Chickadee is–even as I type this–watching movies and eating popcorn with 7 other 7- and 8-year-old girls. In a little while they will hunker down in their sleeping bags and whisper and giggle for who knows how long.
Thank the lord those girls aren’t HERE. I mean, yes, it sounds wonderful. For THEM. I had to restrain myself from offering the host mom some ativan before I left. In the end, I opted for the more politically correct salute and cheerful, “Good luck… and godspeed!”
The truth of the matter is that this is a rite of passage for her, and I’m happy for her to have it. But this particular girl and this particular party made me wary. Simply put: the birthday girl hasn’t always been kind to my Chickadee, and it gets my hackles up. Right NOW they’re getting along fine. Will it last through the night? I certainly hope so. We bought a gift and wrapped it up and packed two-thirds of Chickadee’s belongings in her pink duffle bag, and brought not only the Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag BUT ALSO her pillow in the MATCHING Strawberry Shortcake pillowcase!
You can see I have a vested interest, here. All that packing effort.
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