That could have gone...worse?

ARR just came back from a birthday party. The Sunday late afternoon is the death slot, by the way. Kids are tired and antsy going in, and the number of meltdowns increases exponentially.

And it was a pool party. ARR has been taking swimming lessons for the better part of a year now. They're...not going great. He's terrified of getting his face wet, which kind of limits progress. His two closest friends Y and J (Y is the birthday boy) are much more accomplished swimmers. He was anxious going in - honestly, if it had been a kid he was less close to, we may not have gone.

But it's one of his two current best friends so we went. One parent per kid was allowed to go in the pool. When we got there...all the other kids were confident swimmers. So none of the other parents were stripping down. But ARR begged, so into the water I went. (Thank goodness, several of the later parents joined me, so I wasn't the only adult in a swimsuit.)

Y's mom made the mistake I made last year. After we got out of the water...she gave them noisemakers. I could see from her face, she was immediately regretting that decision. ARR liked blowing the noisemaker for a minute...and then he got overwhelmed. (It was very loud. Also, I think post multiple surgeries, his ears are on the sensitive side.) There were meltdowns. Multiple. ARR wasn't the only one, at least. Y's mom just kept refilling my glass with wine. I'm not quite sure how much wine I had (I did have a lot of whine, though).

Aaaaaaaah Sunday afternoon death slot party aaaaaaaaaah