Partied Out.

Today was the combined Birthday Party for both of The Boys.

I need a drink.

Technically, we did it the easy way - we had it at the bowling alley instead of at home, had them make pizzas instead of us worrying about food, and they took care of all the clean up. Sounds easy, right?

Have you ever tried to herd cats? Neither have I, but it's the only thing I can compare it to.

Each of the boys was allowed to have 4 friends.
4 kids x 2 boys + family friends = 13 kids over 3 lanes. (Two different age groups - 6 and 9 year olds - so...multiply the confusion level by .69 )
13 kids / 3 parents (Us + the one that stayed) means it was like trying to contain a swarm of hamsters by only grabbing the left-handed ones.

Of course, they all had to go to the bathroom at least once.
Of course, none of those were at the same time.

Our lanes were conveniently located next to the video arcade - and even though I'm sure almost all the kids had electronic toys at home that made the 80's style games in the wooden cabinets look like a polygonic mess, they just couldn't stay away. I would have had better luck keeping them on the lanes if I would have used Krazy Glue. (File that away for next year.)

Rule #37 of a under-10 Birthday Party: Don't worry about what kind of cake you get - only half the kids will like it, and only half of that half will even eat the piece you give them. Donate the rest to charity or eat it yourself. (Go ahead, fatty - do it.)

Present time was a neat, orderly affair fucking mad scramble - I can see wanting to be the first to receive gifts, but what's the point of being first to give them? It doesn't mean anything - we still had to remind the Boys who gave them what when we got home. Thankfully, none of these kids has the body mass to do any real damage in a crowd.

After all was said and done, it wasn't too bad. The bonus of having both of the Boy's Birthdays in the same month is that we don't have to do this madness for another 52 weeks. (That's a lie - this was their friend-party - the Grandparents/Aunts & Uncles parties are on their respective Birthdays, the 21st and the 26th.) But at least the main tumultuous gathering is over and done with - the biggest struggle at the family ones are making sure Grandma stays awake long enough for the kids to thank her for her gift.

Now, where's that drink I was talking about?






Later.