PARTY OVER HERE!

Party over here! My super sweet, precious daughter imagines that her 16th birthday will be like the television show My Super Sweet 16. She has such hopes, dreams and ideas for this big day; ideas that I can’t help but laugh at when she talks about it. “Mommy, I want a limousine to drop me off at the clubhouse and then I want all of my friends to blah, blah, blah.” At this point it all begins to sound like gibberish, especially since I’ve turned on the tune-your-child-out button. Sadly the show My Super Sweet 16 has given a lot of children a crazy idea that all 16th birthdays should be spent with a party that costs thousands of dollars followed by a very expensive automobile. YEAH RIGHT! Unfortunately for Bree this dream was fueled when her dance group was invited to a 16th birthday party at Terrell Owens’s house (pardon me while I suppress my flesh). The party was really great, especially the part where I foamed at the mouth over an ESPN picture of a shirtless T.O. (get behind thee flesh). Let’s see where was I, oh yeah back to the kids. After watching the entertainment, swimming in the pool, eating, dancing and mingling everyone was asked to come around to the front of the house; it was here that a Mercedes Benz with a big bow was parked in the driveway. On the ride home both Bree and Shay talked about their 16th party and what they were expecting, did I say YEAH RIGHT?!

As we drove back to the real world I shared with them that my concept of birthday parties for them have changed dramatically. Am I being mean? No. I made a decision that the Jackson’s will have an annual gathering that will cover everything from birthdays, to graduations, to family BBQs and all; this way we can lump our celebrations into one party. Why? Let me explain. Picture this – if you are the one that’s hosting the party no matter how many people lend a hand, it is the host that ends up too tired to fully enjoy the party, not to mention that the host is also the one that ends up a little light in the pocket. After the party is over it is the host that has to clean up, put the scraps of food away, and end up pissed that insensitive people carried away all of the food without any regards to whether the family would like to eat later. At my last party not only did they haul away all of the food, but when the plates ran out someone found the foil and used up all of that too. Skanks! From now on I’m going to invest in the birthday girl, the husband or myself and give us a present that we will never forget. I will no longer spend my money to entertain someone else for MY birthday – noooo. This year I’m going to teach my family that to celebrate another year of life doesn’t mean exhausting ourselves and our money entertaining others; it means making lasting memories for us…Even if I’m riding on clouds of money between now and the next year and a half before Bree turns 16, I doubt that she will be driving the streets of Atlanta in a Benz or anything in that price range. For me I would rather see the expression on their faces as they stare at the ocean from the balcony on a luxury cruise ship or while sitting on the beach in Hawaii or sitting in a penthouse suite with a few members of the family & close friends. I would rather make memories of them taking a picture with Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, or some special background in Sydney. I would rather be in Brazil learning something that I didn’t know or teaching them to ski in Aspen. I would rather see my dollar being changed to another currency rather than seeing people carrying plates of food that I’ve paid for out of my house.

Memories…My girls and I will always remember the time we spent in Puerto Rico, a celebration for passing the CRCT. We combined that with my niece graduating from the 8th grade and Bree’s graduation from the 5th grade. “Let’s have a pool party in the clubhouse,” they shouted. “Sure, let me just call to cancel these,” I said as I placed four airline tickets on the table. “What would you rather do?” The screams told me that they would rather be in Puerto Rico. We turned a business trip into a vacation; my best friend joined us and the 5 of us toured Old San Juan, the Bacardi factory, we enjoy the food along the strip of the small town we were living in and had fun trying to order chicken in Spanish at Church’s. Pool party or Puerto Rico? We have pictures & a video of us relaxing in the Jacuzzi, playing in the pool and enjoying the waves in the ocean. I still find the strange looks amusing when Shay says, “that smells like Bacardi.” I stop and wonder if I should explain that we toured the factory and smelled the different flavors of Rum. Will they believe me? It doesn’t matter. I know that a tour of Puerto Rico and the original Rum factory have given them lessons that they will always remember. Ahhh. Life was good and it was money well spent. I can’t wait until our Super Sweet “vacation,” but in the meantime where can mommy go for a little R & R…? TGBTG

~Stay Prayed Up!! CLICK ON THE LINK