My chest hurts. I’ve been fighting so hard today. It’s harder now than it used to be. I wonder if it’s because I’m getting older, or if it’s that I’d been doing so much better. I’ve learned so much about how to cope. How to avoid the triggers. Thinking back, I’m not sure how I could have avoided this. Sucker punched in the gut by a Tuesday afternoon.
Circumstances are not without their blame. I came home after two and a half hours of blissful chat with a dear friend, only to realize how very, very much still needed to be done. Guests for dinner arriving in two hours. I set to work. Put on some good music to help me keep moving. Gradually, things were getting done. A difficult contrast though. The relaxing chat and the demanding task of preparing for dinner guests. I began to feel a bit panicky.
The phone rang. Neil was off work early and would be arriving with our guests at 5:30pm instead of 6:30pm. Rapid readjusting done. My chest began to tighten further. I managed to get the food in the oven…it would be done by 6:00pm. Not too bad…a little time left to breathe and clean up.
Emma was running around like mad, shouting and laughing and messing, teasing her sister and bursting into great big sobs whenever told no. Becca was whimpering and whining, and further adding to the mess. I managed to clean up the rec room while the kids were distracted with their colouring books. There were a blissful few minutes of peace until Emma’s shouted down the stairs. “Mommy! Becca’s colouring on the wall!”
A six foot by two foot panel of our living room wall scribbled liberally with navy blue crayon. And a dirty diaper. And Emma dumped the lego on the dining room floor. And Neil’s computer monitor and laptop were on the table. My arms, which still ached from sledding (and wiping out a grand total of nine times) Saturday afternoon, screamed in protest as I hauled the computer off the table and set it nicely. I scrubbed the crayon off the wall and again my arms protested, sharp stabs of pain that set tears to prickling away in my eyes. I felt pathetic. Pained, tired, sweaty, and ill tempered.
At that moment, everyone arrived. 5:00pm. Half an hour earlier than expected.
However, though the hostess was in a foul mood, the atmosphere remained fairly pleasant, the food was scrumptious, and things went along quite swimmingly until one of the guests smacked the child of another guest upside the head. The poor boy sobbed for five minutes straight.
Things were a bit tense and awkward after that.
Note to self: never host a dinner party the day your period is due.
No Trackbacks
You can leave a trackback using this URL: http://temporaryinsanitybykym.com/2009/01/lesson-learned/trackback/
28 Comments
Oh my gosh! That is way too much all at once! I can’t imagine. It sounds like you handled it very well, even if you felt you were going crazy inside. Man. What day of the month would have had very little to do with my bad mood/skyrocketing stress level! Glad you survived.
Really, I’m curious about the smacking of someone else’s kid. There must be a story behind that!
Me? I’m wondering why Neil (your husband?) would bring guests home 90 MINUTES before the party was to start? What was he thinking?? Did he help you when he got there?
And yeah – the smacking of someone else’s kid is just wrong on so many levels…
Debbie S.´s last blog post..Living History
Oh, hon. Such a nightmare. Huge hugs.
Novembrance´s last blog post..May’s Gift
That is GREAT advice. Even better advice is don’t host a party period unless all children are in someone else’s care or asleep. Just a thought… and my own current philosophy … and excuse to not host many parties.
Steph @ Diapers and Divinity´s last blog post..Evil and terror and greed, oh my!
hahaha, that “period” part wasn’t intended to have double entendre.
Steph @ Diapers and Divinity´s last blog post..Evil and terror and greed, oh my!
*cringes* Um yeah . . . you’re going to have to explain to Neil exactly why the timing of this party wasn’t the greatest . . . sometimes guys are clueless about things like that . . .
*HUGS* to you!
Kate´s last blog post..Unexpected
I’m so with Debbie here. No husband in his right mind should do this to his wife!
Annette´s last blog post..Extra! Extra!
Good job on surviving, Kim. I think you’re learning and applying well — otherwise maybe you wouldn’t have made it at all. You pushed through because you know your strength — you know you can do it even when it’s rotten and really isn’t fair.
Sarah´s last blog post..Baby Steps
oh hon….what a nasty finale to such a blissful afternoon! ((hugs)) was thinking we need to have girls night out in feb…like, at a real restaurant and everything! no stress/no hostess…sound like a plan??
