Birthday Parties Suck

My so pessimistic today, aren’t I?   Well E celebrated her “8th” birthday party yesterday.  We planned all week, picked out stellar items for the goody bags, hemmed and hawed over decorations, I even bumped up the party a whole weekend so it wouldn’t fall over a holiday weekend.

I think I blogged last year about parent’s who don’t RSVP.  Last year’s party was a success compared to this one. We got two yes RSVPs and one can’t make it.

1 kid showed up.  1 out 10.  Yes, I even upped my invitation limit in the hopes that more kids would show up.  We did manage to get 2 kids to come when the girl who couldn’t make it family came back early from camping and quickly called and asked if she could still come.  A quick invite to her little brother made the party seem a little fuller than it would have otherwise been.

Now my gal was a trooper.  You could tell she was disappointed and bummed that more kids didn’t come but she sucked it up and put on her game face for her friends that did. 

But what I don’t get is why.  Why nobody came.  My kid is a likeable gal.  Everybody seems to like her.  It’s just when it comes to having one or two actual steady friends…. I don’t know. 

Sure she has her issues but what kid doesn’t.  She talks about these kids and it certainly seems like they are her friends but even her one best bud…. the bud who she had a play date with the Friday before the party… didn’t show.  This after specifically saying how she’d see E Sunday at her party and the mom didn’t even bat an eye and see one word about not being able to make it.

I know she plays on her own a bit.  She gets into games and if the other kids get bored and she doesn’t, she will just keep doing her thing even if the others leave.  So while, I’m glad she’s not being a total conformist because let’s face it that will stand her in good stead when she gets older, I feel like she’s set herself up for being a loner.

So, of course, I was up late last night racking my brain trying to figure out why this has happened.  What’s wrong with her, if anything, what have we done that contributed to this, how’s her hygiene, has her learning frustrations made her a social pariah?  I just don’t know and my heart hurts for her.  No one likes to see their child slighted. 

Even her dad could tell as they got closer to school, she started to get more and more quiet.  It must be hard to go in and face all those kids after talking up the party all last week.  The one best bud did come running up to her apparently apologizing for not making it but still.

It makes me hate this school and this town.  She never had these problems in her old school.  She was the same E there and almost everybody invited came to her parties then.  Seriously, we’ve even contemplated putting her into Christian school because the girl clics here are just terrible and basically she will be going to school with the same group of girls here till grade 7.  I just don’t see how we can afford it.

Of course her brother and sister see the up side of all this as they are already contemplating the joys of eating the candy from the left over goody bags.

Any moms of older kids have some advice for me? Am I taking this way to serious?

Freakin Jealous

There is just no other way to put it. I’ve been hit with the old green eyed bug.  Yup.  I’m freaking jealous.

The neighbours across the street pulled up this evening with the newest, baddest travel trailer you’ve ever seen.  We’re talking humongous, shiny and definitely squeaky clean new with all the extras.

I’m serious when I say I’m jealous.  I just about cried.  Because I want one too (have for the past five years) and there is no way on God’s green earth that I am going to get one.  Of course, I was planning on settling for a five to 10 year old tent trailer but even that is way out of our budget.  Heck camping in a tent is out of our budget.  We were planning on trekking with the kids to the badlands this summer but after the Play-offs wrecking our business for the month of June and a couple of forgotten bills suddenly appearing, we’re lucky if we get a day off together. 

I know I’m not supposed to be envious of others in their good fortune and generally, I can genuinely say they deserve it.  They work hard and if they’ve got the money they are entitled to spend it.  It’s just that they are a two income family while we are basically one income and even that’s sketchy most weeks.

I have to remind myself that we chose to have three kids, we chose for me to be the primary caregiver while he worked and that less money was just something we had to deal with.  But it gets tiring after 8 years.  Add in that no one counts on there being a down turn in the economy or accounting for bad financial decisions. 

I am happy out of the rat race and cringe at the idea of job interviews and going back to stressful work environments.  I guess I want it all without the work.

Still, I’m bummed.  I’ve sent the children outside and managed to busy myself in the kitchen and family room so I don’t have to look out my front window at their montrosity of a trailer and try to not peak out at them as they stand at the end of the driveway chatting happily with all their friends.  It’s exciting for them and I’ll be happy for them when I chat with them next but in the meantime… I’m closing my blinds. 

Temporary Difficulties

It’s murphy’s law, I swear.  I finally start to get some new topics for post ideas and then I get hit with technical difficulties.  For some reason Blogger has stopped saving my posts and refuses to publish them.  Of course, this only occurred after I had written a completely brilliant post.  Which is now lost and I don’t know about you but when I’ve written it all down once, I really don’t like having to figure out what I wanted to say all over again.  I guess it wasn’t that brilliant after all. 

Add to the fact that blogger doesn’t seem to be aware of this issue and any old advice requires switching to Chrome.  Been there done that, bought the t-shirt.  I switched back because while I loved it, it didn’t work well with editing and some other sites I used just would work with it.  So….

Anyways.  I’m trying something new, Windows Live Writing, so we shall see if it works before I waste any more time on posts that will end up wherever ghost posts go. 

If this works… I’ll be back to posting soon. 

Can we say.. Hold the Water, Please!

I know, I know my actual posts have been few and far between.  I think I've mentioned on here before that I'm having trouble adjusting the work schedule with my home routine (which includes blogging) and then throw in extra dance classes for the past two weeks in preparation for this week's big recital and well....

In fact, as I am typing this I realize that I haven't even shared my most recent O story.  This is one to go down in the books.

One night I was juggling assisting E with her home reading and watching J do Star fall on the computer.  Hubby was working and so O was left to his own devices.  He's 4 now so you'd think he'd be able to play without supervision. 

Apparently not.

The only thing I can think set him off is that he wanted to go on the computer but his sister was already on it and I told him he'd have to wait.  He didn't make a big fuss or anything, just went off into the living room.  Twenty minutes later, E and I are almost done, J is off the computer and O comes back and goes on the computer.  It's not until bedtime is approaching and I've shooed the kids off upstairs to get ready when J tells me that the floor is wet in the living room.  ?!?!  Okay, I said, clean it up please.  All the time wondering what was up with that.

Then I went to go up stairs.  Every step was a puddle of water.  We're not talking drips, or small amounts of water from a spilled cup.  We are talking a cupful of water at least... per... stair. 

The culprit, O. 

Clipart thanks to Mark du toit  http://www.marktoon.co.uk/about.htm



I literally had to walk up the stairs crab legged so as not to step in it.  Of course, I was so furious at what he had done that he was sent straight to bed with no books.  I get the girls settled in for the night and then proceed to take towels to the stairs to try and mop up some of the water.  Pain in the ass but at least it was just water. 



When I was all done, I grab my cup of tea and am about to sit on the couch when I notice the wet spots.  The little bugger poured water on each of the three sofa cushions.  So I couldn't even sit on the couch.

Like I said I have no idea what set him off or why he did this because I had no notion that he was even upset with us and like I said, as soon as J got off the computer he came and went on it himself. 

Yep.  You just have no idea what they will get into their heads to do. 

Ohhhhhh and that's not the end of it.  All three of them got into big time trouble just this week with their shenanigans.  Post and pictures will follow.