So hard to spoil the birthday girl

LOCKDOWN: PARTY CANCELLED ... AND NO TOYS TO BUY

Let’s start a petition: Free The Toys, in solidarity with other beleaguered parents.

Since last year, my daughter as been talking about her birthday – as a parent you’ll know, it’s perfectly normal for a child to be talking about their birthday like its tomorrow, rather than in mid-2020.

My daughter initially wanted to have her birthday at trampoline part Bounce, and I’d agreed.

We made a list of all the friends she could invite and finalised it.

Then, when the lockdown started, I had a sense that this Bounce party was out the window.

Of course, I didn’t let her know yet because I didn’t want to disappoint her then find out that the lockdown restrictions were lifted sooner than I’d envisioned.

But as the lockdown was extended, along with the many regulations that have since been announced, I began rehearsing the “your birthday party is cancelled speech.”

The prospect of not even being able to buy an actual toy for her had not even entered my mind.

But, as all these new rules unfolded, I realised that not only was I going to have to tell her the party was cancelled, I would probably not even have a gift for her.

I finally plucked up the courage to tell her about her party and consoled her with the fact that, because we’re on level 4 of lockdown, her treat would be to order in whatever takeout she wanted.

That didn’t end well, either, because she wanted McDonalds and the only one that’s open is in the north and we live in the west.

I wanted to buy her a bicycle, so I called my local Pick n Pay and was told they’re not selling that – nor toys.

The only place I could get a bike was a shop that sold a simple children bike for R1 million (lol), so that wasn’t an option.

I eventually got lucky, as a friend had a bike that was new-ish which they meant to return because their child didn’t like the style. So I bought it for my daughter.

So going through so much damn admin to get her a birthday gift, I fully stand with parents who have come out on social media questioning why children, who are staying at home and adhering to lockdown regulations, are also not supposed to have toys they can play with while they’re home.

Someone start an online petition: Free The Toys!!

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