I should have known better. It was all going so well.
Last night we hosted a traditional “pasta party” for the entire high school girls’ swim team. That’s 30+ miserable aqua-girls at my house in all their hormonal, irrational beauty. I avoided these time-honored commitments throughout the four years of #1’s athletic tenure, but was sucked in for these swimmers.
Here’s how a high school pre-game pasta party should work:
Every Sunday during swim season (ditto for football, soccer, cross country and field hockey) one sucker family invites the ENTIRE team (freshman, JV & varsity) to their home to feed the moody entourage pasta, bread, salad, and dessert. I think the idea is carb-up for the big competition and create camaraderie. Reserve families pitch in to help, but one poor sap needs to have these self-centered creatures to their home and hope for the best.
We got it. The best, I mean.
I happen to love these girls. They’re smart, driven, silly, beautiful, and wickedly funny.
The dinner went oh so well. They ate, humored us with forced participation of “That’s Amore,” and laughed at our sarcastic cheer emblazened on the cake. They hung out and talked. Did physics. Spun wildly on swings and ran crooked across the lawn. Great reminders that inside difficult teenagers are still the same adorable little girls struggling to find their way.
The evening was perfect, right up until the part where hubby and I peeled out of the driveway, over a lawn chair in a race to the ER, leaving silent teenage girls (oxymoron??), staring dumbfounded in the rear view mirror.
Let’s just say it involved a zip-line and our kid #4, who attempted a triple cow-tow or something of the sort, upside down no less, in a desperate attempt to gain attention from the older girls so oblivious to his elementary school existence.
A bad landing, a broken humerus, late night surgery, two pins and lots of morphine later, here I sit. In the hospital. Writing to teachers, coaches, friends, family explaining the frantic Facebook updates.
No biggie. Just another day at the office, the home office, where 30 high school girls, a couple little brothers, a Bernese Mountain Dog, a big ol’ pot o’ pasta, and a snapped humerus immediately redirected the joy of the afternoon into mama response mode.
Not so funny right now. It’ll be funny later, but right now I have sad little boy, with a broken arm and broken heart.
hope he’s better soon. tough kid, tougher still to be at a party with all those girls!
OH NOOOOOO………poor #4! Hope he recovers quickly!!!! xoxoxo The Orloffs
Hope #4 is feeling better soon 🙂
thanks all. broken arms heal. we’re lucky
So sorry Evan and you – he looks so sad. McCafferty boys ready to zoom in to cheer him up (they tried today actually!) – keep him company – dig a big hole (taking direction from him)or duct tape anything he wants or dilikes (again taking direction only from him). They are here to serve – Let us know.
Oh Kate, poor you, poor Evan. It’s so hard to see your children in pain!!! We really need to grab a cup of coffee some day soon!
Ow! I hope you’re doing better. At least your kid will have a fun story to tell … sometime in the less painful future.
ouch for all of you! Thinking of not-so-rubber-band-man Evan and his sisters who had to watch it all happen! You are right…pasta parties sound fun but…..
Meg and I are wishing Evan a speedy recovery. Ouch, ouch, ouch – get well soon. Laura J.
Please tell Evan that ice cream is REALLY good for healing bones, plus I will deliver!!
Thanks everyone for good thoughts. Boy is doing great, thx to kindness galore. Terry — had some cox trax today and worked better than morphine!! Hi fav week 6ers, he’ll be ready for serious 4 square before you know it. Amy C, crazy world we’re living in; who’d a thunk it! Kim, we’ll catch up during our counseling walk this weekend. I sure do need it. Thanks for everyone’s good thoughts and wishes. Means the world.
I hope he recovers soon and I hope those girls won the meet in his honor.
I totally understand….my #1 broke her collarbone on #3’s birthday- right before the cake. What a disaster as we rushed by ambulance (she’d fallen 10 feet from the monkey bars, so we needed to ensure no spinal damage).
Of course, she healed….but #3 has always believed that was an attempt to steal the thunder of her birthday celebration!! Yes, 4 daughters can bring sensitivities unheard of in a mixed-gender household!!
I hope Evan heals quickly…bones heal faster than hearts, but they will both eventually heal!
You’re amazing, and I live for every post…thanks for keeping us laughing, crying, and remembering that we’re not alone~