take me home
when i was 15 or so i fell in love with phil collins' "no jacket required".
i liked all the songs, but it wasn't until i saw the video for the last song on the album, take me home, that i knew i had to own the tape.
the video, i remember it still. it had phil visiting places all over the world. the sydney opera house, a crowded street in japan, graceland, new york city, london, paris and a few more.
and eventually he finds his way home.
i remember seeing those sights on the telly, and the concept of ever BEING there, seemed so impossible. certainly a rock star could travel around the world and make a video there, but could i ever get there? to those locations?
and i started to ask myself, "why not".
i certainly don't consider myself a world traveller — but i so remember yearning to see those places, to explore, to try a new country. and the joy of coming home.
today is a public holiday. i woke up with the kids, and we had breakfast and did a craft and read 25 pages of james and the giant peach all before 9am. the girls read their home readers. then crunch time started;
what was i going to do with them for the rest of the day?
i called my friend laurel, mother of danielle.
we decided to check, JUST IN CASE there was a good movie (that would be a kids movie) playing. and there was. garfield 3-d i believe was the name, and it was 100 minutes (barely) of quizzical storyline and, ah yes, silence!
love garfield!
afterwards we walked to wanchai where i bought danielle a birthday present (a strawberry shortcake house…and i have to keep it on the balcony because it smells so strongly of faux strawberries but i am sure laurel won't notice) and the kids got a treat. barbie earrings for the girls and lego stuff for the boys. calling out to seb to hurry up and follow, we headed back to queens road east to get the bus.
there was an oktoberfest band playing (for some reason oktoberfest really is celebrated in october here) and we had danced a bit on our way to the markets as they played the more traditional bavarian songs, but on the way back, they really made me listen, because they were belting out the john denver classic, "take me home, country roads".
the audience was singing along, and several filipinos were dancing as well. the triplets got into the act as well. as i waited for seb to reach us we stood and took it all in. the band was loving it. i remember this song, i remember mrs owen had it on 8 track and she used to play it. and as i swirled the girls around we sang, "take me home, country roads, to the place, i belong!"
and right then, i had that great feeling. sun shining, kids dancing, people smiling happy. and despite missing our families ALOT right now, right then we belonged in hong kong and it was right.
then sebbie tapped me on the hip. "mummy. i am double desperate for a wee."
i know DESPERATE for a wee, and i know really desperate and his eyes were not happy. i quickly and reluctantly turned off that happy place of just being, and went into just making everything allright.
first: establish the timelines.
sebastian, do you want to do a wee here?
it might be more than a wee. my tummy hurts.
do you want to do it here
no, i just want to go home. take me home, mummy.
can you make it by bus? (all the kids had wanted to take the double decker home).
no. taxi.
load the kids into the taxi. explain to the others why we're in a taxi not on a bus. ask them to have compassion for their clearly suffering brother. we prayed for him. that we get home quickly and boy, did we. only one red light. amazing answer to prayer!
and we got home, and seb ran to the back of the building where there is a drain and did a wee. the rest of team caldwell followed, and i have to say, it was a massive wee. went on for ages. then seb decided that he needed to use the toilet, quickly, and we hustled upstairs.
home.
where i made two lego figures (a tank and spaceship), and held little seb, who just isn't so little anymore.
there is no feeling in the world like coming home. whether you've been away for days or an hour, we are so blessed to have a home, a palace, a refuge. somewhere we can be ill, lay down our bundles of shopping and turn on the kettle, somewhere that we and love have built.
