Ping Pong Thoughts Post 10-year-old’s Birthday

We officially have a two double digit kids! That is weird to think. And we survived the 10yo turning 10!

The weekend went pretty well. Friday two friends and I banded together to plan an impromptu 13th birthday party for another friend’s daughter. This friend finally got Covid – her first time! – and she has been laid out all week. Obviously she couldn’t throw the surprise party she had planned for her daughter on Friday night. So the three of us came together to plan something for her and our daughters. This is the group of moms I because close with during the pandemic. Our four daughters have been friends since preschool and still love each other. The four of us moms love each other. It’s the kind of group I always dreamed I might one day be a part of, but never dared to hope would ever happen. But it has, and I’m so grateful and Friday was a reminder of how wonderful it can be.

Saturday morning my husband and I took our daughter to the SFUSD enrollment fair. We didn’t really learn anything about the schools, but it was our first time dipping our toes in the BIG FEELINGS that all of us only beginning to acknowledge about this process. So while it wasn’t really worth it in some ways, I feel like it was good that we went.

It was also our son’s opportunity to stay home alone for the longest stint yet. We reviewed what he should do if there is an earthquake (NOT get under our storage table that sits on four shaky bed risers) or a fire (NOT get water) and left him to play video games while we were away for about an hour. In the past he hasn’t wanted to stay home alone, so it was nice to see him feel more self assured. We’re hoping next year he’ll walk home from school alone at least three days a week, so getting used to being alone now is important.

After the enrollment fair my son and I took the 13yo to Art. We walked to Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park and ate lunch, and then bought some stuff I needed for his birthday sleep over while we waited. I usually wouldn’t bring him to that, but we knew it was going to be hard to kill the hours on Saturday so we made an outing of it. It was fun.

After Art, my husband and I picked up and cleaned the house for the sleep over, and for my parents coming over on Sunday after the sleep over. My house frequently drives me crazy, but I will say that it is at a place where I can get it presentable without too much effort or stress. I’m really looking forward to getting rid of more stuff, so that it looks presentable for no good reason!

And speaking of getting rid of stuff, I listened to Shira Gill’s episode of Edit Your Life (because of SHU‘s recommendation) and I really liked her. Discussions around minimalism can really irk me (and I have a lot of Minimalism blogs in my Feedly!) but I found her very refreshing. (Maybe because she’s also from the Bay?) Having said that, a couple of the things she mentioned were absolute no-gos for me. She was very taken with the idea of not having a linen closet at all, and just having one set of sheets for each bed that you wash and put back on over and over. Just hearing about that made me feel so panicked! What do you do when a kid throws up on their one set in the middle of the night? Or you take them off and then get distracted and they aren’t washed and dried before bedtime that night? We have SO MANY sets of sheets, ones that are in the regular rotation and old sets that only come out when someone is visiting, and I have no desire to get rid of any of them. I was thinking of that as I pulled some old sheets out for my son’s friends last night, which I had ready even though another couple sets were still dirty in the garage from the camping trip all those weeks ago. It just goes to show that everyone’s idea of “parring down” looks different and I think I’m finally at a place where I can trust my own instinct when it comes to getting rid of stuff.

So back to the weekend… my son’s friends were all over by 6pm. They played video games together on the Switch. Ate pizza. Decorated insulated cups with stickers (their “party favor”). Enjoyed cake and ice cream (cake courteous of my mom, who brought it up when she picked up my daughter to save her from the 10yo invasion). Watched the new Ninja Turtles Movie. Played on their own iPads for a bit. Went to sleep. Woke back up to mess around on their iPads at an ungodly hour. Went back to sleep (at my strident urging). Woke up around 8am. Played on their own devices for a while again. Ate ube mochi pancakes. Brushed teeth and packed up. Played more video games together on the Switch. Started being a little mean to each other so we shut it down. Played Tacos vs. Burritos with my husband, then left around 11:30am. All in all, it was a success.

My son only had to wait an hour after that for my parents to come back up. Then he opened his family presents. He got a couple video games, some shirts, some Five Nights at Freddy’s toys, and a ton of table top games (yay Amazon prime day!) My parents brought up pozole and we enjoyed more of my mom’s cake. By 3pm they were heading out. (My inlaws are in Texas so they couldn’t be with us today). My husband has been doing dishes all weekend and I’ve been doing laundry and so now the house is in pretty good shape, considering how many people have come in and out in the last 24 hours.

I’m on the elliptical now, writing this. The kids are playing some more video games. They’ve already done their chores and are both pretty tired. We plan to play Mysterium (one of the new games) together tonight. And my son and I might watch the first episode of the new season of Loki (we just finished Ahsoka and LOVED it).

A bunch of students turned in late work this weekend (and followed my direction of commenting on the assignment in google classroom when they did!) so I need to check those and update my grade book. I also need to look over the week with my husband, and make sure we’re both on the same page about what is happening and when. Finally, my daughter and I need to plan our decorations for Trunk or Treat, which we’re participating in at her school this Friday. Our theme is Pokemon and we have A TON of stuffies and other toys, we just need to figure out how to use them. I already ordered the center piece of the decorations, and it came today and it’s great. I’m excited to do this with her this year.

Okay, that was a long post. I guess at this point in my life I can show up for a giant word vomit about once a week. It’s not ideal, but it’s where I’m at and I’m trying to be okay with it.