Christmas Party

Dear Mouse, Last minute, my friend, the mother of the"boy from hell" decided to attend the party. The case was resolved with the voluteering of the father to attend anger management class. She is happy. Its her birthday gift yesterday, Dec. 12. So we carpooled because she did not know the way. They came late. The travel time is more than 30 minutes. The boy was in the car, poking her one -year old sister until she cried. The mother told him to stop. He started kicking the front seats while I tried to drink my canned coconut juice. I told him to stop---but the more he rocked the car seats at the same time banging the biscuit's tin can. I looked at him in the eyes and warned him that if he is not going to stop, we are going back home and leave him to his dad. He stopped but he looked at me straight to my eyes without blinking. I did not blink and said BOO. My friend planned to "ship' him out" to the Philippines. He is out of control. He shoplifts, bullies all kids he meet, quarrels with his classmates in the special class. And he is barely three feet tall. The house was in a gated community. We circled the area and found the house just a few feet away from the gate. It was a small party. The gang is complete. The friends' old mothers were there too to babysit the babies while we enjoyed the sumptous meal of roast beef with baked potato, caesar's salad, pasta, spicy chicken wings with wine in crystal goblets. No styrofoam, no paper cups and no plastic fork and spoon. Ahhh, hindi ako nabusog. Oh yes, it was very American until I brought out the Pilipino bistek and the baboy and tokwa. The ube cake was also a hit. wow, they thought that I was a good cook. Thanks to the oriental store that sells Filipino cooked food.(So that was my dream about the carinderia). That is weird, the beef steak is exactly the way I saw it in the dream. The sing-along was fun. The magic mike's rating is biased to people who can sing loud and follow the highlighted word to a t. Despite the Unemployment club, inc. that was extemporaneously organized by the husbands of my friends who joined the ranks of the recipients of EDD unemployment checks recently, the group's morale is still high with the unwavering emotional support that we have been giving each other for the past Christmases. The kids have their gifts. We decided to give clothes instead of toys and made a pact that toys and clothes that have been outgrown would be loaned among children who are next in age. They will be returned to the original owner once the borrowers have outgrown them too. The toys are mostly learning toys and are not easily broken except when subjected to extreme torture by the "boy". After the gift-giving by "Santa Claus", the youngest baby, all but 5 months old cried. She is being pestered by the "boy". I know my friend did not enjoy the party because the friends were lukewarm to her because of her kid. He knocked the baby walker down, tinkered with the bike-exerciser, hid the cellphone under the stairwell that we have to call the number and searched where the ringing was coming from. hay..too much stress. And yet, my friend was set to attend another party, so after more Christmasses greetings. we drove away... We missed the next exit that we have to get off the freeway and go back where we came from. Then the boy saw Mc Donald. He said he is "humpry" and he likes Mc nuggets. We headed to the drive thru and made the order. In between the ordering and paying, he asked for burger with coke...okay no problem, she made the additional order as she paid...In between the paying and the claim counters, he said, he did not want a soda, he wanted juice. The mom went back to the counters. The moment, he got the meals, he looked for the toy and put away the burger, the nuggets and the juice. grrr. Now I know why the boy is rotten spoiled. The mom cannot say no. The CA t