My kids have their birthdays a few days apart, which means it gets really crazy around here for one week out of the year. One weekend is full of a zillion elementary kids, running higgly piggly through my house, and whining for more ice cream or cake. Ice cream, cake, ice cream, cake!!! This birthday had a splash theme and there was water everywhere. Really. Then with all of them hyped up on sugar, they literally went out of their minds. Dripping wet crazed children flailing about the lawn and screaming for more cake. Got the visual? Oh, and I should mention, that when kids are at a party and have mass amounts of sugar, they become deaf, which causes them to scream louder. Then because I too am out of my mind, the party was also a sleepover (note: it was too hot last weekend for them to stay in the tent outside, hence they ended up spread out like puppies, chattering the night away, in the room next to mine). Did you know there is an unspoken competition among children to see who can stay awake the longest? O.K. so major sleep deprivation on my part. But Little Guy absolutely loved his party, told me I was the absolute best mom in the world and gave me a great big hug around the neck. As every mom knows, this is the best feeling in the world and of course I let him have extra cake and ice cream.
Then this weekend my high schooler had his big party and sleepover. His party started with everyone meeting up to see the new movie "You don't mess with the Zohan" and everybody pretty much hated it. I didn't see it, but you know a film must be pretty bad, when it's naturally crude audience pans it. A few of them thought the film was like attending a bad Human Development class. Then we loaded up a couple of minivans and brought them all home for pizza/cake and ice cream (yes, urp, more cake and ice cream) and they played video games, guitars, band hero etc., until the wee hours of the morning. I don't think when kids are this age, they try to see who can stay awake the longest. They just lose track of time and don't want to stop. If I hadn't put the cabash on the activities, I think they would still be playing. I wish I could have taken a photo that showed how it all looked - a bunch of kids in the front room playing Band Hero, a mess of them connected with their laptops, playing some war game, a few more at another TV playing some game or another, one or two on the electric guitar figuring out a riff, and a few wolfing down the food.
It's funny how the parties change as kids get older. The little ones had games, activities, and things to keep themselves busy and away from jumping off the roof. The older ones were only interested in food and not having a parent around. In thinking about it: the passage of time, the change in the kids, the bitter sweetness of it all, I'm surprised to find I'm good with it. I enjoyed my kids and had fun. A lot of fun. It's the way it's supposed to be.
Then this weekend my high schooler had his big party and sleepover. His party started with everyone meeting up to see the new movie "You don't mess with the Zohan" and everybody pretty much hated it. I didn't see it, but you know a film must be pretty bad, when it's naturally crude audience pans it. A few of them thought the film was like attending a bad Human Development class. Then we loaded up a couple of minivans and brought them all home for pizza/cake and ice cream (yes, urp, more cake and ice cream) and they played video games, guitars, band hero etc., until the wee hours of the morning. I don't think when kids are this age, they try to see who can stay awake the longest. They just lose track of time and don't want to stop. If I hadn't put the cabash on the activities, I think they would still be playing. I wish I could have taken a photo that showed how it all looked - a bunch of kids in the front room playing Band Hero, a mess of them connected with their laptops, playing some war game, a few more at another TV playing some game or another, one or two on the electric guitar figuring out a riff, and a few wolfing down the food.
It's funny how the parties change as kids get older. The little ones had games, activities, and things to keep themselves busy and away from jumping off the roof. The older ones were only interested in food and not having a parent around. In thinking about it: the passage of time, the change in the kids, the bitter sweetness of it all, I'm surprised to find I'm good with it. I enjoyed my kids and had fun. A lot of fun. It's the way it's supposed to be.
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