Life With Boys

The original 2009 story

The birthday party that almost wasn’t. This will be funny one day — but I’m not quite there yet.

So, Saturday, April 18, 5:30 we are to meet at the gymnastics place for Morgan’s birthday party. We’ve invited his day care class — a dozenish kids.

5:10 arrive to find the gymnastics place is dark — and locked. Start making panic calls to no avail. Kids are playing in puddles left from the rain that morning and getting very wet in the process.

5:45 Shit. Now what? Head down the road to Chuck E. Cheese. Parking lot is FULL. Another disaster. Wait at Chuck E. Cheese is more than one hour. Little faces look at me expectantly. Parents are wondering what they would do it this situation and are relieved it is not them. OK — more now what.

The only guaranteed place I can come up with — everyone head to our house. (Of course our house is not clean or in any way ready for guests — oh well. Matt swoops in and starts shoving stuff in the laundry room and closes the door.) I go for the stash of juice boxes, sidewalk chalk, chips and bubbles and set them loose in the still wet backyard.

All in all it worked out fine. Morgan was super excited he got to have everyone come over to play. Kids ran around like crazy people and had a good 5-year-old time.

The aftermath. The Gym call on Sunday night — which caught me off guard and I was not in the mindset to pitch the fit I had been planning. Turns out our contract had the right day, their calendar did not. The person who made the mistake was fired. And yes, I am partially at fault. I did not call to confirm — it did not even occur to me — but it didn’t occur to Matt either I might add. We are supposed to be getting a gift certificate for summer camp — which is way more than my $25 deposit, but still, I’m not quite over it completely.

Years later

This will be funny one day … but I’m not quite there yet … (many years later, it still stings a bit) …

So it was Saturday … the boy had been bouncing off the walls all day … it was the day of HIS birthday party day … so much anticipation … I was already exhausted … and we had not even left the house … we were to meet at the gymnastics place for the birthday party for the boy. … We’ve invited his daycare class … a dozenish kids … 5:10 arrive at the gymnastics place … it was dark, really dark … and locked … Start making panic calls to no avail … “Hi, we have a reservation … I have many overly-excited kiddos with me … and you are not here” … crickets … the kids are playing in the parking lot … “hey, watch for cars” …. “can you please stay out of the puddles?” … so many puddles left from the rain that poured down in buckets that morning … they were getting very wet in the process … It was 5:45 … the doors were still locked …. the kids were really wet and sweaty … Crap … now what am I supposed to do? …

Head down the road to Chuck E. Cheese … the parking lot was FULL … Add another disaster to this amazing afternoon … the wait at Chuck E. Cheese was more than one hour … so many little faces looked at me expectantly … as they stood there in their wet shoes and drippy clothes … so many parents are looking at me … probably wondering what they would do it this situation .. and even more, they are relieved it is not them … more sad eyes … MORE CRAP … now what?

There is only one guaranteed place I can come up with … I was grasping at straws … deep gulp … “OK, everyone … head to our house” … Of course our house is not clean … my kiddos have spent the day destroying everything and I decided to ignore it, we were headed out … oh well … Matt swooped in and started shoving stuff in the laundry room and closed the door … I went for the stash of juice boxes, sidewalk chalk, chips, and bubbles and set them loose in the still soggy backyard … All in all, it worked out fine … the boy was super excited he got to have everyone come over to play … A dozen kids ran around like crazy people and had a good 5-year-old time … presents and cake helped too …

The aftermath … The gym called on Sunday night … which caught me off guard and I was not in the mindset to pitch the massive hissy fit I had been planning … Turns out our contract had the right day … their calendar did not … The person who made the mistake was fired … And yes, I am partially at fault … I did not call to confirm … it did not even occur to me that they would be closed on a Saturday afternoon … but it didn’t occur to Matt either I might add … the gym offered me a gift certificate for summer camp … which was way more than my $25 deposit … but still, I’m not quite over it completely …

We never did get that gift certificate … still tired just thinking about it …