Birthday party!

Rachel went to the birthday party of her friend Noah, who is turning 5. (Actually, Noah is the son of a friend of MINE, Sarah, with whom I worked at the Oregonian). The party was held at the Southwest Community Center and it was so well done -- the kids spent an hour in the gym, and then went to the party room. The gym was outfitted with a kid's trampoline, a slide, gym mats, scooters and tricycles. Rachel went in hesitantly but then grabbed a trike and was off...without a backward glance at Mommy. Luckily some of my former colleagues from the O were there, so it was a nice chance to catch up with everyone.

In the party room Rachel made a crown, ate string cheese and apples and had a piece of cake while I mostly sat on the sidelines and watched. One of the moms is giving a party for her daughter NEXT weekend, so that's yet another social obligation for Rachel.

I couldn't help thinking throughout the party that wouldn't it be interesting and cool if all the kids stayed friends through elementary, middle and high school, and they all just kept going to each others' birthday parties, although eventually we parents will just drop them off and leave, and really eventually we won't even go or even hear about the parties; we'll find out about them after the fact. Odd to think that if we stay in Portland, we really will have put down roots here (in October we'll have lived her 15 years! How did THAT happen??)

***

Tonight my friend Julie from chorus and her husband Peter brought over some dinner -- Julie wanted to test out some chicken pot pies she plans to serve her bridge club in a few weeks. So she brought the pot pies and some brussels sprouts, and I made salad and a chocolate chip cake. (Drew did a light cleaning of the house, which really needed it. He also built a fire, which made everything quite cozy. I hope we always have a fireplace wherever we live).

"I remember you!" Rachel exclaimed as she sat next to Julie on the couch. It's true, Julie came over several times when Rachel was a baby and also when she was a toddler. Julie was a big help to me in those first few months, bringing me food and encouraging me when I felt overwhelmed. I feel as if I can never pay her back, so every time she suggests getting together, I do, even if it's inconvenient.

Both Julie and Peter exclaimed over how adorable Rachel is (they have five grandchildren ages 4 and under, so they're excellent with small kids) and Julie wasn't hurt even when Rachel said some inappropriate things about the chicken in the pot pies -- "it tastes like garbage," she murmured at one point, and I later scolded her for saying that. I hope she listens, because I cringed when it came out of her mouth. She whined and fussed about eating dinner until both Drew and I told her firmly (even when she came over to my side and pouted and tried to cuddle) that she couldn't have dessert until she finished her dinner of a sandwich and at least one piece of chicken.

"It'll kill me," she said earnestly. That's becoming a habit of hers that we are trying to break immediately.

"No, it won't," we reassured her, and made sure to point out that, in fact, eating a piece of chicken didn't kill her and that she had been silly to say something so dramatic.