Diaries I Read:
So, I�ve written before about our friends J&C and their three little crazy blonde hooligan daughters, right? They�re the ones who came to our �housewarming party� a couple of months ago and their two-year-old climbed up our stairs OUTSIDE the railing, then later slipped off a kitchen chair and smacked the back of her head. There are a million stories I could tell about these kids and the havoc they wreak every time they�re in our home. I can�t stand having them over at our house � they make me so nervous and irritable and crazy.
(Oh, and here�s something unrelated for the most part, but I just have to say it. EVERY time this family comes over to our house, they mess up my guest towels in the bathroom. Maybe I�m being neurotic here, but this really chaps my hide. Here�s the thing, you know how some people have really pretty towels hanging in their guest bathrooms? The kind that you layer on top of each other? The kind with fringe and fancy stuff on them? The kind that are actually decorations for holidays and stuff? That�s what I have. They are not intended for everyday use. They are the kinds of towels that won�t last very long if you have to wash them once a week. Now, I do understand that towels are towels and they are placed in bathrooms so that people can use them to dry their hands. That is why I have placed a regular, non-fancy hand towel on the counter next to the sink in the bathroom. I figured this was a good way to discourage my guests from using my very carefully arranged decorative towels, and it seems that most people understand. Well, not J or C or any of their crew. EVERY time they come over, whether it�s for a party or just to stop by, I go into the bathroom after they leave and there are my pretty towels, crumpled up, wet, and thrown back over the rack haphazardly. Now, if you were in someone�s home and they had pretty towels nicely arranged on the towel rack, if you happened not to notice the other towel on the counter and you used the nice towels, wouldn�t you try not to mess them up too much, try to return them to their original state? Wouldn�t you? I know you would. But that�s just the sort of thing that J&C do. They have no respect for nice things. They are socially retarded.)
We�ve been dealing with the J&C kids situation for about three years now. Every time we have our friends over, we get the three kids. And every time, it�s the same thing. But we just haven�t had the heart to tell them that their kids weren�t welcome. Since they�ve never been considerate enough to ASK if they could bring their kids, we�ve just kept our mouths shut and dealt with it. But after our last party, B and I decided that we were through with J&C�s kids. We were sick of having them at every party and having to chase them around and worry about what they were destroying or getting on the walls or what piece of furniture they were going to fall off of. It wasn�t fair to us; it wasn�t fair to the kids; and, frankly, it wasn�t even fair to J&C.
So for the Christmas party we�re throwing this weekend, B told them the kids weren�t invited. Actually, I think he said that this was an �adults� party.� I was so proud of him for finally stepping up and just saying it. I mean, it�s really not unreasonable. And it seemed that they understood. They joked about how they didn�t know who they were going to have babysit, but that�s about it.
Well, I guess it�s really not that simple. Apparently J has been giving B crap on a daily basis over the last couple of weeks about how we won�t let them bring their kids. I assumed he was kidding around, but B says he�s not. He�s serious. He really doesn�t understand why or how we could tell them that their kids weren�t welcome. He ACTUALLY said that his kids have always come to our parties before (yeah, I KNOW) and that they were always really good. I laughed out loud when I heard that. �He was joking, right?� I asked B. No. He was not joking.
So, the other night I asked B if J&C had found a babysitter for the girls yet, and he said no. Get this: they�re not getting a babysitter; instead, they�re going to attend our party in shifts. One of them is going to drive the 20 miles to our house and hang out for a while while the other one watches the kids at home, and then that person�s going to drive the 20 miles back and switch so the other can drive 20 miles to our house and attend the party. Is that the most ridiculous thing you�ve ever heard? I am appalled.
It�s not like they�ve called several babysitters and absolutely nobody was available and they�re doing the best they can under the circumstances. No, they didn�t even TRY to get a babysitter. They�re that out of touch. I think it�s really sad that a husband and wife can�t have an evening out together without their children. You�d think they�d welcome the opportunity!
And I�m really aggravated that they would even suggest to us that it was out of line to tell them their kids weren�t invited. I mean, most parents I know will ask if they can bring their kids along. And nobody else has been offended or surprised when we tell them no. It�s a Christmas party. It�s at night. There will be alcohol. It�s at a home where the people do not have children of their own.
That�s all I have to say about that. I just wanted to vent a little.
Working at home - Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004
Toronto - Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004
On the way to Toronto... - Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2004
A Good Day - Monday, Nov. 08, 2004
Another letter - Thursday, Nov. 04, 2004