Xmas Parties

Last night Julian had a Christmas party. This kid kills me.  Every day I feel like I'm watching my fledgling twin and it's in the most bizarre ways.  Sean is more comfortable acknowledging the parallels than I and I'm comfortable pretty much acknowledging anything.  But it's just sooo similar and weird and slightly unsettling. For example:

He throws these parties for these kids who are in some kind of club. Just boys.  It's a secret club. They hold meetings and take minutes which are hilarious.  I offered some suggestions to Julian for a party but really it's a meeting. Julian cooked a chicken and the boys brought side dishes and a white elephant gift. They had Christmas crackers with jokes and trivia. They had madlibs and sparkling cider. They discussed their secret things.  And later on they had an epic marathon of Mario Bros on the Wii that i was only slightly jealous of.   For dessert was a peppermint chocolate cake with coins baked inside. This was my contribution. For some reason I just can't help but bake stuff in cakes. So even Julian was surprised. I think I like hosting parties from inside my bedroom door. Throwing out ideas, and then leaving but hearing about it later.  I left to grab some food for me and Sean and he texted me the uproar of the coin discovery and I was so tickled and so happy to not have to be there for it.

Julian gets a little stressed at hosting. At the end of it he says the kids had a lot of fun but he didn't, so much.  He's a bit of a Negative Neldon so that was unsurprising. He likes to do as much as he can himself so we only jump in here and there. So he gets stressed and anxious.  I understand those feelings. I throw parties because I want them to happen but I don't necessarily loooove it all the time. I throw them because if I'm going to go to one, I want to do what I want to do, eat what I want to eat, with the people I want there. Ha ha.  Julian said he wanted to do it because no one else would. Yup.  I get that too.  So funny to me.  I have figured out how to do it though. I throw them but I don't host them. I take myself out of the "host" position, even though I do all the stuff and it's at my house. I act as participant.  And then I am having fun because I'm doing what I want and not worrying about others having fun. Plus i think I'm fun so that helps.  And, if I'm not feeling in the super party mood, I can take myself out of it, back in the host position or background scene and let other people have fun while I get a head start on dishes.   One day I hope to impart all of my party wisdom on what looks to be a fledgling party-thrower. 

This morning was definitely the "morning after party." Lazy breakfast of poached eggs. He and I discussed the previous night and then the conversation rapidly shifted and ended with him asking me what my favorite smell was. After thinking about it and coming up with answers like "mown grass," "baking bread" and "old books" I asked him what his was and his rapid reply was, "Sulfur."  

God bless us, everyone.  (if I don't get that in at least once each Christmas, I have failed indeed)

I made julian fold these napkins with me which he did begrudgingly. And then later i heard one of his guests excitedly exclaim that Julian had to teach him. Again, love hosting behind closed doors.