The Party That Wasn't

We had great plans for this party. Little Man was so excited. His first ever friends birthday party. When we lived in Utah he always had plenty of cousins to come to his party. This year we invited all four kids from his special ed class, hoping that at least one would come. No one RSVP'd, but when I called to RSVP for Beans for a party he was invited to at the same time, the parents were surprised that I'd called. I still hoped for the best.

We had the sign (which yes, will be taken down in a few days because of his name, but I had to share it with you for now at least)...we had the balloons, notice the LegoVille mylar balloon. It was his theme for the party. We had everything - plates, cups, placemats, tablecloth, favor boxes ...
we even had the pinata Little Man had his heart set on, and filled it with a boat load of candy.

The party was supposed to start at 3:00. At 3:30 no one had arrived yet. Little Man was having fun playing in the sand. He climbed on the playground for a while, threw sand on the slide and was rather enjoying himself. He had helped me hang the Happy Birthday sign and we'd set signs out around the park directing his friends to our pavilion.

I finally had to ask the dreaded question, "How long do you want to wait?" He said thirty minutes and I figured that was reasonable. He still wasn't phased that no one was there.

After 25 minutes I told him I needed to take the cake and ice cream to the car and he was okay with that, but when it hit 4:00 and I told him we should probably head home, reality finally set in that no one was coming to his party. :(

There's not much that's more heartbreaking for a mom than this face. :( I can't believe not one kid showed up. He was so excited for this party, he'd been waiting for weeks, his friends had told him they'd be there (although admittedly, no one RSVP'd) and his heart was crushed.

He was such a trooper though. He helped me get everything back to the car. I told him we'd take back the party favors we'd bought for his guests (Lego Racer cars) and buy something nice for him. All sadness was forgotten when he chose a Star Wars Clone Trooper voice-changing helmet.

One great thing about Little Man is he's all about living in the moment. If I brought it up, he'd still be sad, but it's over now and he's gone on with life.

I have to say I have the most amazing family. One little note on facebook, in a reply no less, that no one came to his party and they went into action. First Uncle C called, then Uncle J called, followed by Aunt S and Aunt H. It was so touching to see all my siblings calling my boy to make sure he knew he was loved and had a good birthday after all. Thank you guys! You are wonderful and I love you all!