Sunday

Whew!!  Saturday is over, one less thing to accomplish.  Madie's party was a big success.  However, we older Chronisters learned a few lessons this go round. 
     #1 Big birthday parties, even with other kids parents, STINK!!
     #2 Big birthday parties without our families are hard, tiring and they STINK!!
     #3 Big birthday parties with boys and girls just mean extra work, in other words they STINK!!
     #4 Birthday parties in Gtmo are not the same as in the US.  What is standard etiquette in the US is not standard here in Gtmo. 
     #5 Did I mention big parties with out our families STINK?

Okay so let me paint the picture.  Madie has been asking for a Luau party since last Dec.  She knew what she wanted and I promised to get it for her.  I did not plan for the Luau party before we moved.  Thank goodness the good Lord has my back, my shop had a huge crate full of luau stuff. Leis, grass skirts and the like.  So that was covered.  Now all we needed was the guest list and we would be golden.  Well being new here, I figured Moo would have a few people to invite. Nope. She invited 11 kids.  All but two showed up, and you know our rule, everyone in the family is invited.  No dropping off unless you really want to.  So what this boils down to is that we had something like 50 people in our house.  Thank goodness we live where we do, because we took advantage of our tropical weather.  Alan and I planned a few relay races for the kids as well as limbo.  All of which was exhausted within the first hour.  Now what.  So the kids and Alan sat on the hill in our back yard and gazed at the stars.  Well that was the plan.  What ensued was chaos.  Poor Alan was beside himself.  We live off of the "other" busy street here on base, our back yard butts up against the road.  Mind you there is a large culvert in between, but still a major road.  Now, cars are only doing 25 mph here but still all we needed was for a kid to get hit by a car at one of our birthday parties....And did I mention the boys?  I swear, boys are crazy and they make girls crazy.  We literally had two hours of nothing but screaming girls and cackling boys.  It was a bit much for me and Alan to handle I must say. But I digress.  We started with food, we had the kids make fruit kabobs complete with star fruit, which I am happy to report my kids love.  I have always wanted to try it and figured a birthday party was a good excuse to buy them. All three kids love it.  Then we had chips, salsa, guac and some kick butt pico de gallo made by me of course.  I was very happy with our treats.  And of course cake.  So the kids came in and each got a lei as well as a flowered bracelet for the girls and a grass bracelet for the boys, then off to make kabobs.  Then we played the games, after which Alan tried to wrangle screaming kids.  Then we looked at the time, realized we still had an hour and half with the monsters that the kids were becoming and fear set in.  Some how we managed to keep the kids occupied sort of until cake.  Then it was another free for all.  At one point I looked over and realized I had kids climbing on my couch!  It was too much, I had to get all MOMMY on them, complete with yelling at everyone to take two steps back.  Anyway, I filled their bellies with cake and ice cream and then sent them outside once more.  After cake we opened presents and then sent the kids home.  Madie did tell me she had a ball, which makes it all worth while, BUT....no more big parties like that. 

    See we have been noticing some things about children here in Gtmo.  We meaning Alan and myself, I haven't shared this with my Gtmo gals...but we have noticed that there are quite a few kiddos out there who are off their rockers.  It is so easy to get complacent here.  The kids have free reign over their parks, and yards.  They get out of control so quick.  I mean I am guilty of this as well.  Adam and Madie come home from school and then out the door they go, only to return for dinner.  What they do outside all day?  Heck if I know...And that although liberating for all of us, I think is the undoing.  We adults are so lazze faire about the kids that we tend to forget that they do need to have manners.  At one point I walked into Madie's room last night to find two girls on her bed with a sword swinging at her light while three others were digging through her stuff.  Madie was outside....I got all kinds of ticked at the kids and did the whole respect our stuff, or you won't be allowed back here speach.  Complete with making them all repeat what I said and telling them that I expected apologies from them.  Yes, things here are different.  Course it could be this way in the rest of the world, I am just more exposed here because we are so much more involved here.  I mean we have never invited more than three friends over for a party and my desire to get the kids interacting with the kids here has become too much.  Can it be that we are too out there??  Too eager to make new friends? 
    I really think I just figured it out.  In my desire to make the kids feel connected and part of something I have over, shoot what's the word?  exposed?? I don't know..I guess what I am trying to say is that my built in filter, the one I am supposed to use to edit what I say to the kids and strangers and what I get us involved in, it must be stuck in the off position.  I think that in my eagerness to feel part of this community I have tuned out the filtering of both myself and what is being presented to me....Hum something to think about surely...

At any rate, Moo had a good time, we learned never to have a big party again and we all went to bed last night with smiles on our faces.  I will post pictures of her cake and some of her tomorrow, I hope.  Here it is 1:30am and I have to be at work as well as two other commitments tomorrow.  So I must get off the computer.  I send you all my love...