Sunday evening at 7:55 p.m. my wife said, 'I think that went pretty good.'

I agreed. Graduation open house....is...done. And I do mean done.

Sunday's open house was our third and final Graduation get together. Our youngest son Tad will be off to college at Northern State in Aberdeen this fall.

There were a couple of things that stood out at our celebration this year.

#1 It was a celebration. We somehow got 3 kids through high school. Any parent that's been through the process knows what it takes. That's a lot of mornings getting kids ready for school.

#2 Many of our sons friends are the baby's in their own families. Talking with parents that had been through the same thing multiple times and who are now 'done' made for an awesome weekend.

#3 Our garage transformed from a February, wet floor disaster to big, living space for the big day.

#4 The real stars of the graduation party are grandparents and teachers. If you are lucky enough to get a teacher to come to your party, that's a big deal. If you get a popular teacher from Junior High that's a real score.

Pic by JD Collins-KIKN/Sprint Sioux Falls
Pic by JD Collins-KIKN/Sprint Sioux Falls
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If you are getting ready for a graduation party, (if you have a young child it will be here before you know it) Here are a couple of things you can expect.

#1 Show and go is OK. Parties ebb and flow like retail traffic. It can shift from slow and sit to crazy (*&^! We have already talked about scheduling a trip to our hometowns so we can actually spend some 'time' with parents and relatives who traveled many miles to come to the party only to watch us frantically trying to greet everyone and take care of details. If you are planning on going to a Graduation party, chances are you can stop in, shake a hand, give a hug or two leave a card, grab a bite and fly.

#2 You might have sent out 40 or 50 invitations, but with kids and social media, things can get interesting fast. One tweet with an invitation can go out to over 600 people with a couple key strokes. We were ready with a Nacho Cheese Machine and tons of food. We never did take an official count, but the estimate was about 180 to 200 people came through. It was awesome to see all the high school kids come through. All of them great kids.

#3 The heroes come out before and after the party. Our son Logan was back from school in Aberdeen. We asked him to help with the Nachos and he did it all. Our friends from the Armour-Wagner area somehow appear when tables and chairs need to be returned and dishes need to be washed. And Carol and Al from up the street helped in so many ways you can't write them all.

It's over. It's done!

Now, we get to go to a few more open houses ourselves. Oh, and if you look at how many nieces and nephews we have we'll be busy in the years to come too.

 

 

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