Category Archives: people

Birthday Fun

Yesterday we had our first kid’s birthday party. Not the kind of party you have for a kid’s first birthday where you invite all of your friends and family and everyone celebrates that you have managed to keep the kid alive for a whole year. No, this was a kid’s birthday party where everyone invited has kids. A lot of kids. At one point we had almost two dozen kids in our house, with the majority averaging about 3 years old and under.
It was pure, unadulterated chaos, and it was absolutely wonderful! I loved that we could host this many people, and everyone could have a good time. Babies were being passed back and forth. Little boys and girls were running rampant through the back yard. The toy/play room looked like an atomic bomb hit, and I reveled in all the giggles, and laughs.
Even the prep was fun. I made this four tier cup cake cake with all the trim. We handed out goody bags and included a bunch of fun stuff (which was super fun shopping for). I got to spend hours in the toy aisles picking out the little toys, stuff that I even wanted to play with. Then I got to look through all the cool activities they had and pick my favorites and watch the kids play with them (even though we never got past the first game of pin the tail on the donkey).
Munchie was absolutely gorgeous in her little party dress, that we eventually got her to wear. Now if I could just get her to let me put pretty ribbons in her hair we will be all set! She was the perfect little hostess playing with all the kids, and running around greeting people. Even though she usually gets very shy around a lot of people, she was able to shed the shyness yesterday and have loads of fun.
I got to see friends and family we have not seen in a long time, and oh my God, did I mention all the cute babies! I wanted to keep them all. The next time we go to a kid’s party I am bringing a giant purse and stealing all the cute babies. I am kidding! Sort of.
Yesterday I realized how truly blessed we are to have such awesome friends and for Munchie to have so many little ones to play with. And the best part, having multiple kids means we get to do this twice a year! Until we have another, and then we can do this every few months. The Dugger mom was on to something there. Hubby, if you are reading this, I am joking. Sort of.
What is your favorite part about kids’ parties? Do you do themes?

Finding Friends

Lately my email has been acting up. The important stuff has been going in my Spam folder and all the junk has materialized in my inbox, so to go through my email I have to sift carefully as to not lose anything significant. Any day now I expect some awesome parenting magazine to contact me to write for them because they realized my talent. In the meantime I also want to make sure I get my Target emails with the weekly deals.
There must be a rumor on the internets that something happened to my husband because today I received a bajillion promotions for dating websites. I didn’t open any of them, but it got me think
ing. No, not about that. I mean, there are so many sites out there dedicated to bringing people together romantically. In today’s society our time is completely consumed with finding our soul mate, significant other, bed buddy, whatever.  Once that is done and over with, and you are settled down, what do you do?
We have all just invested a very large portion of our lives to finding romance, but we have no clue how to make friends (the kind that you don’t go to bed with). Ok, so maybe I have no idea how to make friends. But because I don’t have many friends I spend a lot of time online reading others’ blogs. And it seems one of the things they gripe a lot about is also their lack of friends. So apparently I am not the only one. My first solution is that we just all become each other’s friends and there, problem solved, but somehow I think there is more to it than that.
At what point did we forget how to make friends? Or did we never actually have a grasp on it, but found ourselves so often in the types of situations where friends were made that no one realized how unskilled we were? And how hasn’t anyone made a site for finding friends (yes, I know adult friend finder exists, and that is NOT what I had in mind)? I am willing to bet if someone built it, not only would a lot of people come, but it would also eventually turn into a multibillion dollar industry. Why aren’t I getting on that right now? I am hosing my blog through blogger, do you really think I have those types of web skills?
But seriously, making friends is a difficult and daunting task. A lot of the same tactics used to find a date are involved, except we don’t have as much practice at it. You put yourself out there, get together with an otherwise stranger and try to find some common ground, while also attempting to impress them enough for them to want to be your friend, but not so much as to intimidate them.
Now that I am putting this in writing I see what a balancing act it truly is. No wonder more of us don’t have more friends. Making them in exhausting. To all the friends I have somehow magically managed to make, thank you for being there and not making me go through this on a regular basis.
How do the rest of you make new friends? What am I missing?

 

How I Deal With Annoying People

The phone rang. I looked down at the caller ID, and promptly silenced it. It was a friend of mine. I have known him for a long time. I hate it when he calls. Our friendship has continued over the years simply because every few months/years he guilt trips me into having a cup of coffee with him, or even worse, returning his call.
He has done reasonably well for himself. Got a degree at one of them fancy institutions. He has a nice house in a nice neighborhood. He has a decent job in the finance world. He drives a fancy car.  So you would think he would be an okay guy. The kind you invite to BBQs in the back yard, introduce to your husband and help form life long friendships. You would think I would be good friends with his wife since we have known each other so long.
The problem is, none of this is feasible. He is not the type to invite to parties, or any other type of occasions where other people would be present (because they will blame you for his presence). He is not that great at conversation (mainly because he is the only one doing any of the talking and would not let another person get a word in). And his wife is not that great, because she doesn’t exist. No one can put up with this guy long enough to date him, let alone marry him.
I have tried being a true friend to him, and actually point out all of the above and how he might be able to fix it, rationalizing that he either takes my advice and becomes a better person who I would truly want to be friends with, or he resents me forever and never calls again. Win, win right?
That is not how things work. He didn’t take my advice, because apparently I am too ignorant to know anything, but he can’t be mad at me for my ignorance, so I guess we are still BFFs.
I am sure by now you are wondering why he is so obnoxious. It is a combination of his bragging and the satisfaction he gets in putting others down.
As I mentioned, he is doing pretty good for himself. I cannot say I feel jealous because the majority of his bragging centers around his career. I have absolutely no desire for his career. I have enough trouble keeping up my own finances, and I in no way want to keep track of anyone else’s. Most people I know would also not have a jealousy issue with him. It is the second part of his personality that gets everyone. He loves making others feel bad about themselves. No one wants or likes this.
No matter what stance you have on a subject, or how knowledgeable you are in a specific area, you are wrong, you are ignorant for being wrong, he is right, and he is going to let you know. There is no arguing with him, because, well, you can’t argue if you can’t get a word into the argument.
And when he is done making you feel stupid, he starts with the boasting and bragging about how awesome he is, how much stuff he has, how great his job is, and how far he has reached in life. When he is done your head will hurt so much you will just smile, nod, congratulate him on being born, and pray to never have to withstand his company again.
So I pushed the ignore button on my phone. As much as I love coffee, this time I am going to pass.
Do you have anyone like this in your life? How do you cope with them?