If it is the weekend then you will find us at a birthday party

We are smack dab in the middle of the birthday party circuit. It is nuts how many birthday parties we are invited to. The odds are great that on any given weekend we will be at one or maybe even two children's parties.

The reason that we are caught up in this whirlwind is that we are a part of three separate groups that have children that are our children's ages. There are the children from Katie Starr's class, the children from Ethan's class and the children in our FCC Chapter. Add to that, the occasional neighborhood child or child of one of our friends outside of those circles and there you have it...the birthday party perfect storm.

I have found that I must be very creative with our time and our budget to meet all of these preschool social obligations. We do make every effort to attend every one that we possibly can. We want to have our children take part in their friend's special days. We do whatever we need to make that happen. I can see the difference in our children's demeanor with each and every party. The become more and more socially adept and comfortable in new situations. For our part, I must be candid enough to say that it can get a bit much attending all of these parties. It's all good for me if it is the child of someone that I actually know and like but that is not always the case. The bottom line though, is that like most everything that we do for our children, you have to just suck it up and do what you gotta do.

Today, during a party I was talking to the birthday mom. She asked me what I was planning for Katie's 4th and I told her that I was not having a big shindig this year, rather an intimate family affair. As I mentioned in a previous post, Katie likes it that way and that is the way we will do it this year. I actually saw a small look of relieved happiness come over this woman's face as she mentally crossed one child off of her birthday social calendar for this year and is able to feel no guilt in doing so. I am more than happy to do that for her and the rest of the mom's on behalf of our Starr. On the other hand, I will be reciprocating with them and inviting them all to Ethan's party as our mischief man likes nothing better than to be partying like a rock star!

If it is going to make the birthday child happy and our children in the process then I will be there. I will come, children and present in hand, make small talk, follow the routine, sing happy birthday and call it another successful day on the preschool social calendar and in the life of our Dynamic Duo!