Party On...

I now have a seven-year-old.

She was going to get Mary Poppins tickets in place of a party. So we went to Mary Poppins with several friends and family members, had a great time, and then I decided that you should really have just a small ice cream and cake party with a few friends for your seventh birthday. I wasn't going to go all out. Just a slightly larger than usual play date at our house one day after school. So that's what I did. A few friends somehow turned into seven friends, plus a few younger siblings, because I figured if their other kids were included, the other moms would stay and would be here to help me drink clean up when it was all over.

The kids had a fairy hunt. They played fairy bingo. They ate pizza. And cake. And ice cream. They completely trashed my house  made themselves right at home, and seemed to have a really good time. And as I witnessed my daughter's joy, I was really glad that I had done the small ice cream and cake party. Even though it really wasn't that small. And even though it ended up being a little more involved than just cake and ice cream. And even though I hadn't really done the math as far as having seven seven-year-olds at my house.  Seven times seven, as you probably know, is forty-nine. And as it happens, seven seven-year-olds make about as much noise as forty-nine people.

Although I had no idea that seven screaming seven-year-olds could make that much noise, eventually, they do go home, and you relish the opportunity to finally collapse with a beer clean up, happy that your soon to be seven-year-old had such a great day.

That was yesterday. Today was N's actual birthday, so we planned ice cream and cake with us, Uncle Pete, and Aunt Caca. A few other friends ended up being free and coming by, which happily made our small party a little larger than planned. As Caca left, she told N there would be birthday cake tomorrow at her house. And, oh yeah, there is the family party for all three kids next month.

Though Jimmy was eager to make today's party a little larger than originally planned, he sometimes thinks that having all these parties is overkill. I mean, how many parties does one kids need? (I should mention that he hightailed it out of here as soon as he heard the first of the screaming seven-year-olds arrive for yesterday's party. I'm thinking he knew the seven times seven equals forty nine thing, and chose not to share that information with me. He always was better at math).  Uncle Pete jokingly (I think) said that he hoped N wouldn't be one of those girls who grows up thinking that her birthday should be a month long celebration. The truth is, I think it's too late.  It helps that B and Os' birthdays are within a month of hers, so it basically is a month long celebration around here. And it will probably continue to be that way for quite a while.

But probably not nearly as long as I think, which is why I plan on celebrating as long as they will let me.

At some point, they won't want a party, or won't want to be seen in public with us, or won't want their friends here since that will involve acknowledging that they have actual parents. They'll be too busy, or too old, or too cool.  And so, while I have the chance, I'm going to celebrate.

Am I spoiling them? Maybe just a little. Is it likely to keep them from developing into responsible, respectful people who understand that the world doesn't revolve around them? I doubt it. We don't buy them everything they want. We don't let them do whatever they want, and they're pretty clear on how they are expected to act (not saying they actually act that way).

If they think they're supposed to celebrate their birthdays for a month, so be it. In fact, I think we should all celebrate our birthdays for a month. What's not to celebrate about being born into this crazy, incredible, turbulent, extraordinary world?

I just hope they keep inviting me to the party.

Cause otherwise, I'm gonna crash it.





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