If you and your very best mate are on the verge of seeing each other over the next couple of weeks now that the 5k restrictions have been lifted, we have to advise you to get the tissues ready. Things are about to get emotional!
Here are the six stages you might go through in the build-up to seeing your bestie for the first time in months:
Excitement Overload
Is this truly happening? Are you actually getting to spend some quality time with a human who doesn’t need you to wipe their bum or pick up their jocks off the floor? You may experience trouble sleeping the night before "The Big Day". Don’t worry, it’s completely natural and your best mate feels exactly the same way!
Confusion
Where can you meet? Is it 20km from your house or their house? Is it 20km in the middle between the two and if you go to a park are you allowed to buy and hand her a cup of coffee or is that not in the rules? What about the Christmas presents that you still have for her kids? Do they need to be quarantined in a hotel for two weeks before they're allowed to touch them or has that been abandoned now? WHAT ARE THE RULES?!!
The Prep
Going on a mate date is no different than going on a date-date. Hair masks, face masks, nail painting and outfit selection must all be complete in advance. Hell, legs may even be shaved. You put your best foot forward for your mate because she is sooo worth it!
Panicked Date-Checks
Have there been birthdays, anniversaries, first days or big events that you have missed during lockdown that you need to catch up on? No one wants to get caught out by not asking how the new puppy is. For extra Best Mate Brownie Points, you might even sneak a new dog toy into your handbag as a present.
Social Anxiety
If it’s been ages since you’ve had a proper, decent conversation, do you even know how to do it anymore?! In your heart, you know that best mates just pick up from where they last left off – even if it has been years since you last saw each other. And having that little bit of nervousness just shows how excited you are to be seeing your bestie. You are so cute!
The Gift Selection
There was always a box of cakes or treats to be grabbed en route to a mate’s house for a cuppa but what about these outdoor meet-ups now? What is the appropriate "I haven’t seen you since Christmas and have no idea what you even look like now gift"? A candle? Flowers? A framed pic of the two of you in Ibiza that time?
I’m going for the latter, for definite! Enjoy your well-deserved meet up. Your best mate has missed you just as much as you’ve missed them!