I’m a pretty laid back person. Let me start again. I work really hard at being a laid back person. I’m not much of a worrier. I don’t sweat the small stuff. I have some tried and true coping skills for the big stuff. There really isn’t much on a daily basis that gets to me except for these three things that never fail to raise my blood pressure.
1) 3:55 – 4:15, Monday through Friday. The twenty minutes after we walk in the door after school is definitely the most overwhelming part of my day. It goes like this – stuff (backpacks, lunch boxes, homework, shoes, sweaty socks, handouts, library books, folders, jackets, reminders, forms, invitations) spread out over every surface from the front door through the living room, dining room and into the kitchen. And then it’s – Mom. Mom. Mom. Can I have a snack? Mom. Mom. Mom. Can I have a drink? Mom. Mom. Mom. Can I play on the iPad? Mom. Mom. Mom. Where’s my reading log? Mom. Mom. Mom. Where’s a pencil? It’s my hardest transition of the day easing back into the realm of two boys that need and deserve my full presence. And yes, they can and do a lot of for themselves and eventually it all gets sorted and put away in its spot or hook or basket. But those first twenty minutes….they require a lot of mindfulness. Because there’s always a moment where I feel like my head is going to explode.
2) 9:15-9:45, Sunday. I have a good sense of what to wear for any occasion. (Except for the green mini dress I wore to a certain college admission interview that my mom is still talking about. I didn’t get in). Besides that little slip up, overall I’m good at putting outfits together. It’s always been one of my favorite things about myself. But the weekly occasion that totally stresses me out is church. I used to know what to wear to church (when I was eight) but now it seems like the rules have changed. It seems to be somewhere between business casual and casual but I’m always struggling with too dressy or not dressy enough. Every Sunday results in a pile of discarded clothes outside my closet. It would be so much easier if they put a dress code in the bulletin.
3) 3:30-5:00 this Saturday. Children’s birthday parties. Too. Much. Pressure. To have fun. To be entertaining. I’m more terrified of an eight year old’s judgement than I am of my own peers. My worst nightmare – this is lame. It’s supposed to be epic. That’s the word of choice around here these days. And that’s just a lot of expectations for me, the birthday child, the guests, everyone. I would like to start a nation-wide movement to return birthday parties to cake and ice cream only. Please comment if you would like to be on a committee to get this rolling. Or if you have any tips to on how to have fun at your own kids’ party, those are also welcome.
Best birthday party I ever threw was for charlottes 9th…5-8:30. Arrive…pizza…gifts…cake…movie…Go home. Just kids. I used to try and combine adult and kid fun. No more. Then for Margot’s 7th this summer I hosted a 1 hour ice cream shop party. Kids showed up…came to my kitchen window and “ordered” their ice cream – 3 flavors, sprinkles, cone or dish. Then they sat under a decorated canopy and ate their treat. Then I sent them home. (No gifts this time even but that’s part of a longer story).
Good luck 🙂
I’m sooo glad we’re over the stage where parents are involved. It’s like a whole other party to have to provide food and drinks for them too. I love the ice cream idea, but I wonder how it would do with boys? And our birthdays are late October and March. Not exactly peak ice cream months. This party will be fine. It’s small – I have always held my ground on small parties so I have that going for me. It’s just seems like the only day of the year where I want so desperately for them to have out of this world fun and get exactly what they envisioned. The rest of the year – not so much.