If someone that you didn't know invited you to a birthday party, would you go?
Collin was asked to choose nine of his school chums to invited to his 5th birthday party at Mission Bowl. We would have loved to invite all of his friends but that would have been expensive and ludicrous at the same time. Nine was a good number. Ten in all, including Collin, five per lane. Good. Now all we had to do was send out the invitations.
Collin made all of his friends last year in his first year of preschool. This year, his class had been split into two separate classes. Out of the nine kids Collin wanted to invite, some were in his current class and the rest in the other class. I had to ask the school's secretary for an address list for both classes. I got it, i went home, we filled out the invitations and sent them out the next day. Because of fear that some parents would not get the invites in time, i told most parents when i saw them to expect an invite soon. An email, a phone call, and a few in-person r.s.v.p.s later, we were slowly approaching our set attendance.
Then one morning, i hear from another parent, that the mother of young Abigail, whom i gave fair warning to, has not received an invitation yet? I get home and double-check the address list and realize my mistake. Two Abigails. I had no idea. I call the parent's of Collin's friend Abigail to explain the mix-up and reassure them their invitation. What next? Do i call the parents of the other Abigail and tell them that their little girl is not invited? Do i assume that they have no clue who Collin is, since he isn't even in her class, and see the mistake knowing that there are two Abigails? I go with the ladder. Ten minutes later the phone rings.
"Abigail is so excited about the party. Thank you for inviting her."
Great. So this kid is coming too. That makes eleven. Now the biggest dilemma is how to organize the bowling. With ten kids, five per lane, we were fine. An extra kid causes spill-over into a third lane, causing chaos. More party hats! More cake! More everything!!!!
In the end, everything turned out fine. A couple of kids that r.s.v.p'd as coming, didn't. We stayed at two lanes and everybody had a great time. And the Abigail, that we didn't think the Collin knew, that came anyway, turned out to be a sweet little shy girl. Very shy and small. A lot smaller than the other kids because of a birthday late in the year. Her dad said that they were thinking of holding her back from kindergarten a year because of her size and shyness. But she sure broke out of that shy-shell that day. She danced. She bowled. She made knew friends. I felt bad for questioning the parents for bringing her to a party where they didn't know the invitee. That party might have been just what she needed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I mean this in the nicest way......Did our old Putt-Putt belief hold true at the party-was there, in fact, "a fat kid"?
The Brustad Family: destroying boundaries, connecting families
Jen, sad to say it did not hold true. I ended up eating the "fat kid" portioned cake and ice cream.
There was also an oddity bowling next to us. Not fat, but a little Phil Kellum-ish with a honking goatee. He got very upset when kids from our party accidentally bowled in their lane.
Pete, we are making a difference one child at a time.
It takes a village...
To understand why this Abigail (if that is her real name) would show up to a party for someone she did not know, you must first understand Abigail herself.
Abigail was born in late 2003 to parents Edgar and Gertrude. Edgar at the time worked for a mid-sized wax sculpting company and Gertrude worked 2 part-time jobs, one as a telephone psychic and the other as an eBay Power Seller specializing in 1940's movie poster reproductions.
At age 1, Abigail showed an incredible talent for changing the color of ordinary diapers from white to brown.
At age 1 and 1/2, Abigail developed a hatred for strained peas.
At age 2, Abigail discovered the manipulative power of temper tantrums.
At age 2 1/2, Abigail went on sabatical for a year (her whereabouts during this period are unknown to this day).
At age 3 1/2, Abigail returned from sabatical with 2 teeth missing, longer hair, a tattoo on the back of her left-shoulder stating "Born to Walk", and a severe case of diaper rash.
At age 4, Abigail was accepted into the prestigious "Mr. Gaggles Happy-Fun-Time Preschool Jamborie" center.
At age 4 1/4, Abigail left "Mr. Gaggles Happy-Fun-Time Preschool Jamborie" due to philosophical differences with her instructor, Amy Danzimeir, as well as a failed attempt to lead a nap-time revolution caused a falling out with most of her classmates.
After contemplating her options as well as falling into a deep state of depression brought on by an addicton to Teddy Grahams, Abigail accepted an invitation to a party from a man she did not know thinking that this invitation was actually a cover-up for an underground movement to protest the use of time-outs as a form of punishment. After realizing 1/2 an hour into the party that she realized it was an actual party, and let her guard down and boogied.
Post a Comment