Consider yourself warned. Every time I have a party, this pisses me off. So every time you read that I’ll be having a party, know in advance that sooner or later, I will bitch about this happening. I should properly tag these posts so you can ignore them if you are so inclined.
Sugar’s birthday was back in May and she desperately wanted a party that her BFFL would be able to attend. I tried to set up several movie dates, but BFFL didn’t want to see the movie that Sugar wanted to bring her friends to. Then we tried to set up a sleepover, but BFFL’s social calendar was too full to accommodate this extra activity.
Fast forward through graduations, recitals, field trips and travels, and months passed and Sugar went without a birthday party. She brought it up fairly regularly so I finally suggested an ice skating party as a fun way to beat the summer heat. We decided to rent the ice for an hour so there was no limit to the amount of kids she could invite. We could also include siblings and parents and make it a family night.
She came up with a list of 45 friends and I either emailed or sent an invitation to via Facebook. Still others I had to actually call because I didn’t have their email addresses. Long story short, I heard back from less than half and of those, most were unable to attend.
I hate, hate, HATE rude people and ignoring an invitation that asks for an RSVP is just plain rude. It’s apparently become standard in today’s society. I guess RSVP now means: let us know if you are coming. If you can’t attend, just ignore the invitation and the hostess will just know you aren’t coming. I guess I missed that fucking memo. It takes 30 seconds to hit reply and type “unable to attend.” I wonder when we became a society of people too busy or important to respond to an email. They all have kids themselves, they MUST know how excited kids are about parties. How the birthday girl will say, “Who else did you hear from? Can they come?” Perhaps my children are odd and that’s not how every other kid behaves when there’s a party being held in their honor. It devastated me to have to say to Sugar, “Sorry I didn’t hear back from most of the asshole parents of your friends.”
We spent Saturday morning coming up with the perfect playlist and song order. Then we picked up the cake, had a late lunch and took a nap. Despite the low turnout, the kids (and parents!) seemed to have a wonderful time. Even the teen that told her father she wouldn’t get cold skating around in a tank top never left the ice. We all laughed a lot, especially at my expense. My entire family can skate and I can barely wobble across the ice. I think it hurts others to see me try to do something athletic. EN’s friend Doug and I sounded like a couple of senior citizens… oh my back, oh my ankle, oh my feet. Skinny Bitch and Killjoy treated us all to a race. Killjoy only *thinks* he won. What guy wouldn’t let his wife win? Seriously!! Boo fell spectacularly and Spice took time out from speed skating to laugh at her. That’s my kind-hearted cherub in action.
After the skate, we enjoyed pizza and a belated birthday cake. Here’s the other thorn in my side about having these “destination” birthday parties. Many places force you to buy the food and beverages from a specific vendor. I am generally happy to do this, but yesterday’s bill for pizza, soda and juice boxes lit me up. Their vendor charged us $1.00 per juice box. The same fucking juice boxes I just saw on sale at Walmart for $1.77/10-pack. You do your own math and figure out the mark up. I don’t want to know. Next time I’m smuggling in my own Capri Suns.
Of the people that were supposed to show up, three families didn’t attend. No phone call, no apology, no nothing. I can’t decide if that’s even ruder than not responding at all. This makes my child watch the door, waiting and wondering, “Where are the rest of the friends that said they’d come?” Thank you for bringing disappointment to my kid. My sunshiny kid faltered just a bit, but bounced back quickly and enjoyed the friends who made it out for her party.
With a little push from Skinny Bitch, I did call one of the No Shows out on her behavior. This is a woman that we mutually know. A gal that tells Skinny Bitch all the time how close she and I are, even though we’ve barely spoken in a year or two. I texted her today to say, “Sugar wanted me to tell you she is sorry you weren’t able to come yesterday.” Her response? Drum roll please… “Ok, no prob.” I’m guessing she either didn’t read my text or she’s a bigger bitch than I thought.
The next time you get a party invitation for one of your kids, respond right away… Imagine, it could be your kid waiting and wondering, who’s coming to my party?
xoxo
Ice Princess
No comments:
Post a Comment