If this isn't you, please tell me how you pull it off? No, really, I am listening! What is your strategy?
If you categorize yourself in the 'where-did my-time-go/why-am-I-not-ready?' category, then you know what it means to shove stacks of paperwork ANYWHERE and then be late to pay bills for weeks. Coach hates it when I dart up the stairs to shower just as guests are about to arrive.
I really felt like I was going to pull it off for Eddie's grad party. I had my list. I stuck to it. My kids weren't home, which I have decided works out better in the end. It makes me insane to see them sit around and do nothing (especially because they are responsible for most of the messes I am attending to), so I start hollering at them to do things. Then they carry a load of laundry upstairs . . . apparently into the great abyss, because THEY NEVER COME BACK.
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| Exhibit A: This toy roller coaster got moved off of the deck before the party and tossed onto the rocks under this tree when the boys mowed the lawn. I MEANT to set it up so the little party guests could enjoy it. Never happened. Nice sloppy look. |
It is totally counter productive for me to speak to them, let alone try to give them suggestions about how to, oh - I don't know - put dozens of mislaid shoes in lockers in the mudroom. If they haven't figured that one out by now, it is a lost cause, right?
Another one of my favorites is when I ask them to do something SIMPLE like load waters in the fridge, or juice boxes in a cooler, and they leave the cardboard boxes/plastic wrap tossed around the kitchen floor once the drinks are loaded and call that a job 'done.'
I have stopped responding to their immediate questions when I ask them to pull something from the pantry or the fridge. They do NOT spend more than 3 seconds 'looking' before they sigh and give me the old, 'Nope, can't find it. I don't think you have any ketchup.' (or whatever my need du jour is).
Definitely better when they are not home and I can mumble to myself and race around in a constant sweat in order to be ready - or at least try. One positive for Ed's party was that I did NOT fall onto a high-backed stool in a straddle position after trying to clean kitchen light fixtures over the island. That was a painful last minute pre-party foul from Mini's graduation last year.
Please share your worst or funniest party foul, and don't forget to inform me how you classify yourself: always ready and showered well in advance of guests arriving, or panicked and frazzled to the last minute stuffing a bag of ice inside your undergarments because of a step-off-the-island fall ending in an unfortunate straddle.
6 comments:
My husband and I have always worked well together to get things done. Our jobs had the same hours so we always had time together to work at things at home. I am always showering at the last minute however.
Aha, a last minute shower-er, I knew I could not be alone!
You're gonna hate me; I am the way ahead of time person. BUT I do have less children. If I had six kids, I would never leave my home. For real. So you are way ahead of the game.
I really need to start an organizing business because that is the one thing about me that I am really, REALLY awesome at. Oh and decorating. I am actually working on a business but it's still in the planning stages. I am better at organizing than I am at getting things going like that.
You still have four more grad parties to go, right? I can help you with them for free. I can put it in my "portfolio". ;)
At first I thought you meant four more grad parties to attend this summer, and I was like 'huh?' You must have me confused with Ed. Every night it is a different grad party. Yes, I do have 4 more grad parties, but I also do parties for the 8th grade graduation. So that is even more. You sound like my good friend Becky. She also babysits and when she brings her little peeps here, she cleans things and organizes things. My kids come home and they are like, what happened? I always say: Becky. When we were living out of the basement for renovations, Becky reorganized my whole card table area where we were storing cereal and granola bars and assorted other crap. I made a sign that said 'Becky was here and if you mess this up I am telling on you.' Then I sent her a pic of it and she partially died. :)
I am not hosting large events so I typically only have immediate family and my best friend's family over. Our home isn't large enough for any more people than that and our backyard is in the blazing NC sun with zero shade so I couldn't even send people outside. I'm usually ready early and I usually ask them to bring things as well so that takes the pressure off. Back when I was in a book club, I had everyone over as it was my turn to host. I burned one of the items I was fixing and just as everyone walked in the smoke detector was going off and smoke was billowing from the oven. I had to open all the windows in the kitchen and was mortified to discover all the dust and dirt in the window sills. This was over ten years ago and I still think about how embarrassed I was. Most likely, the guests don't even remember.
Big parties are stressful. Oh, that is hilarious about the food burning! Timing is everything.
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