Thanksgiving in Bahrain was a rude awakening. Ugh! These first haircuts. I never imagined it would have such an impact on me...and The Gents. How I see them, how other kids interact with them. Did they already act like little boys and it's just more obvious now? Or maybe it's a coincidence that they started acting this way because they were hanging out with the older twins? Whatever it is, I'm not ready for it.
Soon after we arrived at the Ritz we walked the grounds to see what was available. This was our second stay in Bahain and I have to say these hotels/resorts are impressive. Everything you need is on the grounds and there is no reason to leave during your stay. Maybe next time we'll actually venture out and explore, but we were all content to take advantage of the amenities readily available to us.
And then we stumbled upon the barbershop. J & I have been wanting to get The Gents haircuts for months. It's not any easy task in Riyadh though. J has had some trial and error with barbers here and has now found one that he likes. We've tried taking C&R to said barber, but to no avail. The times that we've gone, strategically timed to arrive long before the next call to prayer, we've been asked to come back after prayer. Factoring in their nap and meal times, it's been impossible to get their haircuts in Riyadh.
The next morning in Bahrain we got up for breakfast, had some beach time (a first for C&R) and got to the barbershop before noon when I knew they would be ready to nap. The Gents were amazing. The barber was pretty great, too, but I was thoroughly impressed with how well these guys handled the foreignness their haircuts. H warned me, "They're going to look so different, older, like little boys." And she was absolutely right. My babes have always been cuties, but now they really are handsome little gentlemen.
After, we got up to our room Royce woke up. In case you didn't see on Instagram, he fell asleep in barber chair. Maybe they both had a burst of energy from the lightness of their hair, but we had a tough time getting them down for a long nap. After resigning to the fact that this much needed rest was not going to happen, we decided it was time to go to the Mexican restaurant for cocktails. I said to J, "Let's ditch the stroller and let these guys walk."
Going out without the stroller is liberating, for us and them. We didn't have to take specific, out of the way, stroller friendly route nor did we have to lift the stroller up and down stairs. The Gents took off, wanting to explore but also stayed close enough to hold our hands when needed. We saw flamingos and a little bird walked in front of C. After margaritas and guacamole we went to the kids club to meet up with the older twins. We played on the jungle gym, teeter-totter-ed, and spun on the merry-go-round. Five year-olds played with The Gents, bouncing them on the trampoline while C&R just laughed and giggled. They had no fear or concern for this contraption they'd never been on. Then we walked over to the bouncy castle. I wasn't sure how this would go over. Again they surprised me by running around this inflatable wonderland, with kids much older than them. They fell and bounced back up. Royce eventually had enough and walked out on his own, over to the tennis courts. If he had a racket I wonder is he would have tried to play? Mind you, we're still without the stroller at this point. We got dinner, then gelato, gave them their baths and got them down for the night. They were spent.
It was an epic day for them, one I'll never forget, of so many firsts. And what stands out most to me is how different their world seemed. Was it the just haircuts? Or the lack of a stroller, giving them a little freedom to explore? Maybe it was their fresh cuts AND not being carted around in a stroller that made the bigger kids act differently towards them. I don't know, but it felt like a night and day difference.
On our drive back to Riyadh, J started talking about the weekend and the haircuts. I burst into tears. He asked, "What you don't like the haircuts?" Oh silly, Dad! If you only knew that my heart was slowly breaking since that first golden lock of R's hit the floor and with every observation I made that things just seemed...different. The Gents are no longer babies. It's the never ending bittersweet struggle. I want to see them develop, grown stronger and smarter, but it usually blindsides me. I'm never ready when it comes.
Coincidentally, my dear friend P who lives in Miami posted a pic on Facebook of her son's first haircut at Disney World and I could sense she was a little heartbroken about it. We were pregnant at the same time and her son is just a month older than The Gents. We've gone through some milestones together. I reached out to her on WhatsApp to let her know I was with her. We had a good chat about these milestones and what they mean, knowing that we might not experience them again. It's nice to have another mama affirm my emotions are normal.
The fact is there are going to be a lot of milestones and a lot more heartbreak. As I'm writing this I'm even tearing up to the point that I have to take breaks so I can just finish. But how wonderful is it to love someone else so much that it ignites this much emotion? Now I know why my mother cries so easily! I'm much more empathetic about that now. I just hope this gets easier. Who am I kidding? I'll be a wreck the day they leave for college, in a mere 16.5 years...but who's counting?