Parenthood Masochism

The trio are turning 10 in a few weeks - which among other things means I need to write my annual "my kids are ridiculously awesome" blog posts - but this is a big milestone birthday for all of us. A BIG one. Not just because they are now into the double digits (as they keep reminding me) but also because they are now finally old enough to have their own parties. As in three SEPARATE parties. As in, I stupidly told them they could do this when they were ten (probably to get them to shut up about it when they were 8) and now the damn kids are actually holding me to it.

Bugger. I hate it when they remember stuff I promise. Wildly inconvenient, that.

I was pretty sure I got out of parties this year altogether, having told them that the ridiculously expensive trip to Harry Potter World was their birthday present for oh, about the next five years or so. It was also their Channukah, half birthday, Xmas, Kwanzaa, Purim, Passover, Easter, and every other holiday present - do you KNOW what those wands from Ollivander's cost me?! Except that of course the whole "only kids I'll ever have" guilty triplet Mother thing reared it's ugly head, and I couldn't really just let this milestone birthday pass without SOME sort of event, could I?

Okay, okay, I COULD. Technically speaking it would be possible. But...you know...I couldn't. So I had this bright (read: IDIOTIC) idea that we'd have a sleep over party. Because it's one night, does not involve much in the way of organisation (order pizza, pop in DVD, prepare to yell at kids at midnight to shut the hell up) and seemed really EASY to organise. So I got DH on board with this idea (poor man, the one time his "yes, wife" nodding to all I say will turn out to possibly kill him) and then I floated this idea with the kids. Who, not surprisingly, LOVED it...which should have been the first clue that I was heading head-first into Birthday Party Mayhem. All was soda pop and fairy floss in the world of emzee's birthday party planning until all the questions started.

How many kids can we invite?
Do the girls need to sleep next to the boys?
Do we have to watch a dumb girly movie?
Do we have to watch a stupid boy movie?
What if nobody wants to watch a movie?
What kind of pizza should we order?
When are you going to send out invites?
Can I *pretty pretty please* invite just ONE more person?
Why do the girls get to invite 3 friends each, making 6, but I only get to invite only 3? SO unfair!
How will the girls make their own private space if there are boys around?
What if the girls want us to be nice to them all night?
I don't think all those kids are going to fit in our lounge room, Mum.
Do I HAVE to sleep next to a boy?
Do I HAVE to sleep next to a girl?
What if we put a line of sticky tape down the middle of the room so there is a girl side and a boy side?

...and so on and so forth...which is how I now find myself sending out invitations to TWO slumber parties, one where there are "no girls allowed" and one where there are "no boys allowed" and organising the the other kid/s to sleep over at their grandparents on said nights. I'm giving up two Saturday nights (and Sunday mornings) in a row to have my house turned upside down by stacks of pre-teen kids. I'm also making three cakes (of course), ordering a shit load of pizza, renting some 'girl' and some 'boy' DVDs, planning games (which apparently is also gender-specific as boys don't like the same games as girls do. Who knew pass the parcel was gender specific?!), making lots of pancakes....and either drinking or smoking a whole lot of god-knows-what just to survive it all.

Remind me again...was it ME who thought this was a good idea? Because if so, I'm totally claiming temporary insanity when the men in white coats come by to get me. Please, god, may they not serve pizza at the institution. Or at least let it not be BOY pizza.