saturday afternoon in between preparing for our two parties, i took sebastian to one of his friend’s birthday parties. it was held at an indoor kids play area. sebastian was there about nine months ago at another birthday party. at that time, he wanted charles or i to accompany him on the slides and wouldnt even countenance jumping on the sliding swinging metal pole that takes corners faster than parents care to watch.

fast forward nine months later. i took sebastian on the first slide, and as we were walking up the stairs preparing for slide number two, seeing how quickly he was taking the stairs i asked, "do you want to try the slide by yourself this time?" and he replied, "okay mummy". and he did. and he was wonderful. and he was off. down the slide, up the stairs. he was in seventh heaven.

there was a moment when i thought it was all over…climbing the stairs sebastian had slipped, bumped his lip and someone had stepped on his finger. there were tears, but as he was crying i was aware of him turning his head to watch the slide…and i knew he wasn’t finished yet.

do you want to go again?

yes, but what if i get hurt again?

you might get hurt again, but you probably won’t. do you like sliding enough to try again?

yes.

then let’s do it. i’ll walk up with you.

and i did. and he slid.

and he embarked on the sliding pole as well. it was very sweet, adam and annie were there at the party as well, and the three of them marched off to the pole area together. whenever one of them was on the pole, the other two would cheer, "GO ANNIE, GO!" (substitute correct name). they were very obedient as well, sitting down and waiting their turn, not jumping the queue. very proud.

after a bit, sebastian expressed interest in trying another slide, where he would land in a ball pit. this slide is steeper than the first, and i was so proud of my little man. i stood at the top as he slid down, and gulped a little as he was swallowed into the ball pit. but three seconds later, sebastian jumped up and raised his hands over his head. he was so thrilled! and of course i was a brunette basket case.

i rushed down to him and gave him a huge hug. clasping my arms around his shoulders, my hands met, and i felt the ring i traditionally wear on my right hand. it is a very pretty eternity band, with 10 very nice diamonds.

well, nine actually.

yes, one of the diamonds had fallen out.

i was upset for charles’ sake, but not overly upset. it’s just a diamond. i don’t mean that to sound like we have lashings of cash, but really, the chances of finding the diamond in an environment where kids are racing around was so infestimal, that i couldn’t get too upset about it.

so i didn’t.

it hasn’t been found, and i doubt it will be. but that’s the risk you take when you wear something. you risk damaging it. the other option would be keeping it safely locked up where nothing would happen to it, ever. no thanks.

i will wear my rings, i will let my kids slide, and i will take the risks. it’s called living and loving.