Recovery: Or how to survive a birthday party

Hottie

So Saturday we celebrated our son’s fourth birthday.

I know! I’m wondering not only how we managed to survive four years of parenthood, but also how we managed to survive our first party where we invited some of his friends.

It is, frankly, a miracle.

We celebrated his first birthday in style, huge party, total ridiculousness. But that’s what you do when your only child turns one, right? It was huge and out of control and I cried.

Number 2 was celebrated mostly with family and a few close friends. Slightly less crying. Number 3 was celebrated at Disney, just us. And we had a bbq a day later, my cousin made a cake for me (yay!) and we called it a party. I don’t think I cried at all. Let’s pretend that’s because I’m a grownup now.

But this year, he totally knew what his birthday was. He’s become AWARE. So obviously we were totally screwed and the planning began. None of this ‘Yes this party is all about YOU! Excuse me while I just drink this glass of wine and chat with my friends…’. It certainly helped that we now have a nice circle of friends, with kids, who paved the way with clever party ideas. The majority of which were expensive. Which is fine. But hey, guess what? We are cheap bastards. The End.

AND his grandparents have a pool.

Cheap-ass plus pool equals instant party!

You know you have amazing in-laws when they don’t mind if you overrun their house with kids and parents. And babies. And then bbq. And maybe have someone throw-up in their pool (it might have been Vince, but I don’t want to name names…) And they bake mini Quiche. And say it’s ‘just because’. I love them.

And so we bbq’d, swam, ate cake and had a blast and then everyone left by about 1 pm and Edward and I thought we had been hit by a bus.

I felt like I was swimming through pudding at the end of the party. I was a ‘coming down from a caffeine high plus why did I think one beer would help even me out’ mess.  Somehow I drove home. And somehow Edward summoned enough energy to take Vince to the movies after the party. Where this energy came from, I have no idea. It might have been from a secret stash known only as ‘caffeine’. He never told me about it and so I am going to totally disavow any  knowledge of this situation.

It’s now Thursday and we are still in recovery mode.

I’m pretty sure that this is normal. Right? Needing a week or recovery from hosting a kids party? That must mean I am either lame or old.Whatever. I freakin’ survived.

xoxo a.m.