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January was a super busy month for our little family! It seemed like we were busy every single weekend of the month. It was full of basketball games, family time, and me bidding farewell to my twenties (didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would), but my favorite thing about January was my oldest daughter turning the big E I G H T years old! I’m not sure if you all know what a big deal turning eight is. It’s huge! It means you are only two years away from being double digits (or so I’m told)!
We obviously had to craft a celebration befitting of this monumental milestone, so I was agreeing to pretty much whatever my daughter wanted to do. Have a family party at home and then another party at the RecPlex!? Of course! Two different themed birthday cakes!? Absolutely! Sleepover with five friends!? Definitely! I just wanted to do whatever I could to make her birthday everything she wanted it to be. (I’m a millennial parent, it’s what we do. LOL)
Fast-forward past both parties, to the sleepover. It reminded me a lot of that scene in Bridesmaids where Megan takes nine golden retriever puppies from the wedding shower and later goes on to say: “I did slightly overcommit to the whole dog thing. It turns out I’m probably more comfortable with six.” That is the best way I can think to explain what the sleepover was like.
So anyways, after several hours of running around the house at full speed like sugar-fueled crazy ladies, we finally made it to bedtime. Everyone was settled into their pallets and anxious to start the movie that the birthday girl was going to pick. She was absolutely giddy to introduce her friends to her favorite movie of all time, because she knew that just like her, they were going to love it. She talked this movie up all night, so much so that the other girls were just as excited to watch it! So upon pressing play, she was absolutely stunned to find out that most eight-year-olds don’t get too excited to watch the timeless Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan classic- You’ve Got Mail. This shocked her, so much so that she began to tear up, either from utter exhaustion or the unfathomable realization that anyone would prefer a Disney movie over the emotionally gripping tale of You’ve Got Mail.
I tried to quickly avert the crisis and gently explain to her that though her feelings are valid, and You’ve Got Mail is a masterpiece of its time, it typically isn’t something that captures the attention of 2nd graders. Though still dejected, she understood, and they were able to finish their night out with cartoons. And this story is one of the many reasons we will never forget the slumber party of 2024!
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