The "Special" Balloon

In the last post I mentioned the party we had for our little pre-school graduates.  What is a party without a few mylar balloons so I swung over to Party City to indulge in a few for the boys.  They were each instructed to take one home to enjoy over the weekend.  As I was walking in that evening for pickup, Grayson, one of Jack's best buddies since three months old (also a fellow graduate and camp-goer), was charging toward me with a look I hadn't seen before.  It was a cross between 'I'm so pissed I'm going to poke you in the eye' and 'I may be a studly 5-year old but I'm not afraid to cry if so moved.'  I said "what's wrong Grayson?"  Obviously holding back the tears he just pointed and said "LOOK!"  I immediately saw that his special balloon with very special meaning had been mangled.  Apparently, a 4-year old gangsta kid walked by, smacked it, and broke the end off that holds the string.  Of course, without the string to hold it down it immediately floated to the ceiling.  My friend Heather, Grayson's Mommy, was holding his adorable 2-year old sister, Reagan.  Poor little Reagan was still so upset about the run-away balloon (even though they had already managed to get it off the very high ceiling - still not exactly sure how they managed to do that?)  We chatted for a minute then they headed up front to do perform some magic on the special balloon.

Fast-forward 45 minutes.  We pulled into the garage, Jack hops out of the car with his special balloon, Joshua hops out, I grab Jamison out of his seat, and we are all standing in the driveway.  Suddenly, I hear a high pitched scream that couldn't possibly have come from one of my kids - it sounded more like a hyena's mating call.  Oh yes it could!  Apparently, that was Jack's "I just accidentally let go of my balloon and it is sailing off to the clouds" scream.  I made a jump for it but you can only jump so high with high heals and a 30 pound almost toddler on your hip.  Can we say M-E-L-T-D-O-W-N!  He was so upset and could only squeak out "but my special balloon" through all the tears.  Dad immediately said "well, let's go get you another one."  I agreed - great idea!  Anything to get this babe to happy again.  

So, Jack, Joshua, and Mom hopped in the car, spent the $2.34 in gas to drive back to Party City, spent another $2.98 on the same balloon, hopped back in the car and made the trek back home again with balloon in tow.  Whew, happy day's again!  They thoroughly enjoy the balloon over the weekend (especially Jamison) and it's definitely looking weathered.  Earlier today it was stuck to the ceiling after having lost it's string.  When I ran down to take a picture tonight, it had disappeared so Dad and I went on a hunt.  We found it hiding on the office floor, apparently looking for some peace and quiet!  As for the original "special" balloon, we think it is floating somewhere over Florida now.

This story begs a question I've been thinking about.  How much is too much?  At what point does being a concerned and loving parent cross over to being a spoiling and loving parent?  I don't know where exactly that line falls but I will tell you - that was the best $5.32 I spent all week!