J attended her very first birthday party last weekend.
I thought for a really long time - should we decline? should we accept? - because it was an invite from a classmate at daycare whose parents I'd never met.
Indeed, it seems quite common in AUS to issue party invites to one's children's friends - even if they don't play together regularly and even if, as in our case, you haven't actually met the parents. Because not long after this invitation, we received an invite from another little daycare friend.
With the first invite, I only picked up the phone 2 days before the 'RSVP by...' date. There were so many reasons to say no, but either way, I would have to call and give an answer. And being an introvert, I DIDN'T LIKE THAT.
In the end, I decided saying yes was much easier to do.
But it also meant further headaches: dolling up my little girl, turning up to a party where we knew no one but the birthday girl (and that only because her thoughtful parents had included a photo of her on the invite!), and having to shell out for a present. Being a one-income family, we don't have a lot of buffer in our household budget for extras like presents.
On the day, hubby and I drove up to the party, said hello to the parents of the birthday girl - who was already starting to get cranky from all the strange faces and stimulation - smiled at a lot of strangers, helped ourselves to the finger food, admired the handiwork that had gone into making the outdoor area suitable for parties, and went to the backyard to watch J and her little friends at play. Even though there were only 2 or 3 kids there that J knew, it didn't stop her having a ball. She just got in there and partied - while her introvert parents stood around awkwardly.
Two and a half hours later, we drove home, exhausted.
I made a mental note to self to never do this again.
As it turned out, the date of the second party coincided with my other child's music concert. So I didn't feel bad texting the parent of the other child to say that J would not be able to come to the party.
Though why I should feel bad saying no is fodder for another story. Just one more baggage to chuck from my life!
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