THE GIRLS' NIGHT OUT

BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted December 12, 2005)

By my best estimate, McKensie's 7th birthday party Saturday evening brought between 39 and 47 girls to our house.

These were 6 and 7 year old girls, with a few 5 year olds thrown in just to stir things up.
She invited all her female classmates, and her girlfriends from church as well.

As far as we can tell, after the party they were all picked up by their parents, though we're still checking around the house, just in case.

Of course, the big decision for Karen and me now is whether to clean up the house, or simply put down some drop-cloths and -- from now on -- just tell people we're painting.

Actually, it wasn't as destructive as it could have been.
Only 8 or 9 spilled drinks (that we're aware of)....
Hardly any pizza sauce in the piano keys....
Relatively little cake icing on the good furniture in the living room....
Only one missing child, who we found hiding upstairs after about 20 minutes....
Crying was limited to just 4 girls and 2 adults, and each was soon comforted and OK....
There was no bloodshed whatsoever.

And it turned out to be worthwhile scientific experiment.
We'd been wondering about the strength and durability of our old house....
And we'd never known for sure whether our neighbors across the courtyard could actually hear screaming that reached triple digit decibels.

Now, we know these things.
And we have a better understanding of how youth gangs are initially formed.

In case you're wondering what the adjoining photo is.... that's me.... lovingly assembled with pipe cleaners by my, now, 7 year old daughter at the party crafts table.
She told me the orange pipe cleaner represents, quote, "the rust colored shirt that you wear every weekend!"
Hmmmmm.

Anyhow, the dust has settled.
The delightful and precious young girls seemed to enjoy themselves.... and without even trying, warmed the hearts of every grownup there.

By the way, a special thanks to the grownup girls who painted nails, applied glitter, worked on crafts, prepared and served pizza and cake, kept the peace, and helped with trips to the potty.

McKensie said it was her best birthday ever.

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