We recently had a little party for Brady's 8th birthday. We invited family, his 2nd grade classmates and some other friends outside of his grade.
But we ended up with a few unexpected guests in a way I imagine wouldn't happen often in a larger city.
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| Birthday party chaos! |
"What are you guys doing?" came a voice from down Main Street.
There were four girls. I knew one of them. She used to be in Brady's class but had moved to a city 30 miles away. I guess she was in town visiting cousins.
Brady knew most of them and some still went to his school. They ranged in age from 8 up to early teens. They all looked similar, hence my idea they're sisters and cousins.
They hung out there the whole time we went back and forth, back and forth, carrying supplies.
At the end, one of the girls said, "Can we come to the party?"
I couldn't see any reason why not, so I said, "Sure." I thought they might forget or their parents would say no, but even if they did come, we had plenty to share.
To my surprise, all four girls showed up to the party. I have no idea if their parents knew they came. They ate food and drank pop and played with all the other kids and just in general had a great time.
It worried me a little that they were unsupervised, but we all kept an eye on them. They were the last to leave.
It made for a fun party and Brady was quite happy to have them there. Another unusual little slice of life in our tiny town.
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Small town life is definitely different than the big city. So glad he had a good time and made some new friends. Thanks for sharing, Steph.
ReplyDeleteI've certainly encountered things here I had never encountered before, both good and bad :) Mostly good.
DeleteOh man, that definitely wouldn't happen around here. The sad thing is that part of it is the culture around here, not the city versus small town thing.
ReplyDeleteThe culture of a certain place really can make a difference. For example I felt safer in the very large city of Salt Lake in Utah than in a much smaller area in Florida.
DeleteHow fun. Good for you for having such a giving heart too. Even in a small town, it's not always easy to find that.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's hard to say no to the earnest face of a kid who wants to come to a party :) Brady knew them and liked them, so I figured what the heck!
DeleteI love small town life. You could walk the streets with your friends, go next door and no one worried. I loved that in my home town for sure. www.mylifeabundant.com
ReplyDeleteIt's true! There's a lot less worry than other places we've lived!
DeleteAww how sweet that he ran into an old friend and she was able to go to his party!
ReplyDeleteLots more people know my kiddo than me, ha! He's very sociable plus the school is so small they all know each other.
DeleteYes, definitely a small town phenomena I would say! Here in the burbs the parents would definitely come at the very least, if not politely decline for the girls. But sounds like all was well and fun.
ReplyDeleteI know, it's a bit odd not to have the parents involved but I guess because the oldest was teenager-ish they figured she'd watch over the group. There's truly not a whole lot of trouble they could get into in our little town. It was a new one for me for sure!
DeleteHow funny! I love that you still let them come, and that they had such a good time. I bet that had a big impact on them, bigger than you might know!
ReplyDeleteIt would have been hard to say no :) I hope they remember coming to a party like that.
DeleteThat's funny. And it has happened to us at parties too.
ReplyDeleteI love small town life!
ReplyDeleteMe too, it's certainly new and exciting all the time! I would never have believed that 20 years ago, ha!
DeleteSmall town life is really great. I miss it a lot.
ReplyDeleteCould see this happening in our town too.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, hubby and I had date night recently and ran into another couple we had not seen in awhile due to shift work schedules. So, we ended up in a double date! It was so much fun.
Oh how fun! We have done that too. We went up to the bar/restaurant one night and couple friends of ours were there on their 25th anniversary and we all ended up having dinner together! And the sneaky guys bought our dinner before we could get theirs! Small towns rock!
DeleteThat seems so crazy to me! It's nice. We should all be more like that. there's a lot to be said for a small town.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rhonda! I certainly was surprised too but my kiddo thought it was great and, you know what, it really was!
DeleteIt's good people can be trusting. It's hard to be around here. Hopefully their parents did know, but at least they were safe with you.
ReplyDeleteI guess since it was a group and there was an old-ish one in there, they don't mind letting them walk up town by themselves. Still, it really was surprising!
DeleteThat's fun that the girls showed up. :) Glad the party turned out to be a nice one!
ReplyDeleteLooks like it was a fun party with guests arriving and enjoying themselves. Glad it turned out ok.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun time, how great to have the extra space for a party :) Glad the girls came to the party, Surprise guests can be fun. Small town life is different than where I live, more trusting and carefree... we all need a touch of small town in our lives!
ReplyDeleteI am so grateful for this building for get-togethers. Then my hubby doesn't worry about the kids in our house, ha1
DeleteThat's sweet :) The more the merrier! Nice of you to keep an eye on them!
ReplyDeleteThat's so cute! That might happen in a big city, but the kids probably wouldn't be so polite or well-behaved.
ReplyDeleteWell it's a different phenomenon if you let kids roam around a small town by themselves or a big town alone. Totally different dynamics I'd bet!
DeleteThat's sweet! I think kids might invite themselves to things like this regardless of where you live. I just don't think the parents are always open to saying yes. I've had kids at parties when my kids didn't even know who they were (at first). We just go with the flow.
ReplyDeleteYou know, with kids it's easy to do that. Kids are usually all so open and willing to make new friends. There are times when a situation comes up and I know my kid is watching to see what I do. I'd rather err on the side of caution and be kind :)
DeleteCute story. I can understand your surprise in not seeing them supervised in both instances. I have seen younger kids on their own at malls and other public places that I was surprised that I had not seen adults nearby. Glad it all turned out well for everyone!
ReplyDeleteIn a big city it would have worried me. I have seen some awful terrible things in big cities, neglect, what appeared like child abuse on the lawn, I almost called the cops, still wonder if I should have. There are things like that here of course, but everybody knows everybody and knows just exactly what the back story is. And Brady knew the kids so that helped. Heck, that kid knows EVERYBODY!
DeleteI love small life too...I hope to retire in the mountains of West Virginia!
ReplyDeleteOh my, I'll bet those are beautiful! I've traveled around the Ozarks and Virginia and I imagine they are similar. That'd be a great place to retire :)
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