It’s hard to believe but the Earth has circled the sun another time in my daughter’s life and another birthday has been celebrated. How fast the time goes by is one of the more melancholy aspects of being a parent, one that it’s impossible to really articulate. She’s eleven now and if that sounds like it should mean that she is still a little kid, I can assure you that’s not accurate.
Recognizing this, we did something a bit different this year. Instead of our usual backyard party we acceded to her wishes and scheduled her celebration at our local roller skating rink, something that many of her friends have also done. For the same amount of money usually spent on a bounce house there would be pizza, popcorn, video games and somebody else responsible for cleaning up afterwards. Skating has been one of our favorite weekend activities for several years now and many of her friends go often as well. The biggest hassle seemed to be narrowing down the guest list.
As it turns out, that really shouldn’t have been a worry.
As I mentioned, parties at this venue are pretty common, particularly during the winter months. After an extended shut down for Covid, demand is high enough that they have recently opened up a whole other time slot to try and meet demand. Pretty much everybody has at some point gone to a party there and pretty much everyone understands how it works. You pay a flat rate for a certain amount of people, there is the aforementioned pizza and such and if the guest list grows past the allotted amount you pay a little bit extra per person. Our invite list had me anticipating that excess charge.
Instead, to be frank, I got kinda screwed.
Two no-shows, three last minute negative RSVPs and four other people that we never heard from at all that I had no idea whether or not were coming. They didn’t.
Listen, I understand that things happen, plans change. One kid had both of her parents test positive for COVID, another had two pet bunnies die the night before. It was a hundred degrees out and if we’d known, this would have been a pool party. We didn’t. This is what was chosen, the place was air conditioned, and it was a two hour commitment. Times are tough, presents were optional.
My daughter was perfectly content. She spent the day hanging out with two of her best friends, her parents, her cousins, her grandparents, an aunt and probably most important to her, her sister. She loved and appreciated everybody that was there.
I also appreciate everyone that showed up, as well as those that told me that they weren’t, even if it was last minute. If your kid gets invited to a party like this, it’s because they were chosen to fill a limited number of slots. That doesn’t obligate you to attend but keep in mind that there is probably somebody else that would go in your stead. I try not to be cheap when it comes to my daughter’s parties but those wristbands sitting on the table could have certainly gone to somebody else. It’s just good etiquette.
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Previously Published on thirstydaddy.com
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