It Was Worth It
Apr. 16th, 2006 11:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liralenJet was invited to the birthday party of one of the other kids in his pre-K class. It was at the Boondocks, a game place, and I knew that, in all likelihood, we'd go with him and watch him do birthday stuff, and, maybe, keep him out of trouble. I do admit that I was puzzled about a party of five-year-olds at a video game, go-kart, lasar tag, and mini-golf place where most of the kids were too short or, most likely, had too short an attention span for most of the things that one could do there. So I brought my knitting, just in case, and off we went.
The party was at 10am. It was drizzling a bit, and they had an "egg hunt" in a bunch of loose straw by two miniature horses and a couple of rabbits in tall plastic bins. One of the poor bunnies looked terrified, the other seemed to like the petting. One of the mini horses (all shorter than even the kids, so the kids were happy to pet them) knew he was a stallion and let loose with screams of horse rage that he was stuck in a stupid little cage surrounded by mini-people. :-) It was funny and a little sad.
The kids were totally into it, though. The birthday boy got to hold the egg basket, and all the kids teamed up and threw all their eggs into his basket, so when they brought the basket in, everyone got a few eggs for fun and sugar to hype them up just a bit more.
Pizza was served at 10:45 and my stomach was dubious, as were most of the kids. They ate a little, then dove into the cake, and I was mildly bemused but glad as they skipped presents entirely, and they headed off to the climbing mountain. It was a HUGE tube and slide place, and all the kids gladly rumbled into the structure and started playing tag, chase, and swarmed all over it.
At that point I was totally caught off-guard as the party lady of the place then handed out "admittance tickets" to any one item and a "all you can play lasar tag" braclet to every single parent. Given that most of the parents there were younger than I was, there were actually a few whoops of glee as the parents headed out. Even we knew that Jet would be good in the climbing structure for a while, so we made a beeline for the go-karts.
Big go-karts, gas engines, five point harnesses, and a Big Sign proclaming, "DO NOT BUMP the other cars, these are NOT bumper cars." Whee...
It was totally like Crash go-kart racing. I just floored it, swore at the hair-trigger steering for a bit, and then started loving the steering as I hit the curves and could actually hug the best angles. I managed to pass four karts, including John who was the only one let out ahead of me, got into the lead, and then hit the main pack two laps before the end. That's when it got interesting, just riding behind folks to see how they drove for a bit, and then finding the best passing area to get around them. In the melee, John passed me up after I'd made a mildly too-ambitious gamble for an inside spot.
Yes, there's a reason why Jet says, "Mom drives fast, Dad drives good." *grin*
Wow. I was just whooping when I finally got the steering right enough to just floor it for the whole lap and skid a bit about some of the better turns.
*happy sigh*
When we got out, we found Jet with a friend of his from school and her mom all trying to find us. He was happy to see us, and we tagged along after him as he played all the "ticket games" to get tickets for Fabulous Prizes from the redemption table. The go-karts made it all worth it. :-)
We never did use the lasar tag braclets. I'm convinced, next time, maybe for six-year-olds, that we could actually watch them enough for the parents to get *something* in and enjoy the party as much as the kids. That was cool.
We went home around noon and Jet was so into it all that he now wants his birthday there. Hee.
I spent most of the afternoon knitting and then repotting all my plants. John was great and let me have some time to myself to do some of it. The wind was still up, but I could leave all the plants in the kitchen. I'd just take the one "victim" out and gently repot it and then take it back indoors to recover. Today, the next day, I've started hardening them off to the sunshine and wind by putting them out in the sun for a while, not too long, or they'll sunburn just like you or me. I also felt like I HAD to plant something new, so I just bent to the urge and planted a row of spring onions/scallions. They'll do fine even if there's a frost or two, and they like the cooler weather anyway. I just have to remember to water them.
The garlic chives are all going bonkers. Maybe I should just give someone the rectangular pot of them that survived the winter indoors, as I really don't need more than half the plants I have. I need to dig up the dead rosemary and replace her with one of her babies from last fall. I have half a dozen plants, now, and I need to do something about them, too. They're big enough I could probably sell them for a buck, too.
I was so busy all day that after the boys picked up a hot dog for Jet's dinner at Home Depot, I just asked John to bring home a Dragon Roll from Sakura's. A simple, quick, light, and delicious dinner of sushi. Yum. It was great, and Jet went off to bed fairly early while I knit away at the sweater. It's getting warm and that sweater is thick enough I don't know know how much longer I'm going to be able to work on it during the day.
John went to bed at 10, as Jet had had him up around 5. Oof. Then I realized that today was Easter... and I didn't have even a little magic for Jet. So I ran off to King Soopers and bought a single bag of chocolate eggs and one bigger egg of M&Ms and then went back home and while the house was dark, I sprinkled eggs all over the house, including a few right at Jet's door.
This morning, the boys were up before I was, and then Jet burst into the room going, "Mom! Mom! The Easter Bunny was here, and he laid chocolate eggs EVERYWHERE! Even right outside my room!!" He was so happy.
