How NOT To Do A Kid’s 13th Birthday

Last Updated on: 15th March 2023, 05:31 pm

Tilly turned 13 last week. I was so excited because we had so much planned for her birthday. Money was a little tight as I had booked a weekend in London. So a few days before her birthday, I bought her an Ariana Grande perfume gift set. Left over from the Christmas sale at work and costing only £12, it was a bargain. And a gift is a gift. It was better than having nothing at all. My kid’s 13th birthday was going to be awesome.

But It Went Wrong!

The day before her birthday I realised I didn’t have any birthday badges, sashes or anything for her to help celebrate. I am so disorganised at times. I quickly ordered a few bits on Amazon and hoped they would arrive early on my kid’s 13th birthday.

I wrapped her gift and went to bed early as I didn’t feel well. Then through the night, I kept throwing up and I really wasn’t well. I even thought I would have to call an ambulance. I tell you, the exorcist has nothing on me! Then I finally fell asleep, and Tilly came in telling me she was sick. I sent her back to bed with a bucket too. I thought it was food poisoning because we were both so ill. But since we were ill, I have found out there is a really bad sickness bug around. So it was more than likely that.

A Rubbish Birthday!

The morning of the kid’s 13th birthday arrived and I felt so ill. I left Tilly to sleep in and she finally opened her gifts at lunchtime. I felt so bad that I had ruined her 13th birthday. Oh, MAN! The rubbish parent award goes to me. None of us could get out of bed, we were so tired and ill. I had hoped that my kid’s 13th birthday would be something special. But it was certainly something to remember!

The following day wasn’t much better, we were still ill. Although it hit me more than Tilly. Maybe her young age made her bounce back easier.

We had planned a weekend away and everything was none refundable. So Tilly and Kim went off on their trip, later that evening and I went back to sleep. They spent the evening shopping in the Lego store, so I didn’t miss much!

The Worst Hotel Ever For A Kid’s 13th Birthday

After my extra night at home, I travelled up to Croydon early the following morning. I arrived at the hotel and I was horrified. I still didn’t feel great and I was still eating dry biscuits and drinking water. But as I arrived at the hotel and saw the state of the room, I was so angry. There was a collapsed bed, that was rusted underneath, and there was a plug that had been smashed and wasn’t even covered up. The shower didn’t work. So I went down to complain at reception and they moved us to a new room. The problems didn’t stop there. The lift worked sometimes, other times it flashed up as out of order. And we were on the 10th floor.

But as we had waited to celebrate Tilly’s birthday, I had to try not to let it get us down. I took a birthday cake down to the reception and lit some candles. But her cake topper caught fire and the cake went up in flames! As the staff and some hotel guests sang happy birthday to Tilly, I was frantically blowing the fire to try and put it out.

The day did finally get better, and you can read about how we celebrated her birthday here.