The Party of the Year

I just attended a very exclusive, V.I.P.-only*, late night blowout party.

Even though I’m 15 years removed from college, it is refreshing to see that some things never change in the after-hours party scene:

• The lighting was dim.
• There was talk of getting out a bottle of the good stuff.
• Some of the other guests were already cashed out for the night.
• The odds are good that somebody will lose their pants.
• I caught myself looking a clock, wondering “what am I doing up at this hour?”.
• At one point, that guy who doesn’t say much was staggering around in circles.
• A foul smell and/or a mysterious wet patch was discovered.
• Which led to finding some nasty mess that needed to be cleaned up ASAP.
• You end up slowly rocking back and forth with a little cutie in  your arms.
• The success or failure of your night is determined by what time you go to bed.

There were a couple of notable differences between tonight’s blowout bash and the ones I attended in my college days.  Specifically, tonight it was just me and my 10 month old son.  He had pooped out of his jammies, so I got to clean him up, change him, put a new sheet on the crib, and get him back to sleep before I could consider going to bed.

*Yep, “V.I.P.” stood for Very Important Parent.  Sneaky little bugger, aren’t I?  I’m pretty damn clever at 1:30 am.

As I held my boy and started to rock him back to sleep, he looked right at me with his big brown inquisitive eyes.  I was a little afraid that the clean-up process had woken him up, and I was going to have to launch the 14-step “Get Baby To Sleep” battle plan.

Instead, he laid his head down on my shoulder, and did one of my absolute favorite things:  he exhaled and sank his body onto me, half hugging me, and half falling asleep in my arms.

And I knew this party beat all of the parties I attended back in college – even if I did get poop on my fingers.

Tags: Blowout, Children, College, family, Late Night, parenting, Party, Sleep