We had a party this afternoon and invited a lot of old friends we haven't seen in a while (some since the last party like this that we threw two years ago). A lot of them were people we ran with when single. We all got married within a couple of years of each other and then had kids close to each other. We went to each other's birthday parties and used to get together monthy for the adults to visit and the kids to play. As the kids got older and went to different schools they started inviting friends to birthday parties and as the years went on, the monthly get togethers got harder and ended up dropped. Now the older kids are in high school and prefer being with their friends to being with the parents' friends' kids. However, most of the kids were dragged along with their parents today. It was nice to see them--and how they've grown, but whereas the kids used to all play with each other, today some sat with the adults, others zoned out with DS's and only a few played with each other.
Unfortunately, I'll be seeing a bunch of those people again tomorrow. I say unfortunately because we will be at a funeral. My son's Godfather lost his mother yesterday morning and the funeral is tomorrow. I told my sitter Friday not to stay open for me Monday, since I wasn't working; but that if she was open, I might leave the little one with her for a while and go shopping. She wasn't sure what other people's plans were, but she hadn't planned to be closed. I'll call her in the morning and see if she has kids. If she does, the little one will go there and I'll take the big ones to the funeral. If not, I'll probably leave them all home; but I think the big ones are old enough to start going to funerals of people they know, or who are close to those they do. I wouldn't pull them out of school to go, and I'm not taking the little one, but since we are all off, and the family has been close to us forever, I think they should go.
I am glad you are considering taking your older ones to the funeral.I haven't read your next entry yet, but I think that was definately something that was missing out of my own children's growing up.
ReplyDeleteThe sitter didn't have any other kids and while she said she'd watch the little one, I just didn't want her to miss a day off. I know I like having an extra day off, and I try to treat others the way I want to be treated. Also the big kids didn't want to go, so our attendance time would have been limited. As it was, I got there about 45 minutes before mass, had time to visit with some people and then the rosary started. After the rosary, Father came in and said a few prayers and then they sent everyone to the chapel while the family said their last goodbyes. My husband had to work and planned to just come for the funeral and then go back to work, but when he left work they told him he didn't have to return (I guess payback for that trip to Pensacola that got him home after 7 Friday nite). We went to the grave and then back to the decesased's house aftewards to visit with the family. Without the kids we were able to stay longer.
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