He really got into the Easter egg hunt this morning. I think the Boondock's practice was good for him. Yesterday, at first, he didn't want to get any eggs at all, but with all the other kids, he was then getting eggs for someone else. So, today, he was set to get some for himself, too. He was very proud of himself today.
The big thing, though, was that he really wanted some lemonaide, so I told him to go into the kitchen and ask someone there for some. Later, a lady stopped me to tell me that Jet had been very poised and polite and had said, "Excuse me... would you please get me some lemonaide?" She was very impressed at his politeness and poise and eloquence about what he wanted. I thanked her for telling me, and she told John and I that we should have a dozen more. Hee.
Ahem.
Anyway... it's been a good morning. We're invited to three different Easter hunts and suppers all combined. I would be completely overwhelmed, so we're probably going to one that we know a bunch of little kids are going to be. No anxiety about adults thinking Jet was inappropriate for whatever reason, but also no undue praise for things he should be doing anyway. It should be just fun.
The day is just gorgeous, just 70's (instead of the 80's earlier this week) and sunny as anything. I'll readily admit that for all that I complain about a humidity of 15% (and the cracked hands that go with it), having the sun in spring is a blessing.
May you have a Growing Spring, a Peaceful Passover, and a Happy Easter, which ever you desire.
The party was at 10am. It was drizzling a bit, and they had an "egg hunt" in a bunch of loose straw by two miniature horses and a couple of rabbits in tall plastic bins. One of the poor bunnies looked terrified, the other seemed to like the petting. One of the mini horses (all shorter than even the kids, so the kids were happy to pet them) knew he was a stallion and let loose with screams of horse rage that he was stuck in a stupid little cage surrounded by mini-people. :-) It was funny and a little sad.
The kids were totally into it, though. The birthday boy got to hold the egg basket, and all the kids teamed up and threw all their eggs into his basket, so when they brought the basket in, everyone got a few eggs for fun and sugar to hype them up just a bit more.
Pizza was served at 10:45 and my stomach was dubious, as were most of the kids. They ate a little, then dove into the cake, and I was mildly bemused but glad as they skipped presents entirely, and they headed off to the climbing mountain. It was a HUGE tube and slide place, and all the kids gladly rumbled into the structure and started playing tag, chase, and swarmed all over it.
At that point I was totally caught off-guard as the party lady of the place then handed out "admittance tickets" to any one item and a "all you can play lasar tag" braclet to every single parent. Given that most of the parents there were younger than I was, there were actually a few whoops of glee as the parents headed out. Even we knew that Jet would be good in the climbing structure for a while, so we made a beeline for the go-karts.
Big go-karts, gas engines, five point harnesses, and a Big Sign proclaming, "DO NOT BUMP the other cars, these are NOT bumper cars." Whee...
It was totally like Crash go-kart racing. I just floored it, swore at the hair-trigger steering for a bit, and then started loving the steering as I hit the curves and could actually hug the best angles. I managed to pass four karts, including John who was the only one let out ahead of me, got into the lead, and then hit the main pack two laps before the end. That's when it got interesting, just riding behind folks to see how they drove for a bit, and then finding the best passing area to get around them. In the melee, John passed me up after I'd made a mildly too-ambitious gamble for an inside spot.
Yes, there's a reason why Jet says, "Mom drives fast, Dad drives good." *grin*
Wow. I was just whooping when I finally got the steering right enough to just floor it for the whole lap and skid a bit about some of the better turns.
*happy sigh*
When we got out, we found Jet with a friend of his from school and her mom all trying to find us. He was happy to see us, and we tagged along after him as he played all the "ticket games" to get tickets for Fabulous Prizes from the redemption table. The go-karts made it all worth it. :-)
We never did use the lasar tag braclets. I'm convinced, next time, maybe for six-year-olds, that we could actually watch them enough for the parents to get *something* in and enjoy the party as much as the kids. That was cool.
We went home around noon and Jet was so into it all that he now wants his birthday there. Hee.
I spent most of the afternoon knitting and then repotting all my plants. John was great and let me have some time to myself to do some of it. The wind was still up, but I could leave all the plants in the kitchen. I'd just take the one "victim" out and gently repot it and then take it back indoors to recover. Today, the next day, I've started hardening them off to the sunshine and wind by putting them out in the sun for a while, not too long, or they'll sunburn just like you or me. I also felt like I HAD to plant something new, so I just bent to the urge and planted a row of spring onions/scallions. They'll do fine even if there's a frost or two, and they like the cooler weather anyway. I just have to remember to water them.
The garlic chives are all going bonkers. Maybe I should just give someone the rectangular pot of them that survived the winter indoors, as I really don't need more than half the plants I have. I need to dig up the dead rosemary and replace her with one of her babies from last fall. I have half a dozen plants, now, and I need to do something about them, too. They're big enough I could probably sell them for a buck, too.
