very often, because my husband leaves for work very early in the morning.

After breakfast, we went for a stroll along the waterfront. We saw a swan or two, and lots of teenage rowers having races down the river. The children threw pebbles into the water trying to skim them. It was mostly so peaceful, apart from me trying to get Miss 2 to stop running on the jetty!

We packed up (which was a bit slow and waterlogged all round), went home and had a very hot shower.

But the main aim of the night was achieved. We discovered where some issues lay, we discovered some things that worked well and things that didn't, and we had fun, despite the rain.

We were a family.

Sara