function setAttributeOnload(object, attribute, val) { if(window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener("load", function(){ object[attribute] = val; }, false); } else { window.attachEvent('onload', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }); } }

Seeking the formula for parenting

Blogger Content: September 2006 - April 2010

Flexible Links

My Blogging Inspiration
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants

Skiplovey

Slouching Past 40

Flexible Affiliations

- Crazy/Hip Blog-Mamas +
(Random Site)

Friday, August 01, 2008

Birthday Parties

Somehow despite the fact that almost every day I have wondered when preschool is starting up again, this summer has flown by. In fact it's gone so fast that I realized that I better get my act together and mail out my older son's (OS) birthday party invitations. I'm one of those people who needs to be at places early, who sometimes writes blog posts in advance (I'm actually in Upstate New York with the Giraffes for the week which is why I haven't been visiting your blog), and really appreciates it when people send out invitations with ample time to respond. No, it's not that we're oh so busy. I just like planning my schedule ahead of time if possible. Plus as a friend pointed out, OS's birthday falls during transition between summer outings and getting ready for school, so if I waited too long, many of his guests could already have plans.

I already had the party invitations from a couple months ago. Relax! I'm not that deranged! OS wants his birthday at a very popular birthday place, and since my parents are flying in from Chicago I wanted to make absolutely sure he could have his party on the day that worked for everyone. Last year we had our last home party, which also was the only home party in OS's preschool class. You know it's bad when even the kids look bored! Turns out two months ago, that two of the three slots for our desired day were already booked! That's right in May, September was already starting to fill. Fortunately, we got the third slot. The real miracle was that I managed not to lose the invitations between booking the date and now. The class list though...well that's just another story.

Despite the fact that I have every preschool newsletter from this past year and all three updated copies of OS's class list from the year before, I could not find the most recent list anywhere. Sadly, 800 million pages of stamp art cannot substitute for this. Fortunately the preschool was 1) open and the preschool director was not only willing to give me another copy but kind enough to assure me that I am not the first parent to need this sort of help.

The invitations are addressed and waiting to be mailed. However, instead of feeling relaxed, I feel anxious. What if no one comes? I know I'm the parent here and the parents of two of his favorite friends already told me that they're coming, but it's moments like this where I really struggle separating where I end from where my son begins. When I think about it, I know I would be upset for my son, for myself and then some third overlapping space in which, like a covalent bond in chemistry, our feelings would be intertwined.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Birthday politics are challenging.

Labels: Milestones, Mom-Care, Preschool

posted by Alex Elliot @ 2:12 PM 4 comments

4 Comments:

At 8/01/2008 4:14 PM, Ted & Laura said…

Our current problem is the complete lack of RSVPs for Lobster and Marvey's party which is on Sunday. I even included an email address for rsvping...it's not like anyone had to talk to to anyone!!!!
At 8/01/2008 6:02 PM, Tracey said…

My son's party this year had that happen. We invited 9 (including his brother, and 2 kids of our friend) and had 2 kids from school actually show up. TWO. Even though 4 said Yes, and 2 said no. One kid got punished the night before (WTF?!? I was paying for him to bowl, I don't CARE if he had a bad day at school!!!!) and the other just. Never. Showed. Yeah. They forgot.

Grrrr...
At 8/01/2008 9:32 PM, Whirlwind said…

Moe's birthday is like that. Her party needs to be the first or second weekend in September (due to husband's work schedule)- she starts school September 2. She didn't go last year, so I don't feel right inviting the whole class. SO I'm inviting peoiple I know will be in her class (some are her sister's friends siblings, some are our friends kids, etc.) I'm not inviting everyone though, just a few! And I'm totally having it at my house. Not sure what I'm doing though.

Whatever happened to cake and playing? We've got a jungle gym!
At 8/01/2008 11:05 PM, Lady M said…

No matter what kind of event it is, I'm always worried that no one will show up!

Post a Comment
Home

My Profile

Name:	Alex Elliot
Home:	MA, United States
About Me:	Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
See my complete profile

Flexible Media Appearances

The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, Fox TV, August 3, 2007

Flexible Feeds

More Flexible Parenting

Flexible Categories

Previous Posts

Archives

For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

Powered by Blogger

© Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting

Creative Commons License

Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting by Alex Elliot is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Template Design based on one produced by isnaini dot com