The Day After

Okay...well....the party was a hit .. I think. The girls all got along, and they did everything "girlie". They acted silly when presents were being opened, and then once they retreated to Kelsey's bedroom and I thought they were singing karaoke, they came downstairs one by one to show me the horrific makeup they had each applied to their faces. I could not believe my eyes. Even that was upsetting to me. Kenny would have had a coniption if he saw that. They looked like they were getting ready to go to the bar. I had flashes of what it's going to be like when they're 18 years old. I just smiled politely and told them they looked pretty. They did NOT look pretty. They looked like tramps. 10 and 11-year-old tramps.

Anyway, they headed back upstairs, and THEN the karaoke started. Two of the girls came downstairs and were whining because they weren't being sent to Hollywood. I guess they were playing American Idol, or Tramp Idol, or whatever. Then they hid on the other girls who came down the stairs looking for them. I pretended like I hadn't seen them (???). How they were found is beyond me...our house is so huge. Too many places to hide. Anyway, after they were found and all the screaming and screeching stopped, they went back upstairs and continued to sing.

Kelsey came downstairs at about 8:45 to tell me it was time for me to go to her room for the night. I asked permission to wait until 9:00 (so I could at least watch the end of my show), and permission was granted.

The girls were in a hurry to get into their pj's, and apparently they had all washed their faces and were peeling off a mask that one of the girls so graciously provided for all of them (how old are they again???) So, I went up at 9:00, and they watched Sixteen Candles, ate junk food and I thought they were settling down for the night. Kelsey came upstairs at about 11:30, and my plan from the start was to tell them to shut it down at midnight. I'm sorry, but NO ONE needs to deal with a tired 10 or 11-year-old girl the day after a sleepover. I promised the parents I'd shut it down early. They all said things like, "Good luck!", or "How are you going to do that?" They obviously don't know me all that well after 6 years. Anyway, when she came up, I told her it was time to start "winding it down". She said "okay", and that was that. I went to bed shortly after that, and fell asleep right away, as all was quiet on the main floor.

All of a sudden, I woke up completely startled because I could hear from the main floor screaming and laughing and more screaming, and yelling, and talking, and screaming. It was almost 1:00. I was NOT impressed. So, I called Kelsey. She didn't answer. I called again. And again. Finally it was very quiet, and I could hear footsteps coming up to the second floor. I told her once, and once only...."time to shut it down". See, before it was "wind it down". I was giving them time...but now it was time for the party to be "shut down" for the night. And that was the end of them.

7:45 a.m....laughing, screaming, talking, yelling, screaming, giggling....it started all over again. I guess they just needed time to close their eyes for a bit before continuing the previous nights' events. I so thought that I'd be able to sleep in on Sunday, with Jake being away and all...but no. Not a chance. I laid there until 9:00 when Kelsey came up. "MOM! MOM! We're hungry...can you get up now?" So, that was it. I was up cooking breakfast. And, of course they wanted bacon AND French toast. No big deal. Really. While I was making breakfast, they were watching TV. First it was videos. They criticized each and every one that came on. They commented on commercials, sang the jingles, and recited word for word their favourite ones. Then came the big one. The one comment I will never forget as long as I live. Picture this...a bunch of know-it-all pre-teen girls, in the same room, trying to be the coolest one of all of them, watching videos. The Madonna video. "Oh my God!!!!! Look at her FLAB!!!!!" Says one of them. I almost got whiplash. I wasn't sure I was hearing correctly, so I listened in a little. "Yeah! Oh my God! Look at it!" says another. "Blue and pink? Oh my God! Blue and orange would have looked SO much better with that outfit!" "Oh my God! I know! And a pink belt!!" "Oh my God! Look at that! She's like 50, and that guy is like 28!" I couldn't help it. I hadn't said anything about anything until now. I just said very calmly, "Look at her flab?" They all piped up, "Yeah! She's got flab!" Right. And I'm the Queen of England. I didn't say anything more about it. They don't know, and it's not their fault.

Then they started looking for (get this)... infomercials. There was one for a ladder that they've all seen before, and they couldn't believe how much this ladder cost. It was something like 4 payments of $69.99, and they were trying to figure out if that was a good deal or not. They figured it wasn't because that price was in US funds, and then you'd have to pay for shipping and handling. So, the general concencus was no..not a good deal for a ladder.

I couldn't make breakfast fast enough. It was more like breakslow. But, they ate, everyone was happy, pick up time was to be at 11:00, but of course, the last girl didn't leave until almost noon. Good thing for a pick up time.

I think Kelsey had a good time. I'll have to interview her about it after school on Monday to get the whole deal after everyone has, or hasn't talked about it all day.

She got some beautiful gifts like always, and the whole experience made me realize once again that Kelsey has a really nice group of friends.