13 year old girls

There is something horrible happening at my house right now. Startlingly horrendous. There are 7 (that's right, seven, 7) 13 year olds in my living room. They are playing "American Idol". They are lipsynching (is that how it's spelled?). To really awful music. Then judging one another ala Paula, Simon, and Randy.

I am old. :-O Overnight parties were banned a few years back, after the night from hell. Otherwise nice children making bald-faced refusals to stop screaming after 1am does not enamor me to party sleepovers. So this party lasts only from 4p to 7p. Then ONLY two teenies come back for an overnight. Which will be relatively quiet. Decibels within the range of normal. Or at least not ear-splitting.

But I can't say that this party is a stellar alternative to the party from hell. Even Schafer the woo-woo dog is hiding from the cacophony. Good thing we drugged him for the thunderstorms that passed through a few hours back, or he'd be hiding underneath the computer table from the thumping bass line and squealing sopranos.

Groups of 13 year old girls should be outlawed. They should not be able to gather in gaggles larger than, say, three. Just as geese become bolder and more obnoxious as the gaggle grows, so goes 13 year old girls. They goad each other to higher and higher levels of annoying behavior. There were many conversations about the relative "hotness" of various babies, er, teen idols. There was an alarming discussion (quickly ended by me) about "weinises" and their relative properties.

It's almost 7pm now. They are heading out to play in the sprinkler. It's odd and more than a bit jolting, how quickly they go from being little girls to preternatural women. They went from joking about "weinises" to running under the sprinkler, shrieking like 7 year olds. They paraded along the sidewalk in their swimsuits. Some of them look good enough to literally stop traffic, while others look like those 7 year olds. I probably should've put the kibosh on that, too. But I couldn't bring myself to see them as traffic-stopping until I saw the look on another mom's face when she arrived at the end of their parade down the block. Argh.

Around 7:15 I was able to have a nice chat with the aforementioned mom, whom I'm really enjoying getting to know, amidst the continued chaos. And we ended that part of the evening watching Annie and Kathryn doing their highly amusing disco dance routine to some highly 80s music.

After 8p, it appears that the estrogen/adrenaline level has finally lowered, though. The three teenies are ensconced in front of a screen, watching "Mean Girls". Very appropo viewing, as Annie has had trouble with one of these girls BEING mean to her. Watching this movie is a rite of passage for A, as I wouldn't let her see it for quite a while. Just seemed a bit harsh to me, and wanted to protect her, I guess. But since she's experienced it in her own life, and since the Mean Girls don't win, I think it will be a good view for her now.

I'm a tired puppy, friends. Yawn.

Until tomorrow,
Liz