Okay, so we have this rule about birthday parties at my house. We don't go. Horrible, yes? But here's the thing. With three kids in school, and Kum-bah-ya rules about inviting everyone if you invite anyone at all, birthday invitations are sent home for one kid or another almost on a weekly basis. Do you know how much we would spend on presents if we went to every party? And how do you pick and choose? Because if one kid gets to go to a party, and three years later another kid is told no, THEY WILL REMEMBER EVERY DETAIL OF WHAT THEIR SIBLINGS HAVE DONE/EATEN/BEEN GIVEN THAT THEY HAVE NEVER GOTTEN TO DO/EAT/RECEIVE EVER, IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD BECAUSE YOU ARE THE WORST MOM EVER.
(holy all caps, woman. Think you made your point?)
So, with a few exceptions here and there, we just say no to birthday parties.
Except, this week Henry was invited to a birthday party for the little boy of one of my new friends. We work out together, I like her very much, the party sounds like it's going to be awesome. When I told Josh I thought I would take Henry to the party, he said,
"So are we just going to tell the big kids straight out that Henry is the one that gets to have all the fun?"
They already argue that he gets the good life. I mean, when they were three, they didn't get to play Wii like Henry does cause we didn't have one (true), and they never got to go to the park like Henry does (totally not true), and they never got to go out to eat with Mommy like Henry does (even more not true), and they never got to have play dates with their friends like Henry does (maybe a little true, but when Jordan was three, I had newborn twins, and when the twins were three, I had THREE YEAR OLD TWINS so life was different... not fair to compare, I say... not fair!).
But. Taking Henry to a birthday party WOULD create a little bit of a double standard, yes? In the end, it doesn't matter because Henry is coughing so very much right now, he would ruin any party he attended with ridiculous amounts of phlegm. I'm pretty sure phlegm and parties don't mix.
Speaking of parties, do you RSVP? I wish more people RSVP'd. It stands to reason that people want to know if you're coming, but they would also like to know if you AREN'T coming. Do people even know that's what RSVP means? Answer with a yes, OR a no? Why are we so afraid to just call and say, "Thanks for the invite, but I can't make it,"? (Um, no. I don't RSVP to all the birthday invites that are sent home from school. But those are different, aren't they? No? I'm a hypocrite? Darn it...)
This brings up another point. When it comes to emails, is NOT responding to an email an acceptable way to say, "No thanks/Not interested/Take a hike and please stop sending me messages?" We wouldn't do it in conversation, would we? If someone asks us to do something that we don't want to do, live and in person, would we stare blankly, then turn and walk away without saying a word?
I'm telling you, I think the world wide giant interwebs are ruining interpersonal relationship skills. It's why teenagers sit in the same room and text each other - less accountability.
Since I'm asking so many questions today, do YOU think words in all caps are an appropriate way to emphasize a point? Cause I've been doing it like crazy this post.
Shall we end with a story? I like stories. Henry has a friend named Aislynne - a little girl that he really loves. They get along so well and can play together for hours and hours without a shred of conflict. Yesterday, while the two of them sat at my kitchen counter eating lunch, I overheard this conversation:
Aislynne: Henry, when I am grown up age and you are grown up age, we will go to the temple.
Love it, love it, love it!
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