Minnie's Masquerade Party!

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So, my birthday was last Friday and, rather than going out drinking and partying like an adult, I decided to spend it having a wonderful G-rated evening with my daughter. I planned to take her to the local Disney store for their "Minnie's Masquerade" party and dinner. I invited her BFFs, Sophia and Hayden (and their respective mommies, Erin & Jen) to join us too. Then we were all supposed to go out to dinner....

I should have known it was going to be one of "those" days when I woke up in the morning to shooting pains radiating up and down from my hip. I assumed I had pulled a muscle somehow, but some friends have suggested that it might be a pinched sciatic nerve. Way to make me feel every one of my 34 years on my bday! So after school, I pick up Em and she is so excited. She has apparently been talking all day about going to the mall. I dress her in the requisite princess garb and off we go. When we got to the Disney store she was very excited to see Sophia and, a few minutes later, Hayden. All 3 of the girls were showing us cute princess dolls and jammies and all sorts of overpriced trinkets. Then we had them line up to get ready for the party and all of a sudden Emma turned sullen. She refused to get in any pictures with her friends. She refused to sit with them, make the crown crafts, learn Minnie's new dance, or participate in the parade. I had no idea what was going on. After the party had ended she remained on the ground (where she had been hiding behind a clothing rack for the entire time) and burst into tears. I told our friends to go ahead without us and we would try to catch up. By the time I got her calmed down and able to tell me why she had been acting like such a brat, I couldn't even believe the answer. Apparently, when it had been time to line up and we mommies all called our respective children over, I told her (and I quote, as per Emma)
E:"You said, 'Emma Grace Marquiss, do not take one more thing off those racks.'"
Me: Um... yeah. That's what I said. So?
E: "Well, that was yelling and you hurt my feelings and embarassed me in the store."

O.M.G.!!! Are you flipping kidding me?!?! Now it took me another ten minutes to explain to her that, first of all, that was not yelling. And, second of all, the only person she hurt by throwing this fit was herself. She had lost out on all the fun by refusing to talk to me or tell me why she was upset. I also pointed out that she had not gotten a crown or a prize since she had refused to talk to the workers either. She pointed out that I had those items in my bag for her and I let her know that, no, those were mine since I had not thrown a fit. (I held strong for about 3 days - she ended up getting them later that weekend.) She apologized for throwing a fit and I told her that I was sorry she thought I yelled. By now we were too late to go meet people so we just had dinner by ourselves at the food court. It worked out okay though. It was quiet and probably cheaper than a real dinner out.

And, to top this very long day off, we were unable to go home. All the furniture from the living room was currently shoved into the kitchen because Scott and Tim were refinishing the living room floors. So everyone was invited to a giant slumber party at Tim & Jen's while the varnish had a chance to dry overnight. Fun? Yes. But sleeping on an air mattress was the absolute last thing I wanted to do with my back pain. So I dropped Emma off to enjoy an evening with her cousins and headed home. Once I navigated through the maze to my room, I actually enjoyed a muscle relaxer, a scary movie, a bottle of wine, and an entire bed all to myself all night.... Happy Birthday to me!