Hilarious Mommy Dementia Moment #503:

I received an Evite for a sleepover birthday party for one of my kids; I didn't recognize the email it was from, and the guest list (clues!) were hidden; I wrongly assumed it was for my youngest.  I became outraged that a sleepover was planned for 5 year olds! 

I reply that my 5 year old kid can stay late, BUT NOT OVERNIGHT. 

I proceed to write it down on the wrong night on our family calendar.

On the wrong day of the party, I talk about it nonstop with my spouse, as I am still incredulous about a sleepover for 5 year olds!

By nightfall, husband and I completely forget about the party (our kid was unaware of the Outrageous 5 Year Old Slumber Party - we never tell them ahead of time (this prevents incessant "When's so-and-so's party?  How many days 'til so-and-so's party?  Is today the day of so-and-so's party?" - and also provides an element of surprise for my own child when party day arrives.  "Surprise!  You get to go to so-and-so's party!  Get your shoes on!") so there was no nagging coming from him, and we don't take him to the party.

I realize we forgot about it when I wake up the next morning, and instantly start feeling like a terrible Mother - what if no one else went and the poor birthday kid was scarred for life? Because, really, what parent in their right mind would drop their kid off at a 5 year old Birthday Sleepover Party?!

As the day goes on, I go from feeling guilty about forgetting, to joking all day about what an idiot I am for not remembering the party.

That night we go out for a nice dinner.  This is a real Occasion, because it's The Whole Family: the High School Senior is with us.

Before we are seated, I receive a call from a # I don't recognize.

A man identifies as said birthday kid's parent. I get nervous: here it comes.  My bad memory has really "ruined this 5 year old's entire life".

Dad: "Are you lost? We are looking forward to seeing (my 10 yr old child)"

First, I'm relieved - since I'm not getting a new one from a Dad with a broken hearted kid - but now I'm confused - my 10 year old is invited to a sleepover party that night???  I had no idea.   I tell the Dad "I  never got the Evite" - I am still not registering that I have just had the most Monumental Mommy Dementia Moment of my life.

I hang up and repeat the funny story TWICE: to friends we ran into at the restaurant, and then to my husband: two different parties; one I forgot and one I didn't even know about... before my brain registers that not only did I have the wrong kid, and wrong day... but there never was a 5 Year Old Sleepover Birthday Party!

My 10 year old made it to right party with a gift, for those wondering. 

I made it home, took an overdose of Ginkgo, and went to bed.

When I was learning to ride my bike, I spent hours on a flat sidewalk, alone, without a worry of bad guys in cars or houses or lurking behind bushes.  I had a bell on my handle bars and the wind in my hair - no helmet required then.
My kids are growing up without sidewalks, on a hill... surrounded by lots of other hills... steep hills... on an unpaved, potholed road.  I have a mental map, thanks to Google, of where the nearest sex offenders live.  We have no less than 12 helmets of various sizes, characters and colors, strewn around the garage, JUST IN CASE... because for most of the year my kids are not on those bikes.
Once a year for the past fourteen years we would pack up our minivan, try on helmets, fill up bike tires, and strap the bikes onto the dusty rack, and trek out to the Oregon Coast for our church's annual camping trip.  We'd leave our house in the present - and pull into the campsite in the past.  Our minivan had become a time machine - it was now sometime in the 70's - when you could ride your bike in a circle without fear of cars, bad guys, and hills... and in that circle, everyone knew your name... the neighbors watched you ride by, could tell your Mom the last time they saw you, and you could stop in for a cookie without worry.
There was no TV, no Wii, no XBOX, no videos, and for many years, no cell phones.  There were board games, Farkle tournaments, hide and seek, tree climbing, hiking, sandcastle building.
I have four kids... all but one learned to ride their bike without training wheels at this camping trip!  A friend would help take the training wheels off, older kids would run with them, and off they'd fly.  Neighbors would cheer them on, and the whole magical time travel thing would click. 
This is the first year that I won't have a new bike rider at the campout - we were unable to do the time travel, and he learned to ride in a parking lot near the house.  One day of riding, just his family to cheer him on.  A milestone, but the magic was missing, and it felt kinda sad.
I learned that time travel is important - and we'll make room for it next year.  Today my church community is travelling through time and will enjoy the magic for a week - and I hope that God blesses their time together in that little bubble of the past...