I know it is January. The season is WINTER. It is cold outside. And yes, it is raining.
None of that stopped us from planning #2's birthday party at a local park. What I mean by "plan" is that a week or so ago, I found a coupon in the back of a magazine at the doctor's office and hired a guy to come set up a laser tag course at the park. Then I invited a bunch of kids through their parents' facebook accounts or by sending a very informal text message. No phone calls were made and no attempt to figure out the food situation was made. Then I prayed for a clear day. No rain. No rain. No rain.
I have come a long way since the clown/jumpy/catering days.
I did feel a tiny bit of guilt because six months ago for the older one, I sent out handmade invitations weeks ahead of time. Then, I set up a red and yellow candy bar for all the kids to pick and choose a goodie bag. I spent weeks thinking about what I wanted to serve for lunch and dinner, and what I thought the kids would like as a snack. There were decorations and balloons... the whole nine yards.
This time around, I sent our email invites, cleaned my house fifteen minutes before guests arrived, and left the party several times to grab things at Little Cesar's, Ralph's or Costco. Oh, and it started to (lightly) rain several times while at the park, in the pool, and during the smores segment of the show.
Luckily, a very wonderful woman that I know reminded me that it isn't about the bells and whistles. It is about the thought and the effort. And believe me, I want nothing more than for my son to have a good time with his friends, laughing and playing. No face painting, no traveling animal shows, no gimmicks. Just fun. Since I'm blogging at 11:30 at night, while the boys shake my house with their uncontrollable laughter, I think I got what I want.
But... I bet in 6 months from now, I will do it again with spending weeks planning a sweet 13 for my oldest one. I think it is more of a time issue than it is an effort issue. January is a tough month, but by June I'm not working, so I have all sorts of time to come up with grand ways to celebrate. In the end, it's all the same. The boys have wonderful friends that celebrate with them, and I have equally great friends that will help me set up, clean up, run to the store, and calm me down with their words when it gets just a bit to overwhelming. Thank goodness I've got a solid support group to help me with all the antics. Not to mention that the Hubby is always a step ahead.
I'll end this blog with three little tidbits of information that I'd like the world to know:
1) The Dads and Moms played an all out, no mercy game of laser tag today. I am happy to announce that the Mom Team claimed an undisputed victory today. In a sign of pure humble acceptance of our victorious win, I am posting a picture of the husbands during the slaughter fest.
2) My anniversary is tomorrow. I still feel like I'm the luckiest gal in the world.
3) There are 11 boys in my house between the ages of 10 and 13. They are the loudest, kindest, most polite, messiest group of kids I've every had over. And the room they are sleeping in smells kind of like wet feet.
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