Party On

I think that with this party yesterday, I may have turned into one of those parents.

At the very least, I am anal-retentive and am fearful that no one will have fun at my parties unless I go all out.

The first shift was comprised of quite a few children from Mr. P's class, and I was determined that if I was going to make them drive a half hour to come to the party, then dammnit, they were going to have a good time! Even if it killed me! The last thing I would ever want was for someone to walk out of the party and say to themselves, "Well, that was three hours of my life that I can never get back."

I can't be the only one to feel that way, right?

So I had a pirate ship bouncer (worth it's weight in doubloons, I tell you), crafting pirate necklaces and treasure maps, pirate tattoos, a pinata, a cupcake cake, walking the plank, and the biggest hit of all, digging for buried treasure. Now, that was probably the activity that was easiest to execute on our part, and we could hardly tear the kids away. We filled two huge buckets with playground sand and hid gold coins, fake jewels and marbles. The kids went nuts for that, and we constantly had to redirect them from that area. There were twelve children in all, and it sounds unmanageable, but between me and my sister, we are pros at keeping kids in line.

Then, the second shift, comprised of people that I knew, was a little more relaxed, and activities were more self-directed.

I have to tell this story, even though it isn't really mine to tell.

My best friend from high school came with her two year old daughter in the most darling outfit you've ever seen. I complimented her on the clothes, and she rolled her eyes and said they had been running around all morning trying to find shoes to match the dress.

So, here her daughter and her are in the bouncer, and as you may or may not know, shoes are not allowed inside them. Picture pairs of shoes flung around the entrance to the bouncer, except for my friend's, which were carefully placed a bit off to the side. Now, picture another little girl of around three becoming a bit sick at all the bouncing and throwing up when she exits the bouncer.

And where does she throw up? Right into the brand new, less-than 6 hours old shoes of my friend! Of course the mother of the girl was horrified and embarassed and offered to pay for the shoes (which she later did) but my friend is so cool and easygoing, she said to me, "Well, you know what they say, it isn't a real party until somebody throws up!"

And my friends, I leave you with that because I just can't say it any better.

Go on over and tell me if your kid should cycle his way to intelligence. I especially would like to hear from moms with winter weather issues.