Six years ago tonight I was big.  Like 225 pounds of a pregnant lady big.  I delivered Charlotte via C-section the next day.  This many birthdays later, my daughter is now the vivacious and high-spirited kindergartner I envisioned when she was cramped in my belly at over nine pounds a week past her due date.  Tomorrow I will give birth to the party that sounded good in the planning stages but is shaping up to be two hours of chaos.  Of the 22 kids invited from her class, almost all are coming.  Of the 20 or so neighbor kids and siblings I included, almost all are coming.  So my assumption that maybe half wouldn’t be able to make it due to the holiday weekend was way off–39 children RSVP’d yes.  Throw in my family, adult friends and some parents… let’s just say the cupcake cake includes 75 and the 14 large pizza order breaks down to 112 slices.  Before you write about the ridiculous nature of the whole shindig, let me explain two things about my party strategy where my kids are concerned:  First, if possible I refuse to leave classmates out.  It breaks my heart to see children’s reactions when they learn (usually in the cafeteria) that they’re not invited to a particular birthday celebration.  Second, if there is something I am going to spend money on it’s not going to be a pair of expensive shoes for Mommy or a designer watch for Daddy.  In our house, we had kids knowing our resources would shift to them.  And more than 50 of our new best friends, in this case.   P.S.-I may revise these rules come Sunday if our yard or house is trashed.  The latter should it rain!

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 47