(10) Becomes (11)

 My youngest son’s birthday is a week before Christmas and this has it’s challenges. I have tried very hard every year to make sure that his birthday is its own special day, completely seperated from the holidays. This can be quite difficult. We realized early on that a “normal” birthday party was unrealistic. People tend to travel for the holiday season and because school’s winter break starts on his birthday weekend, no one is around or has the time to party. When he was little we started a birthday tradition where he gets to choose something that he wanted to do or a place that he wanted to go. We would go there as a family, he could take a friend, and we would celebrate that way. This year didn’t turn out quite as we planned it to. The events of the past couple of days are too much for one post.

 It started as it usually does every year. I asked (10) a few weeks ago what he wanted to do for his birthday and who he’d like to take with him. He finally decided on going to the Adventuredome at Circus Circus. The Adventuredome is a theme park located inside of the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino on the strip. It has rollercoaster and all kinds of rides for the kids and was a perfect choice because it had been a couple of years since we had gone there. (10) said that he would like to take his best friend. When planning this trip we realized that his birthday was going to fall on a Friday and so the trip to the Adventuredome would have to wait until the next day. We still wanted to celebrate on his day with cake and ice cream though. He asked if he could have a few friends over for cake. I didn’t have a problem with that. The few friends from down the street quickly turned into a large group of people. The plans for cake turned into cake, ice cream and pizza. The quick birthday song turned into a dance party and everyone was told it would be a two hour get-together from 6-8 pm.

That was the plan……..

The hubs went to get pizza and shortly after he returned people started showing up. I turned on some music as the crowd grew. The kids got crazy and the music got louder. They all seemed to be having fun. (15)’s girlfriend (14) showed up with her family and (12)’s friend from down the street joined in on the party too. I slowly felt control slip away as these hoodlums took over my house. The hubs decided there was nothing he could do but get evidence of the take-over in case the police showed up.

 

When we tried to regain control of the situation, we were threatened with physical violence.

 

Then I realized that the only way I was going to get control of this situation was retaliation! The kids were beating eachother with random objects and I decided that it was the perfect time to take out a few of these hoodlums.

 

As you can clearly see, I was ganged up on. And where was the Hubs? Hiding behind a camera. Was he my knight in shining armor? Clearly not.

 

I may look like I am having a good time, but I am clearly scared shitless. Please note how I am backed into the TV and the children have me completely surrounded like a damn pack of wolves (or hungry zombies, I haven’t decided yet!)

The party was suppose to end at 8pm but this last shot was snapped at 10:30. They refused to leave, stole my phone and guarded the doors so I couldn’t call for help. A simple get together for an 11 year olds birthday cake and ice cream had turned into a hostile take-over. At midnight I was hoping that the loud music and gun shots would have prompted someone to call the police. Do you think they came to save me?

To be continued…………………………………..