It was Alex's 12th Birthday today and he invited 5 friends round to do what boys do and make a mess between the hours of 2pm and 6pm. 7 friends arrived at 9am this morning. I've made breakfast, lunch and tea with snacks and drinks inbetween and they've entertained themselves all day with the X box, the pool, darts and badminton.
The boys that came called me Ma'am, despite my insitance they call me Suzanne and were very polite. They are all South African from birth and have lived here all their lives.....but there was one thing that drove me mad and in the end I sat them down and we talked about the differences between South Africa and England....you see they all have Maids and while their Parents are at work during the school holidays, the maids look after them, they come and go during the day, she fixes them and all their friends lunch and she tidies up after them.....the boys were so messy, not toys etc but with their food, they spilt drinks and left it there, they dropped food on the stairs where they were walking around...they weren't rude, they weren't lazy they just didn't realise what they were doing.....so when I explained I was the maid here and I'd looked after them all day would they mind helping me to tidy up?......no problem, they swept, they mopped and they picked up all the rubbish off the floor, they laughed and messed around and we actually had fun....loads of thank you Suzanne for having us, can we come back tomorrow?.....NO...I don't want to see you all till Monday..but I know they'll be back, as I heard them say to Alex, you're Mum is so cool, we need to come back and finish off the cake...to which Alex replied....she wouldn't be cool if she was your Mum..I let him off...it's his birthday.
