On Saturday, the News & Observer had a perfectly timed event at Marbles to kick off the TriangleMom2Mom web site. The other regularly contributing bloggers and I were invited to attend, mingle and cut a cake to mark the beginning of this adventure. When we were selected, we were warned that there was no compensation, but so far I've gotten:
- Lunch with a dozen cool women at a pizza joint in Morrisville
- Membership in an impromptu "support group" of Moms via blog and e-mail
- A fashionable, nicely cut t-shirt with TriangleMom2Mom.com on it in a color that looks good on me
- The coolest name tag...which affixes to the shirt by magnet...these are probably not really that cool, but you must remember that I've been out of the workforce for a while
- Cupcakes at the kick-off event
Apparently when they warned of no compensation, they had no idea how cheap we work and what delight we take in the smallest recognition of our efforts. We are, after all, Moms...by definition, the most underappreciated employees in the world.
As the last of the frosting was being ground into the carpet by Rainbows and Birkenstocks and the crowd began to disperse, the younger moms (that is, everyone but me!) made apologies of "Sorry, we have a birthday party." The weekend bane of parenthood, the birthday party. Dropping off just doesn't cut it anymore. We are expected to stay and coo over how adorable the little darlings are. We are expected to pretend to believe that our parallel play 3 year olds are actually enjoying their interactions with the other kids. And we are expected to react with delight when our child hands us the ubiquitous goodie bag.
The goodie bag has become the designer handbag of the preschool set. You got a Michael Kors? Well, I got a Gucci. Well, I got a Louis Vuitton! You put organic granola bars in your kid's goodie bag? Well, we handpicked organic strawberries and made them into high fiber muffins for ours. Yeah? Well, we stuffed ours with shares of stock in companies that grow corn for ethanol. Take THAT you Prius-driving enviro-wannabe!
I can't even do justice to giving a FISH in a goodie bag, because my fellow blogger Natalie already covered that perfectly...and politically correctly (is that right?) as well...I mean, had she been less, um, diplomatic, the fish-giving uberMom could have read her blog and Natalie's kids could have been persona non grata at all future birthday parties. (Wait...that might have been a good thing...Natalie, are you reading this?)
As the younger Moms said their farewells, I proudly piped up, "We're going to a birthday party too!" What I DIDN'T share was that the birthday party I was going to was for my friend who is kindly turning 47 almost 2 weeks before I turn 46. There would be no juice boxes, but lots of bottles of wine. The guests would use four-letter words without being admonished. There would b
e no discussion of cloth vs. disposable diapers. Instead of pink party dresses, we would wear
forgiving bathing suits. Instead of "Duck-Duck-Goose," we would play, "Move the chaise lounges to better maximize sun absorption!" Instead of "Hide-and-Seek," we would play, "Who can find the husband on the golf course?" Instead of Coco the Clown entertaining with stories, we would have Malibu Barbie (she knows who she is!) debating the law allowing illegal aliens to attend state universities. Aging may suck in too many ways to detail, but the parties certainly become more entertaining and interesting.
But I didn't get a goodie bag!
Di
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