His big party yesterday went well - twelve of the fourteen kids he invited came, and I ran “back of house” dealing with the venue and making sure things were organized and happened on time, while I sent the H to dispense arcade game tokens (I spent $80 on this) and round up kids for their two laser tag games. I had ordered four pizzas, but the kids ate *maybe* half of one. They were too busy playing the arcade games. We barely made it through cake time before they rushed off to play more games. Theo had a complete meltdown because everyone ganged up on him during laser tag. No parents hung around. This is a big shift from the old days - we’re now in the “drop off” party phase. This also means you don’t get to know the parents at all, which is kind of a bummer. But it is what it is. I long ago gave up the dream of making any lasting friendships from the parents at this school.
Despite Theo’s sad moment, both boys had a blast and were tuned to an 11 all night from the excitement and sugar. It was extremely difficult getting them to bed last night. I shame-ate four cupcakes. How’s my diet going? It’s not. Thanks for asking.
I wonder how much longer the kids will want big parties. It occurred to me yesterday that kids do outgrow these - next year Bobby is twelve, then the year after he’ll be in a new school…the big rental venue parties may soon be behind us. My wallet will be happy - I probably spent $1500 between the two, which makes me cringe just thinking about it.
I came home and lay in bed in a dark room for a while after the party last night. This is going to be a weird week - kids are at school today, but tomorrow through Thursday the district school support workers are going on strike. The strike could still be averted at the last minute, of course, but it’s so unlikely that the teachers have prepared a work packet the kids will bring home today. It’s giving me covid shut down flashbacks. The difference here is we know an end point. Personally I’m going to love not having to get up in the morning, the thing I loathe. It’s also going to pour rain most of that time, so I’m looking forward to being cozy at home. I have a lot of web stuff to do so it’ll be the perfect time to just hang out at home, all of us, and do that.
So hopefully this week will be broken up by the novelty of those three days off, then next week it’s just three days of school before we head to Hawaii. Most of the difficult things this month are behind me so I feel like I’m on a bit of a downhill journey now.
The planned Grand Canyon trip this summer has fallen apart due to busy work schedules, so now I’m attempting to plot an alternative. I’m thinking this may be a good time to try our hand at boondocking. I’d like to rent a camper van and figure out an itinerary that involves some free dispersed camping. One thing I’m discovering, though, is most of the places I’m most interested in are not suitable in the summer - Trona pinnacles, Red Rock Canyon state park, etc. I don’t know why my interests always head east to the desert, but they just do. I’d like to head into Arizona and Utah again, even New Mexico - but the mileage! That would kill me money wise unless I find a rental with unlimited miles. When we did our Death Valley RV trip I spent about $700 on excess miles. Ugh. I know I need to consider heading north - Big Sur, Sequoia National Park, etc…but those areas just don’t interest me because they’re just too popular. I can’t imagine finding any spots at this late date. But I’ll continue to research because that’s what I do best. I’ll put something cool together for us.
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