Independence day in the US may not be until July the 4th but in our little family it has come a little early. The Witchlings went to the cinema….alone!

Let me set the scene. It is the last weekend of the Easter holiday and the Witchlings are looking for a way to celebrate the last gasp of freedom before plunging headlong into the exam and test fest that is the summer term.  Our house is bracing for SATs!

Witchling 11 has birthday money and it is slowly but surely burning a big hole in those little pockets of hers.  So they concoct a plan between them, to go and see Zac Efron in 17 Again. Do I, or my other fraction, want to sit though this? No. Do we want to pay for the priviledge of not wanting to sit through it? No. Can they please go to the cinema on their own and watch it if they pay for their own tickets? YES! Why not?!

Both Witchlings are now old enough to have mobile phones and the cinema complex near our home is very family friendly, so off we went.  We drove the Witchlings (plus friend) into town and went with them to the box office. Because of the certificate on the film we had to purchase the tickets for them to prove that we were happy for them to see the film without us.  We walked them through the tricky minefield that is sweets or popcorn? Salted or sweet? Fanta or Cola? then watched them into the correct screen.

What to do with almost 2 hours while the Witchlings giggled and fawned over their teen idol? A date in a neoghbouring coffeeshop seemed the perfect solution. We held hands and sipped hot frothy coffee and put the world to rights. We arrived well in advance of the film finishing and met the girls as they spilled, still giggling out of the auditorium.

The Witchlings are at a crucial age now. They are exploring the world and their independence and are experimenting with freedoms, which also allow us a little more time to be free as adults ourselves.

All in all, our own little independence day may not have rocked the nation, nor will it be commemorated with fireworks every year, but to our little family it means just as much.

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