Joy and suffering

So today the middle child had a birthday party.  Well, we had it for her.  She is turning 7 next week and I hesitate to allow children this young to throw parties.  It would be a lot of gummy bears and dancing to Kidz Bop videos and then they would go all Lord of the Flies on us.

Anyway, we had at least seven little girls in the house at all times from 2-8pm.  The party was 2-4pm and then it morphed into a barbecue.  Some people left and others arrived.  It was pleasant, if you could stand the screaming.

We took it easier on the games this time, really only had the fishing game wherein the youngsters throw a simulated fishing line over a table and someone under the table secures a small gimcrack to it via the attached clothespin.  My kid assisted with this game and unfortunately we neglected to set aside some of the gimcracks for her, so I’ll be taking her shopping tomorrow.  She’s already plotting how to turn this to her advantage.  I am informed that “one big thing is better than a lot of little things, Mama.”  We’ll see.

Since the weather could not have been finer we asked the guests to bring swim suits.  Good call on our part.  They acted like that damn sprinkler was Disneyland.  And the trampoline is always popular.  I’m considering converting our driveway to a parking lot and charging admission.  “That’ll be $47.50, and don’t forget you’re parked in Goofy.”

Then in the evening things took a darker turn.  The Lovely Rhonda was nearly blinded by baked potato shrapnel but her lightning-fast reflexes saved her.  The potato was a total loss, however.  Also, two of the children fell victim to stinging insects.  One of them was my kid.   And she’d already had a rough day.  Nothing big, just one of those days where little things went wrong all day.  We got her through it but there were tears.  Poor kiddo.

And the birthday girl?  Well, she’s very pleased.  She’s wanted a Nintendo DS for a year and a half, ever since Delia got one (from my ex), and they are so expensive that we weren’t really in a position to afford one.  But we found a decent used one and got her a couple of games.  We had her open it last and she did quite the victory dance around the living room.  It was very satisfying.