I was so busy all day that after the boys picked up a hot dog for Jet's dinner at Home Depot, I just asked John to bring home a Dragon Roll from Sakura's. A simple, quick, light, and delicious dinner of sushi. Yum. It was great, and Jet went off to bed fairly early while I knit away at the sweater. It's getting warm and that sweater is thick enough I don't know know how much longer I'm going to be able to work on it during the day.
John went to bed at 10, as Jet had had him up around 5. Oof. Then I realized that today was Easter... and I didn't have even a little magic for Jet. So I ran off to King Soopers and bought a single bag of chocolate eggs and one bigger egg of M&Ms and then went back home and while the house was dark, I sprinkled eggs all over the house, including a few right at Jet's door.
This morning, the boys were up before I was, and then Jet burst into the room going, "Mom! Mom! The Easter Bunny was here, and he laid chocolate eggs EVERYWHERE! Even right outside my room!!" He was so happy.
He really got into the Easter egg hunt this morning. I think the Boondock's practice was good for him. Yesterday, at first, he didn't want to get any eggs at all, but with all the other kids, he was then getting eggs for someone else. So, today, he was set to get some for himself, too. He was very proud of himself today.
The big thing, though, was that he really wanted some lemonaide, so I told him to go into the kitchen and ask someone there for some. Later, a lady stopped me to tell me that Jet had been very poised and polite and had said, "Excuse me... would you please get me some lemonaide?" She was very impressed at his politeness and poise and eloquence about what he wanted. I thanked her for telling me, and she told John and I that we should have a dozen more. Hee.
Ahem.
Anyway... it's been a good morning. We're invited to three different Easter hunts and suppers all combined. I would be completely overwhelmed, so we're probably going to one that we know a bunch of little kids are going to be. No anxiety about adults thinking Jet was inappropriate for whatever reason, but also no undue praise for things he should be doing anyway. It should be just fun.
The day is just gorgeous, just 70's (instead of the 80's earlier this week) and sunny as anything. I'll readily admit that for all that I complain about a humidity of 15% (and the cracked hands that go with it), having the sun in spring is a blessing.
May you have a Growing Spring, a Peaceful Passover, and a Happy Easter, which ever you desire.
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no subject
Date: 2006-04-16 08:42 pm (UTC)Back in January, I was invited to the birthday party of a friend who is 6. I was friends with his mom first, then his dad, then him when he came along. I'm not sure his little sister is old enough to understand friends, but I consider her a friend too.
Anyway, it was at a smaller but similar place. He invited his class and a few grown-up friends, but I was the only one who came. There's a massive climbing structure, mostly for kids but built so adults can climb it too. Isaac asked me to climb with him and I did! It was fun, but the rope flooring was tough on my feet (you had to take your shoes off). Now I want one of my own!
They climb, then do the pizza & cake thing, then they get tokens to play various games like ski ball and a coin-flinger thing or go on little rides. Plus there's a giant sandbox room and a kid-sized house for playing inside. It's a neat place.
Everyone kept asking which kid was mine and I'd sheepishly admit that I was friends with the birthday boy and they were all surprised but amused. I explained that I figure if I can have friends who are in their 70's (through my Garden Club), I can have a friend who's 6.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-17 04:50 pm (UTC)Very cool. I'm glad that you went! I'm assuming you were the only grownup friend that came, not the only one completely? That would be sad... though being with the whole class would probably have been fun, too.
I'll have to see, next year, if there are grown-up folks Jet would like to invite to his party, too, as he may well want to. He seems as much at ease with Moms and Dads as Kids, and it wouldn't hurt for him to keep his expectations wider than usual.
Thanks for the note! I appreciate your thoughts a lot.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-18 01:26 am (UTC)Oh yes, sorry I miscommunicated. His whole class showed up. He's well-liked. I'm just the only grown-up friend (out of, I think maybe three or four he invited) who showed up. Not counting the four grandparents.
though being with the whole class would probably have been fun, too.
So cute! So hyper! There were a dozen of them, I think. Little maniacs.
Thanks for the note! I appreciate your thoughts a lot.
You're welcome! Thank you!
It's interesting (albeit a little lonely) being childless but active in pro-child stuff. I believe in education. I believe in kids NOT being bullied or marginalized. I believe in supporting gay, lesbian, bi, and transgendered kids. I believe in energizing activities that expand the horizons of all kids. I don't mind if the kid on the plane needs to stretch and put his feet on my leg, especially if it helps with the not-yelling part. I actively enjoy playing the monkey monster battling the brave hero-children and chasing them all over the house.
Heh. To sum up:
1. Kids are cool.
2. No kid should have a crappy childhood like mine or that of some of my friends (and especially not like some of the horrible ones I've read about)
3. I love being Crazy Auntie Kelly.
4. I'm terrified of having one. (Oops! How did that slip in there?)
no subject
Date: 2006-04-18 10:31 pm (UTC)You have my sympathy, totally. I'm terrified of having two. So it is.
I'm really impressed that you're being active in pro-child stuff, it's very cool! I may well just be more active with Jet's life and friends and stuff. It's a good thing.
*hugs*