My parents left this morning and I�ve been spending the morning tidying up both the house and my head, in hopes of getting back to work in the very near future. This has been difficult because we are all feeling grumpy. AJ�s grumpy because his grandparents are gone. My husband�s grumpy because my insomniac father kept waking him up before 5 a.m. I�m grumpy because I�m dealing with two grumpy people. I�m hoping that a collective growl followed by a group nap might restore us to our good humor.

Fortunately, though, the rest of the weekend was pretty great. AJ was walking around Saturday morning singing,

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday dear myself!
Happy birthday to you!

Through some miracle of miracles, we actually got him to take a morning nap � he had wakened shortly after 5 � and he was raring to go for his party. We headed over to the gym at noon to decorate as soon as my sister-in-law arrived to help. When we got there, the morning class was just letting out, and who should we run into, but AJ�s friend G. One of the kids from school who didn�t make the invite list. Uh oh. AJ, of course, had forgotten that G. wasn�t invited and thought he was there for the party. We scrambled a last minute invitation to his mother and G. accepted. AJ and G. played while the rest of us worked and I felt guilty once again for not inviting the whole class.

I felt a little less guilty, though, when the kids began to arrive and started acting like rabid animals. One of our birthday traditions involves the purchase of a giant balloon shaped like the number of whatever age AJ is that year. The giant helium number 5 was floating gently above its star-shaped weight in the middle of the party room. The kids arrived in a mob and started tackling it. Pretty soon there was a cluster of 8 kids surrounding the balloon, looking like a cartoon tumbleweed with hair and arms and legs sticking out of it haphazardly. Just before it turned into a Lord of the Flies type tragedy, some fast-acting adult managed to whisk the balloon out of reach and placed it on top of the lockers. The kids barely batted an eyelash and continued rolling around in a ball, giggling and shrieking, until the pizza delivery arrived, at which point they all shrieked some more and were convinced to sit in their seats, whereupon they began banging on the table with glee. All of the smart parents had, by this time, made a swift getaway. Two benevolent parents stayed to help. I hope they will be rewarded by the powers that be for their help, because, truly, they deserved it, as did my parents and sister-in-law, who all helped serve the wild animals children their lunch.

They inhaled their food in about three seconds, so almost as soon as we�d served the pizza, we were dishing out cake. By the time they were done with that, only fifteen minutes had elapsed. We had another fifteen to kill before the gym instructors took over with the activities. Fifteen minutes? How could that be?? What were we going to do? The natives were most definitely restless. In a quick improvisation, we opted to open presents. A couple of kids were still eating, so we tried first to do it at the table, but all the children wanted to sit on top of AJ and every kid wanted to give his or her present to AJ first. So instead, we attempted to herd the children into a circle on the floor with AJ in the middle. That worked for a few minutes, but the circle kept creeping in toward AJ until finally it got so small that it ejected the littlest member, AJ�s friend N, who complained that he couldn�t see. We attempted to get the circle to move back, with marginal success. Wrapping paper was flying. Kids were yelling. AJ was waving toys in the air. My sainted mother was bravely attempting to write down what AJ was getting and from whom.

I have to say, the kid made a killing. People are giving out much nicer presents than I usually do for such things (note to self: stop being such a cheapskate). AJ got a telescope, a toy microscope, a Hot Wheels racecar set, a box stuffed with all kinds of art supplies, three games, a Nerf dart shooter (which is the first gun-like toy in our house, but it doesn�t really look like a gun), a fishing pole and folding chair (which, since our neighborhood is dotted with trout ponds, will get put to good use), and a beautiful toy sailboat which has already taken its maiden voyage in AJ�s bath.

We were all relieved when the gym director came in to take the kids into the main room to play. We barely gave them a backwards glance as we hurried to clean up the mess they�d left behind. After some order had been restored, we were able to go into the gym and watch the fun. They played games with parachutes, swung by a rope into the giant pit of foam blocks, and bounced on the trampoline to jump into the pit from the other side. They stood on the balance beam with the teacher while having mock swordfights with pool noodles, trying to knock each other off, while their friends cheered them on. It was great fun. At the end, we got a picture of them all sitting on a mat floating in the block pit. And then suddenly the children were all gone. The last minute invitee came running back as we were packing to go with a bag for AJ. His mom had gone out and bought him a present during the party. I got to feel terrible all over again. AJ had a small meltdown when he realized that we�d given away his goody bag to G., but was placated at home when his Aunt G. gave him her present � a set of toy rockets, one of which looked almost exactly like the toy space shuttle from the goody bags that he had been sad about losing. And AJ got a lesson in �it is more blessed to give than to receive� when he saw G.�s face after opening the box.

We packed up our things and returned to our house to party some more with relatives. AJ�s other grandmother, his aunt and two uncles and one of his cousins joined us for more food and cake and presents and a whole different kind of crazy. AJ picked up some more interesting things, including machines to project stars and planets on his ceiling, a jumbo tub of Lincoln logs (which were used to build houses that they might be mowed down by his new toy fire engine), and a pint sized set of real golf clubs, which have already been used to cut divets into our moldering lawn.

The fish, though, was definitely the hit of the day. He�s a beautiful blue and red betta that AJ has named Getty (�because he should be getting his food�). He has proved fascinating to watch already, particularly when you turn out the lights in AJ�s room in the evening. He must catch site of his reflection then, because he puffs out the ruff over his gills and streams his fins out wide. Mostly, though, he�s been exploring his tank and we�ve been enjoying watching him swim and eat and hide in the grasses. AJ loves to feed him and has been very vigilant about remembering that he needs to eat twice a day. When I tucked him in on Saturday night, he said, �Mommy, I�ve ALWAYS wanted a pet fish of my very own,� and he sang Getty a goodnight song.

Sunday was spent in recuperation from all of the above. AJ tore around the house with assorted presents, building log cabins in odd corners to be stumbled on by surprised adults later in the day. The rest of us spent most of the day pretending we weren�t yawning.

Yesterday my mom and dad and I took AJ to the library to get his library card. All of the librarians, who adore him, made a huge fuss over him. At least six different librarians came out to tell him congratulations. They gave him a sticker to wear that said �I got my library card today� and a special pencil and crayon sharpener. AJ checked out two bags worth of books on his first day. After the library, we headed to a museum in a forest preserve a few towns away to do some exploring and crafts. On our way home, we stopped at our favorite pub for lunch. While we were waiting for our food, AJ leaned over to me and said, �I have a secret.� He whispered in my here, �This has been an unforgettable day.�

I think AJ had a pretty unforgettable birthday in general. He was sad to see my parents go this morning. My mom was joking about taking him with them. He said, �No!� in a I-know-I-can�t-really-do-that tone of voice, but then looked at me and whispered, �Please?� I wish they didn�t live quite so far away. On the other hand, because they do, whenever they are here it�s one big party for AJ.

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