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Celebrating International Friendship Day with friends @arangoirene & @allmumstalk
International friendship day was on 30th July and as a thank you to all our Childrensalon friends, we hosted a Zoom party in conjunction with Sharky & George - a creative events company that specialises in immersive experiences for children and adults.
In celebration of this day of friendship, we caught up with best friends Aly @allmumstalk and Irene @arangoirene who were at the Zoom party with their children.
Aly says:
"Entertaining the children during these challenging circumstances isn’t entirely a piece of cake, but there are some wonderful platforms such as Childrensalon who come up with the most creative ideas. I loved being part of this latest project and I feel truly grateful for all the fun the kids are having each time they get involved"
6 Aug 2020
Talk us through the Zoom party, how it worked and what you were sent. Games played etc.
Aly:
You couldn’t have found a better entertainment partner than Sharky & George. The kids were excited about the zoom party with some of their friends - Ariana & Oliver @arangoirene, but also thrilled to do all the fun challenges from Sharky & George who they have previously met during several events. To complete the activity, both Lucas & Amelie chose their Molo outfits themselves, they often go for anything with animals - this time a bit more Sharky, not too George!
Irene:
The party was very nicely organized, keeping the kids moving on and off the screen, hunting for items throughout the house like things that start with the letter 'C' that got the children bringing cats, cows, crayons and candles (well done kids-everyone did super well here!). They also built a cushion tower, hauling as many as 13 cushions from around the house to pile on top of each other!
What did the children enjoy most about the activities?
Aly:
Apart from watching some of their friends take part in the virtual party, the activity challenges these cool guys came up with were truly fun: the quizz was Lucas’ favourite - he is all about the question games!! while the pillow & biscuit challenges were Amelie’s
Irene:
We danced to popular songs, run around the house and garden trying to get back to the screen before others did and we also did bootcamp exercises such as pushups! Ariana and Oliver really liked seeing their friends online like the @allmumstalk troupe and Ariana loved seeing @triplets_in_my_kitchen who she likes to watch cooking.
What did you enjoy most?
Aly:
I loved watching them take a break from our usual lockdown routine and have fun with their friends as they haven’t seen them in ages. I honestly didn’t expect a Zoom party to be this entertaining for everyone.
How did you meet and what’s the best thing about your friendship?
Aly:
Irene was there for my family and I especially during key moments when we needed a helping hand. She’s been a great inspiration from the very beginning as she has lots of contagious energy and I have to mention this, too, she makes the best raw tiramisu!
Irene:
People always ask Aly and I how we met, I guess expecting us to say something along the lines of ‘at a social media event’ or similar, but the truth is that we have been friends since before social media became such a fundamental part of our lives.We met many years ago, before kids, when Aly and her back then boyfriend Justin (now husband @alldadstalk) moved into my flat. So, I used to be their landlady. Forward on a bit, and both me and Alina got pregnant with our first children and gave birth within a few weeks of each other and used to push our prams together almost everyday, keeping the kids busy. The kids then became each other's first friends and have been close ever since. We even have cute videos and photos of them back then to prove it! This is when Aly started her social media journey,sharing parenthood moments and celebrating milestones. I truly hope the friendship survives living further away and that the kids continue to be friends for years to come.
How has your friendship helped when coping with the lockdown?
Aly:
Lockdown wasn’t the easiest of rides. Knowing that I’m not alone and that there’s another mum like me going through the same challenges was somehow comforting - Irene and I texted a lot, plus I got a lot of inspiration from her on what to do with the kids. She’s brilliant at organising indoor activities and all sorts of playdates, especially anything art related. I enjoyed watching all her insta stories on creating wall art with the children, as well as all their allotment adventures - the kids love all the fresh air as well as watching their veggies grow. I had my third baby during lockdown so the lack of sleep and being outnumbered was taking a bit of toll on me, but she was always supportive.
Irene:
The online world has really made a massive difference to us during lockdown. It’s been great to have such a lovely online community to support us and keep us entertained while we couldn’t leave our house for weeks on end. For example, Aly and the kids lived only a few roads away during lockdown, but it wasn’t the physical closeness that made us feel close to them, it was seeing their online posts and following their day to days on Instagram and through messages that did it. Isn't it amazing how social media can bring people together during difficult times?
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