mothers on the verge

While it may seem we have disappeared off the face of the earth, it's just Christmas. Oh! And the Rabbit's 3rd birthday yesterday -- and 17 3-year-olds and 27 of their parents in our tiny apartment last Saturday, and deadlines, and a Holiday (can we say that anymore? Or is it now Christmas only???) party this Saturday with 61 people coming and a fridge full of cava, oh and my favorite part: THE CITY's TRANSIT WORKERS ARE THREATENING TO STRIKE in about EIGHT HOURS! (For those not familiar with NYC's transit mess, this means no subway, no bus and probably no taxis because they will be impossible to find.) Which means no party, and no trip to the dentist for The Rabbit (who may be losing her two front teeth from a recent fall -- another long, horrible story I will have to recount another day.)And did I mention the freezing rain scheduled to start tonight? Ahh. How I love this time of year.

Just returned from a party. 12:15 am, The Prince is out of town, and feel like I wish I had spent the night painting the kitchen and eating some ramen. I'm afraid I just can't pass anymore into polite society. I insulted at least three people. My favorite? When I said that 39-year-old men dating insane women are obviously not interested in something serious. Now when did my grandmother decide to inhabit my body? Of course telling a guy that his television show is an example of sexism run rampent because they won't hire female writers is up there too. The thing is I've never been good at chit chat and small talk. But now, when I am racing from leaving the Rabbit mid-tantrum to a party stocked with 30-something singles, I find I expect a little more bang for my buck than people posing and flirting and patting me on the back like I'm some anachronistic throw back the '50s because I have a child. One guy told me that the reason he drinks diet pepsi is because he nee

I realise that I'm going to come across like a great big Scrooge here, but I have to admit to being totally Chrismas-ed out. It's only just turned December and I'm already suffering from seasonal overload. I barely got used to summer being over before the first Christmas ads started muscling in during commercial breaks, tacky tinsle crept into the supermarket aisles and the aural assault of piped Christmas carols started making itself felt in shopping centres. I mean, come on! Is it really necessary to have a three month run up to the festive season? I realise that the UK high street is battening down the hatches and preparing for a lean period, but still... who the hell is giving serious thought to Secret Santa purchases and stuffing recipes when they're still holding onto the remnants of their summer holiday tan? Do they think that if they don't start reminding us about Christmas as far ahead as possible, we're going to forget ? A story all over the press rec

Maybe I'm insane, but what ever happened to RSVPing on time to party invitations? The Rabbit's 3rd birthday party is on the 10th -- I emailed invites last Tuesday, and mailed handwritten invites which were delivered Monday. There are literally 9 families who have yet to EVEN RESPOND. Where were these people raised? Not that I believe everything in Emily Post -- but how about sheer courtesy? One parent went through his child's entire schedule for the day implying that if they could squeeze us in, they would let us know. Uh huh. How about, "Thank you so much for the invitation, and we are so sad we will not be able to attend." Or: "Can't make it but Happy Birthday!" Any suggestions on how to handle this would be SO appreciated. The Prince sarcastically suggested I xerox the page from Emily Post on the number of days one should respond to an invite ("several" "one or two days later is appropriate") and mail it to them. (He thinks I