So I’m on the Halloween Party Committee at preschool – actually, I’m the co chair. I signed up knowing I’d be helpful and enthusiastic… and really good at it. I’m a producer! I’m a party lover – Look out new preschool parents! This is gonna be an amazing party!!

My first task was to price catering for about 100 people – kids & parents. I priced tacos and pizza all coming in between $800 and $400, but our budget is closer to $500.

And then someone suggested a grilled cheese truck!

Turns out we can’t really have or afford an actual truck, but there are plenty of places that will drop grilled cheese sandwiches or varieties of sandwiches off at the school.

So I began to price them and found a perfect place – that even had bacon guacamole grilled cheese – and only $32 a person!
We’d be under budget!!

I quickly emailed EVERYONE – all the new parents I’d only known for a few weeks. All the parents I am trying to be friends with, impress with my skills and show my best to…. I sent them this $32 a person menu and then wondered why no one was writing to me telling me how amazing I was and how skilled at party planning I was? I was just baffled.

Emails were going back and forth about different options and I kept emailing my fabulous $32 a person menu and no one was responding. I kept writing things like you guys, this place is really the answer to all our problems! and Hey! We can come under budget with the $32 menu!! and Seriously, everyone, this food is amazing and we get so much for the money!

No one ever responded to me.

After days and days of this (OK, maybe a week) I went back to … my amazing menu and pondered it – why was no one responding?  Slowly it hit me. No. It couldn’t be. “Oh, wait. 100 people at $32 a person isn’t $320. It’s $3200.”

I felt so dumb.
I had so wanted to find the best place. Was my dumb math really wishful thinking? What the Hell happened to my brain?
So now everyone thinks I never passed math after 2nd grade.

I told one of the moms that I had found my mistake and was so embarrassed! “How could I have not seen that?”

“Baby brain,” she said, smiling.

Very nice of her.

But my baby was 3 1/2.

But, to all the parents credit, no one ever mentioned it to me – not my bad math or dumb insistence that my idea was best …. I’m sure they are giving me the benefit of the doubt.

Preschool is harder than I thought.