Wednesday, September 26, 2007

I give up

I can't do it this year.

Nominate me for the Bad Mother Of The Year award. I don't care.

After the rousing success of last year's robot party, we're going party-less this year.

Y'all, I just don't have it in me to plan a party, or host one, or otherwise be party to a party.

The magazine we produce every year took way, way too long. We still haven't gotten the proofs back from the printer, and the thing was supposed to have been published a month ago.

There is quite a bit of topsy-turviness in my family right now. Although I'd like to say that everyone involved would be adults and come together to celebrate Little AM's sixth birthday, I also don't want to put people in awkward positions of having to "make nice" when they don't really want to.

I want her to remember her sixth birthday, not the tension of the grownups in attendance.

Also, there are several scheduling conflicts, since my mom has to speak at a women's conference and Amanda is now singing with her church's praise team on the weekends.

So, we (the Anna Marie Raising Committee, comprised of Mom, Amanda, Jason, and me) have made an executive decision.

We will celebrate her birthday, but not with a big party.

We're going out to lunch at Moe's, and then we'll take her to Build-A-Bear. They were kind enough to send her a coupon, so I'm going to see if I can talk her into a FEMALE bear this time - as opposed to her other two, Power Ranger Bear (with a flaming T-shirt) and Spike (who sports the Harley Davidson insignia on his clothes.)

I'm going to surprise her on her birthday (a Tuesday this year, just like the original one) by coming to school to eat lunch with her.

And the next week, when she's on fall break for two days, I'm taking some time off. And we're going to the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis.

(So named because the original part of the museum is built in a pink-stone mansion, built by Clarence Saunders, founder of Piggly Wiggly and inventor of the modern-day grocery store.)

She's never been, other than to the Festival of Trees a couple of years ago. We didn't go inside the rest of the museum that day.

Unless you count the trip we made when I was pregnant with her. But I don't think she got much out of that experience.

For those of you who are family members and read this, I apologize. I'll be calling you to explain myself, to take my mea culpa.

Because I just can't do the birthday party thing this year.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

YOu don't have to do birthday parties EVERY year, don't you know? (I say as I'm planning yet another party for me soon to be nine year old--a late night this Saturday--sheesh).

Melissa said...

I know, and this was only the second "birthday party" she'd had (the year before was at Chick Fil A) but I felt like once I started, I had to continue every year!

Like people say, you'd better not start something you can't keep up!

doodlebugmom said...

I think a special lunch out and Build a bear is a great birthday celebration!

You are a great mommy. Don't be so hard on yourself.

Valerie said...

well! i am SO offended (huff)!!

i agree - you don't have to plan a party every dang year. but, let me tell you, my sister in law plans the party she allows as many guests as the birthday kid is...so next year, it'll be eight little kids and probably five for miss erin.

have fun at Build-a-Bear...take a tranquilizer before, willya?

Susie Q said...

Parties are never all they are dreamed of anyway. I would think a special lunch and Build A Bear (I wanna go there for MY BD!!!)
is super. There might even be a movie to see...we took Grace to see The Game Plan and she LOVED it. It was cute and had the sort of physical silliness that kids love!

I always loved things like that and remember them even more than the parties.

YOU are a SUPER Mom and don't you ever forget that.

Hugs,
Sue