social occasion anxiety

Punkin was invited to his first birthday party yesterday, other than family and his own. it’s a Curious George-themed second birthday party for a girl in his class. (an older woman!) she has been at Punkin’s day care since he started, and that i’ve discovered is rather rare. the kids seem to come and go and the weird thing is, some come back after being away a month or two. it makes me wonder about the parents’ circumstances, but it really is none of my business. and the teacher turn-over crisis was limited to his eight-month adventure in the DragonFly room.

i rsvp’d around lunchtime today. i secretly hoped no one would be home and i could just leave a message. antisocial chickenshit. i believe her mom answered. she acted happy that we would be attending. i asked if we could bring anything special. she said she had everything handled; she’d pick up the cake in the morning, and we were having cheese and meat snacks and grapes. she asked if that was ok. of course! Punkin will eat just about anything … perhaps the rumor of being vegetarian precedes me.

i went to Target over lunch and i had no clue where to begin. i mistakenly started by looking for a pair of jeans for myself and fortunately gave up after perusing a sale rack or two. no, not maternity jeans (not yet!), but suffice to say with my lack of the shopping gene, i’ll try to squeeze into the ones i have for the next week or two. i ventured into toys, thinking something would strike me that was not too girly and age appropriate. yeah, right. i didn’t want said gift to be too educational, as i didn’t want to seem too preachy as a parent (and a first-time parent at that). i didn’t want said gift to be too noisy (i know better. noisy gifts are given by childless aunts and uncles and grandparents.) and not too expensive, but again, i hadn’t a clue what is the appropriate amount to spend. i opted for a Curious George book, and small stuffed Curious George, which is rated for 3+ but hey! it goes with the theme, right? and a gift receipt.

i’m certain neither Punkin nor the birthday girl have this much anxiety and self doubt brought on by the occasion. and i hope they never do.