Crazy is good. :)

We had such a great time tonight. There were 6 of us, and we mostly just hung around and chatted about anything and everything, and played Beyond Balderdash. Balderdash has become our small group's unofficial group game. We have played it every time we've had a game night so far. The three of us taught the others how to play it, and I think everyone enjoyed it.

Most of us were very tired and several were operating on next to no sleep. So we weren't the most scintillating group ever; but we ate, chatted, laughed and had a good time. We chuckled over our own and each other's sleep-derivation-induced memory lapses and other gaffes--like the time I spent several minutes looking for dice and trying to rig up a substitute before I realized the game we were playing didn't require dice.

We had a great mixture of ages and stages--a single young woman, a married woman with no kids, a homeschooling mother of 4 kids ranging from preschool to teens, a pregnant mom of two preschoolers who also works full-time, a retired grandma who takes care of her young granddaughter, and me--the stay-at-home mom with young children and a newborn. Some were people I see fairly often, and others were people I see only occasionally in less personal contexts. Only one ("Morning") was someone who comes frequently to my home to visit. Nobody except me knew more than two or three others in the group well, which made for a nice open dynamic where even the one person who doesn't attend our church seemed comfortable.

I didn't get the house as prepared as I'd wanted, but I did get a load of dishes done and clear off several flat surfaces in the kitchen and nook so we had clean, uncluttered places to set out food and play games.

I told the ladies that even though I don't have postpartum depression, my house does. :) While we were visiting and waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, I took a few minutes to wipe down the kitchen counters and do a quick swipe of the main surfaces in the bathroom. Then I relaxed and didn't worry. They seemed quite at ease and several of them helped clean up the kitchen and do the dishes before they left. Nobody even seemed to care that the kitchen floor was sticky.

The girls and I did go to Costco this afternoon. We ate a late lunch there, which was fun, and enjoyed the samples. I bought chicken nuggets, French fries and canned green beans to cook for dinner. The girls didn't eat much, but were happy about the food selections anyway. It was a quick and easy meal for me to prepare.

The girls were fed and in their pajamas before 7, and the evening went quite smoothly overall. I told the two older girls that if they were cooperative and quick about getting ready for bed, and promised to go to bed without complaining and go right to sleep, I would let them watch a video upstairs before they went to bed. That worked great.

Since I had let them skip naps/quiet time they were ready for an early bedtime. The baby was also more cooperative tonight. I was able to help AJ and MM get their pajamas on while Baby E laid on the floor waving her arms and cooing at them.

After people started arriving, there was someone to hold the baby while I tucked the girls in and returned them to their beds a couple of times. That was nice. Bedtime goes so much more smoothly when there's a calm, attentive and involved parent in the process (fancy that!). Last night I had to give myself a time out: "Mommy is feeling really angry, so I need a time out! I'll tuck you in and get you water in a few minutes. Be quiet and don't talk to me until I come back. " Tonight I was patient and cheerful instead.

Baby E wanted to nurse a lot and got fussy as she often does in the evening, but nobody seemed to mind. We passed her around and there was always a willing pair of arms to take a turn pacing and patting her back even when she was crying. And, she did some smiling and cooing too.

I felt so blessed by the fellowship, encouragement, and assistance tonight. But while I felt like I was being given a gift of their presence and help, they seemed to feel that they were on the receiving end. I was able to help out one of them in a tangible way with some extra groceries, and another pulled me aside for a few minutes to chat about something that was bothering her and get a bit of encouragement and advice. Each of them thanked me sincerely for including them, and several commented about how much they appreciated being invited and enjoyed our friendship. That made me feel really good.

I think I'll host something like this again soon. It was a bit of a stretch to get past my embarrassment about the state of my house, nervousness about whether the kids would make visiting difficult, and difficulty making decisions about what to do (we had a terrible time deciding whether to play a game or watch a movie, and which one). But it was so worth it. Even though I'm tired, I feel somehow energized just by having an evening of fun with other women whose company I enjoy.