Whose party???

Mark hit another milestone yesterday. He was invited to, and excited to attend, a birthday party.

For a girl. A girl who is not related to him, and therefore, not obligated to invite him to her birthday.

Ack!!! That's right, my (newly) 11-year-old (my baby!) is now attending co-ed birthday parties. And yes, ladies and gentlemen, that's me, Overprotective Mom, in the corner, having a series of tiny little heart attacks.

It started out with a simple piece of notebook paper Mark jammed into my hand when I picked him up from school. "Come to my party!" it read.

"A party!" I squealed (I love parties).

And then I kept reading...it was signed Emily.

I cleared my throat. "Who's Emily?" I asked ever-so-casually.

"A girl...a friend," Mark answered.

"A girlfriend?" I replied in the most immature voice possible. I watched a million microexpressions (mostly embarrassment and disgust) flash across Mark's face, and I mentally kicked myself for being such an idiot.

I immediately recovered. "I'm sorry," I told Mark. "I'll behave. So, she's in your class?"

"Yup," Mark sighed, relieved I wasn't going to torture him about girls. "We're going to see the movie 'Rango'! And Brandon's going, too."

So maybe I didn't have to worry after all. He really just wanted to go to the movies, and play with his guy friends, not flirt with girls. At least, that's the story I'm going with...

Mark had a blast at the party. When I arrived to pick him up, the boys were busy throwing baby avocados around the backyard while the girls watched on, giggling. I chatted with Emily's dad for a few minutes. He looked a little shell shocked.

"This was a big birthday," he told me. "First time she's ever invited boys."

"How'd you survive?" I asked.

He chuckled a bit and whispered, "It was so funny--they all got their pizza, and then the boys sat at one table, and all the girls sat at the other table. They didn't want to be too close!"

I giggled. Some things never change.

In the end, all the kids had a blast. They loved the movie, they loved the party, and Mark talked about it all the way home. He seemed very mature about it all.

Wish I could say the same for me and Emily's dad. I'm glad everything went well, but to be honest with you...I'm not ready for Mark to hit the boy/girl stuff yet!