The Aftermath

It's over. Weeks of preparations, days of menu planning, hours of working the party lists, and in 3 hours, it's all done (almost sounds like I was planning a wedding!). Oldest had a great time at her 5th birthday party and that is what counts.

We invited just over 30 people, family and close friends with children, and 10 people showed up. I CLEARLY had on the card I made, with a lovely picture of Oldest holding a cupcake inviting you to come to her party, a RSVP date. I asked people to please let me know if you can come (or not) so I can be sure to have plenty of food on hand. the RSVP date came and went and I had only heard from 10 people. So I sent out emails to the delinquent RSVP'ers. Half responded with, "Sorry, we are going out of town." or "We aren't coming. Having a graduation party." And the others didn't reply at all. Now, I didn't expect everyone to come, but have some courtesy and let me know if you can make it (or not). If you get invited somewhere and there is a RSVP on there, puh-leeze reply and let them know if you can make it. Common courtesy!

I went to the grocery stores on Thursday, before the party, and bought all the food I would need to make tacos and cakes, and ice cream and party favors. I dragged 3 girls around town with me to the stores and nearly set off 3 ticking time bombs in the process. Then I spent the next 2 days, cooking and prepping the food so I could actually enjoy myself at the party instead of slaving away in the kitchen. Hubby spent all day Saturday trying to fix the riding mower so he could cut the grass and make the yard pretty. He was so proud when he came in the house, all dirty and greasy, and said, "I fixed it!" Then he went back out and mowed the lawn.

Saturday evening, in the middle of making dinner, I had 2 friends that I invited to the party show up out of the blue (one was a delinquent RSVP'er and never replied). They happened to be in the area for an anniversary party for her grandparents and decided to pop over since they weren't going to come the next day. As nice as it was to see them, and Oldest enjoyed playing hide-and-seek with her kids, I was sorta, kinda, just a little bit in crazy lady mode, trying to get stuff ready for tomorrow and making dinner at the same time and Hubby was wise to stay out of the kitchen when I am in such a mood.

So, everything was put on hold for a couple of hours so us girls could shoot the breeze and the kids could run around and play. By the time they left and we sat down to dinner, it was 8 o'clock. We normally eat at 6. Girls are normally in bed at 8:30. Instead of sending the girls to bed at 8:30 and then having the rest of the night to myself to decorate the cakes and clean up my messy kitchen, I had to wait for the food in their tummies to settle and I ended up making cupcakes instead because by then, it was 10 o'clock and my energy was quickly running on empty.

Sunday morning, day of the party, Oldest wakes me up at 5 in the morning mumbling something (she was probably talking clearly but with no glasses or hearing aid on, it came across as a mumble). I turned to Hubby and he said she wet the bed. I got up, and saw Middle was awake, too. I had a flashlight so as to not disturb Middle, but since she was awake, I flipped on the light. I was not happy with what I saw. In the middle of the floor, Oldest had pulled off all the sheets and blankets from her bed and already went into the linen closet and pulled a clean set of sheets and tried to dress the bed herself. I had to think a little bit and asked Oldest, "If you wet the bed, then your jammies should be wet, too. Why are you still wearing your jammies? " I checked her and both her underwear and jammies were dry! I checked the sheets-- dry! She just wanted to change her sheets. At 5 in the morning! 5 o'clock! Then because Oldest got clean sheets, Middle wanted clean sheets, too. I told Middle she could wait until later and then I turned off the lights and stumbled back to bed, muttering to myself what crazy little girls I have and they must have gotten it from Hubby's side of the family.

I am officially awake at 8 am and I know I have barely 30 minutes before Hubby's parents get here. They are early birds and when they come to visit, are always the first to arrive and usually the first to leave. Sure enough, before I even get to washing the dishes from making cupcakes the night before, they're here. And then a half hour later, my aunt and uncle get here. Then an hour later, Hubby's sister and her family get here. On the invitation, the party time was put down as 11-4. Everyone was here before 10. I think in the future, I'll have a breakfast birthday party.

We had a good time seeing everyone and Oldest enjoyed playing with her cousins and opening the presents, blowing out the candles on her cake. So it was all worth it, to see everyone with full bellies and the smiles on their faces. The best part was the girls conking out after the party and I was able to sit down with my aunt and uncle (whom I hadn't seen in nearly a year) and catch up. They stayed for dinner and I was sad to see them go. Crazy lady is locked up in the attic and I wont be seeing her for awhile. I am happy, tired and pooped, but happy!