Jenn´s last blog post..~Laughter is the Best Medicine~
You put your husband in charge of clean-up, right? My poor spouse has learned the hard way that dinner at six means dinner at six. I meltdown if guests arrive early and he ends up picking up the slack.
It sounds like you were amazing, though. Good job, lady!
Becky´s last blog post..Q & A: part 5
Sometimes I think I only like the IDEA of having formal dinner parties. Swanky guests with me in heels, my best china and a delicious concoction in the oven. Clean house is a given.
Everyone WANTS that.
Never happens.
Ever.
Smacked upside the head on purpose? Because I’m stuck on that. How do you move on from that?
Take it easy and breathe easy. It was one night, one meal.
Hospitality is hard work and when we do it, it’s a gift.
Your gift was good.
Lisa Milton´s last blog post..sickly and inspired
You’re a better woman than I am. If my hubby had called and said they were going to be an hour early, I would have told him to find something to do for an hour because they wouldn’t be permitted into the house till the previously agreed upon time. I’m not as forgiving as you are… sounds like you pulled it off though! Kudos to you for that :)
Melissa´s last blog post..
Kim, you worry so much about your dinner parties – and then you always pull them off beautifully! And I am not above putting early dinner guests to work. Seriously!! Whether it’s in the kitchen or at the wall with the scrubber.
People KNOW they can’t show up early and have it be a freebee, right?
JustRandi´s last blog post..Sometimes I Wish I Were Jewish
Wow. I’m tired just reading this. You are amazing. And seriously? Someone smacked someone else’s kid? Like on purpose? Wow. How do you get past that? You are awesome and I cannot wait to hug you in person
julie wright´s last blog post..Resolutions, hearts, and other things we break
Yeah, I’m adding to the chorus calling for an explanation of the smacking upside the head incident. Not that I haven’t been tempted to do the same, but again…intrusive thought. You don’t act on it. Anyway, I think if I were telling this story, it sadly might have ended with a certain husband getting smacked upside the head. An hour later? What the crap!
Melanie J´s last blog post..You can count on me
Still trying to sort out the kid smacking incident. I am assuming it was an accident?
And I am with Steph … I don’t even host parties right now for this very reason. This, Kim, makes you extraordinarily amazing!
An Ordinary Mom´s last blog post..Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?
I get stressed to when hosting the party. That’s why I tend to only host parties with family!
Kelline Boel´s last blog post..I can’t promise this’ll be the last post for the day!
Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
I’m sorry.
Oi.
Eowyn´s last blog post..It’s not gratitude, it’s abundance, part 2
Lesson noted. Will definitely be remembering that one.
Jaina´s last blog post..Rush Week Overload
I solve this by just never having a dinner party at all!
I get stressed out when my family is coming for dinner, so I am not likely to invite people outside of it over.
Yes, the kid smacking is curious. If someone did that to my kid, I think that person would be getting smacked by me…or maybe punched.
Heffalump´s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday
Nooooooooo. We never learn do we. Hugs. ;D
WHEW. I’m tired just reading that. You poor thing!
And yes, I too need to know about the smacking upside the head thing? On purpose? Well, I oughta!
Heather of the EO´s last blog post..OH, YES HE DID!
Oh dear, you had your period, huh? Bummer. I think you are amazing to have guests to dinner as often as you do. I would be totally panicked if my guests showed up 1.5 hours early! I hope you are just taking it totally easy today! (and what is with the kid smacking? Yikes!)
Heidi Ashworth´s last blog post..
ack. You did better than I would have done….. I’m thinking potlucks should be your future dinner parties….you provide the space and the beverages and they bring the food.
leendaluu´s last blog post..
Oh my, you had me at the part about having a lovely chat and then coming home to do things like prepare for company. That’s the kind of thing I do, try not to stress about something (like company coming because it’s supposed to be fun, and it usually is, but the getting to the arrival time can be stressful) by doing something else and then AAACK!
The fact that they were early? You did better than I would have.
I’m surprised the smack didn’t push you over the edge. Good girl!
Tracy´s last blog post..Simply put
ach, show me a party where one boy *doesn’t* smack another boy, and i’ll show you a really dull party.
holly´s last blog post..farcical fable friday