War Games...The Nitty Gritty Details

On Wednesday evening, Zach was feeling bad because he never gets to hang out with his friends and they all think I don't like them and blah, blah, blah so I suggested he could invite a friend over on Friday after school and they could hang out for the day since I don't do sleep-overs. He was trilled and immediately called a friend and invited him over. I overheard him tell this friend that there would be a couple other guys there and that they would just hang out and have a good time. I questioned him on who these other guys were and he said that he thought he would invite a couple other friends as well. At this point, I am feeling myself slightly loosing control of this little activity but, okay, I can adjust to 2 or 3 boys around for a few hours. I figure, it's 2 days away so that's pretty short notice and none of these kids parents know me at all so they'll be somewhat cautious about sending their kid over to play. So, he sets to work making invitations on the computer. Well, then Justyn and Shaelynne begin to mumble that's it's not fair, they want some friends also so I reluctantly agree to let them invite a couple of friends also, assuming that once again, it's short notice and the parents don't know us so our numbers will be small. We plan out some minor details and then they also set to work making invitations. They were so excited and their little invites were so cute that I couldn't help but feel like a good mom. (Sheesh! I'm such a sucker!)

Well, Thursday evening my phone starts ringing non stop with parents wanting more information and finalizing the pick up times and doing little phone interviews to make sure that I'm a responsible parent. I ask my kids at this point, exactly how many invites got handed out today. Shaelynne has 6 (1 couldn't come), Justyn has 3 (all came) and Zach handed out 11! WHAT???!!!!!!!!!!!

Now what do I say? Interesting part here was that the parents that were calling me where Shaelynne's friends and Justyn's friends. I only heard from 1 middle school parent! So when 15 boys (my son included) walked through my front door on Friday, I about fell over. I asked Zach how we went from 11 to 14. He said that he didn't know 3 of the boys, they were just friends of the other boys (NOT Xavier School students) and they had come along for the party. I have 13 boys whose parents I have never spoken to and 3 of them haven't even heard of Zach and they are at my house ready for a wild last day of school party. Zach did tell me that before they came in the house, he told them that his mom was Mormon so they needed to behave and not swear. Thanks, Zach! I asked these boys how long they were staying for and they said until 10 p.m. I quickly corrected them and told them that as long as they behaved, they could stay. I would send them home if things got out of hand. They laughed but agreed. So far, so good!

They were hungry so they all gracious helped me set up lunch and then they went outside to eat and chat. It was going good. Then they decided to water fight and it was all downhill from there. The big boys just play way too rough and the little boys couldn't stand the idea of missing out on the fun but they didn't like to play so rough. Then the big boys all went upstairs to watch a movie. I went to check on them, and they all had food! I told them to go back downstairs with the food. They ignored me. I told them again. A couple got up and obeyed, others just hid it under them or the couches or they just walked away into another room to eat it, while most just ignored me and kept eating. My jaw was on the ground. I was so shocked at the disobedience of these kids. I reminded them that they could obey or they could go home. They decide to go outside.

I looked out the window and they were all walking down the highway. For those of you who have not been to my house, we live in a subdivision but my back yard is a highway that goes to Jackpot, Nevada and there is alot of traffic, especially Semi's traveling long-haul so this is not where I want these kids walking. They tell me they are headed to a park. I tell them to come back! The park is 2 miles away! They ignore me. I yell it this time. They cross the street and start playing over there. Across the highway from my house is a farm. The farmer has sheep and he has hay fields. At the end of this field, right across from my house, he has dug out a big hole. It is full of water. I think it is for run off but I honestly have no clue. I just know it's big and deep and on his property so we don't bother it. Next to the hole is a big pile of dirt that he dug out of the hole. Next thing I know these kids are on this dirt pile throwing big dirt clods in it and trying to push each other into it. I panic and tell them to get back over to my house. They, of course, don't hear me. I repeated myself several more times, some listened, most didn't. Then I see them playing football in the middle of the highway. They were lined up on each side of the road, and when a car would pass, they would start throwing the football back and forth over the car. I called Ken and told him I needed his help NOW! While I was on the phone, one of the boys came in crying and holding his arm. He had fallen in the road while catching the football and had hit the curb and rebroke his arm (He had broken it a couple of months earlier while snowskiing) He called his mom and she came to get him. After he got hurt, the other boys decided to come back home and start another water fight. One of the 4th grade boys got sick of the big boys picking on him and he grabbed the metal baseball bat and hit one of the big kids in the head. That ended that problem. He knocked the kid out. When he came to, he had a pretty big headache and since his parents weren't home and didn't know where he was at, he bummed a ride home with one of the other parents. About that time, Ken made it home and he had them all call for rides home.

Since I had spoken with Justyn and Shaelynne's friends parents, we already had pick up times arranged, so once the big boys were all gone, I just had 10 little kids around and they were so well behaved. The girls all sang and danced to CD's and played games and made stuff with beads while the boys watched AIRWOLF and then played AIRWOLF with all of Justyn's planes and Lego's and army guys and they even rescued a blue rhinoceros, they were so proud. Zach was upset because all his friends had to go home. He and I spent the next few hours trying to put the house back in order before Dad got home, which conveniently gave us plenty of time to talk. In Zach's defense, he didn't mean to invite all those boys. The word just spread and he felt pressure and couldn't say no. He was very obedient to me while they were hear and he was just as frustrated as I was that they wouldn't listen. He was very disappointed in his friends. He had not seen that side of them.

So, it was a big learning experience for all of us. IF there is a next time, I'll do things very differently. And my kids had better never act like that at someone else's house.

One of Zach's friends (the kid who broke his arm!) invited him to his party. They are going to his Grandpa's farm on the edge of the canyon (Twin Falls has a big canyon with the Snake River in the bottom of it. It's deep and the sides are very steep) They are going to be riding ATV's on some trails along the canyon walls and he said there was no way his mom would shut it down like Zach's did. Umm...Do you think I'm letting Zach go? Not a chance!

I actually have felt like a horrible mom since. I couldn't control this group of boys, I failed my kids, I got really angry when it wasn't really my kids fault. Iw as mad at these boys and I was mad that their parents would let them come without first checking with me. Who let's their 13 year old just go where ever like that. I just didn't handle it very well. When one of the parents came, I was standing outside watching kids and talking to parents as they came. This man walked right past me, opened my front door and just walked inside. A few minutes later he came out with his kid, walked past me again without saying anything, got in his car and pulled out. I decided to say something so I told him thanks for coming to get his kid. He shrugged and mumbled, "Thanks for having the party" as he drove off. I turned to Zach and asked him who that kid was again. He said he didn't know. That was one of the extra's that just showed up. Well, now I know where the kid got it from. He was just like his father.

So, I'm finally ready to admit it, I'm just not a "cool" mom. I guess that's okay though because my job is not to be "cool" but to teach and protect my children and if things get out of control like that again, no matter where my children are at, I'll go and physically remove my child from the situation every single time. I'd rather be a good parent than a cool one!

And there you have it....my most embarrassing mom moment so far.

So, do you want to send your kids over for a party? I'm really good at having things get completely out of control. AND Your kid might even get hurt. GRRRR!