Those of you that follow me on Facebook or Twitter might have noticed that Oscar has recently developed an obsession with all things Antarctic. Oscar has certainly had more than his fair share of obsessions over the years. Monsters Inc, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Elmo, Minions, and currently Ninjago. I have never seen him quite so taken as he is with the South Pole. He has been learning about it at school, and what began with a love and intrigue of all things penguin-related, this weekend turned into something much more surreal. On Friday, I picked him up from school to be greeted with the news that he and two of his friends were off to the South Pole. One of them had a map and the other two had their tickets (a bit of manky masking tape wrapped around their wrists). Naturally, I dismissed it as childish creativity, while playing along without much enthusiasm. You all know how that goes, “Mum, I’m going to the South Pole.” “Oh really? That’s nice.” Never in a million years did I believe he actually meant it.
We got home, and it was the only thing Oscar talked about all night. I began to realise that he wasn’t actually playing, he genuinely believed that his friends were coming to get him, and they were going to the South Pole. Apparently, they were going to be gone for three weeks, he didn’t want me to miss him too much, so he was going to leave ‘Big Bear’ with me, to remind me of him, and he was going to take his cuddly monkey, ‘Blibbert’ with him, for something to cuddle. When bedtime rolled around, he insisted on going to bed in all of his clothes (including jacket and shoes) so that he would be ready when they came to get him. He refused to go to sleep in case he missed them coming, and I had to tell him if he didn’t get at least some sleep, I wasn’t going to let him go. Even I was starting to believe that he was off to the South Pole.
So, it got to about 10:00, and he’s finally asleep, on the understanding that, as soon as his friends come to get him, I wake him up, so he can head off. Now, frustratingly, I needed an old lady wee at about 3:00am, and foolishly flushed the chain. “Mum, are they here yet?” Came a little sleepy voice from under the duvet. “No, not yet, I promise, I will wake you up when they get here, just go back to sleep.” Every. Pissing. Hour, from 3am until 6am, when I finally gave up, Oscar woke me up to see if they had been to get him. I was struggling to think how I was going to break it to him in the morning.
When he woke up on Saturday morning, the best thing that could possibly happen, happened. I wandered sleepily down the stairs to make breakfast, and as if by magic, it was bloody snowing! Actual, proper snow! Without even thinking about it, I said, “Oscar, look, you wished it so hard, that the South Pole has come to you!” And it worked. Until the snow turned to rain, but it was enough of a distraction that he said he would wait until Monday to go to the South Pole, so I have one more day to prepare.
This weekend has really brought home the beauty of a child’s imagination. How a throwaway comment from a teacher can turn into a whole thing, and this weekend has definitely been one of the best I’ve ever had as a parent, simply because I have been so close to the excitement and wonder, I would have liked a bit more sleep, if I’m honest, but you can’t have everything.