Saying no can be expensive.

As a general rule, I do pretty well with stress related issues and deadlines.  You know, important things like kindergarten homework, making pig costumes for the school play, and making sure there are plenty of clean sippy cups.  As a general rule, I do pretty well with keeping up with responsibilities like getting my son to baseball practice, making sure my daughter has her pig costume for the school play, and buying presents for upcoming birthday parties.  But somewhere around last Friday, the various stresses and responsibilites caught up with me like a cop chasing after a wanted thief. 

In any given month, we are invited to no less than three birthday parties.  We don't always attend, because sanity is one of my best friends and I'd really rather not offend her.  So this past weekend we had two birthday parties...  one on Saturday and one on Sunday.  One for a boy, one for a girl.  We declined to go to the Saturday party because of previous engagements.  Saturday being the boy party. 

So I went ahead sometime in the middle of making pig costumes, preparing for a church luncheon, and volunteering at kindergarten splash day and bought one barbie and one very boyish looking hot wheel car wash thingamajig.  So I packed up the presents and sent the very boyish present to school with my daughter on Friday with a note explaining we were not going to be able to make the party, but here is his present, so sorry, etc...

Sunday rolls around and the family is loading up in the car to go to the other party.  Here we go...  everyone is in, we're rolling out, got the present, and we're off, for once we're not gonna be late.  I hear a voice from the back ask "Mom, whadwe'd get Kaelin?"  A barbie, I answer.  Oh, I wanna see!  So I grab the bag and pull out.....  yep...  the thingamajig.  Stop at walmart with three kids, toy isle, forget being on time.

So I walked the very boyish-hotwheelcarwash-thingamajig into the school this morning with another note.  Here's to hoping that the boy has a sister.