My fortune cookie

We ordered in Chinese food last night and of course the highlight is always the fortune cookie. Here's what mine said "The world will soon be ready to receive your talent." I made everyone listen while I read it out, bragging that I do actually have talent. (I'm not quite sure what that talent is but...) Of course then Mr. Smarty Pants (my husband) had to remind everyone that the world will SOON be ready. In other words, the world isn't ready just yet for my talent. Sheesh! What a party pooper!

It was supposed to be my daughter's belated birthday party from mid May, and it took until June for an evening to free up for us and for her friends to all get together. She turned 11 and we can forget the themed birthday parties. She's way too cool for anything ordinary. (Or at least she thinks she's too cool.) It was also my step-daughter's 31st birthday so her family including my two grand daughters, ages 3 and 3 months, oh yeah and her husband, were there too. My step daughter Michele is a fantastic photographer (check out her blog at www.micheledyson.blogspot.com) and she offered to do a photo shoot for my daughter and her friends. Which of course they thought was a great idea.

So each girl brought two outfits for the shoot, and there was alot of clothes swapping going on. Michele is the queen of parties and she loved doing the shoot, and of course the girls all think she is incredibly cool.

As the parents were dropping their daughters off for the party, one of the moms took me up on the offer for a cold beverage. So before long, the rest of their family were joining in and as usual, we had a housefull. I know there are people who cringe at the thought of unexpected company, or who have to have everything in it's place before anyone else sees their home. Not us. I love having the type of home that is always open to my kids' friends and open for impromptu get togethers.

It's a fond memory I have from my childhood that I was always welcome to have sleepovers and I usually had 4 or 5 girlfriends camping out with me in our basement rec room all through school. We sing along to Barry Manilow and the BeeGees (using our curling irons for microphones) eat junk food and discuss everything. I want my kids to have those fond memories too - except the Barry Manilow part.

For my one daughter who struggles socially it's a hard one to accomplish. She rarely gets invited over to a friend's house, and far too often, her offers to kids to come to our house go unanswered. But it doesn't seem to bother her. It really doesn't. And it's taken me alot of years to understand that if it doesn't bother her, it really shouldn't bother me either. Not that I want my kids to be the most popular kid at school, but I do want them to have a good group of friends. For two out of the three, that happens. I'm trying not to "borrow trouble" as they say, and look too far down the road into the future, worrying about my child with FASD and what will happen as she heads to middle school and then on to high school.

As a friend of mine once said "Don't go into the light..." I try to remember those words of wisdom when I start obsessing about my kids and the future.