Being the ambassador for The Paw Pack Adventure Club comes with many responsibilities. In addition to the mundane tasks of paperwork and picking up poop there are some perks to my job. Recently my parents gave me the enormous task of organizing our annual pool party for our friends. At first I was ecstatic; what a great idea! I had visions of doing endless cannon balls into our pool with my friends, followed by an afternoon of leisurely napping and sunning ourselves on our deck. I was hit with a nice dose of reality though when my parents informed me that my friends would not be invited but that I’d be hosting their parents and potential new Paw Pack members. After a long debate over the guest list, which involved me pouting a bit, I realized that it’s only fair. My mom hosts daily playgroup parties for my friends so the least I could do is play with her friends. For those of you who plan to assist your parents with parties let me give you a few tips about party etiquette:
1. Food is plentiful. There was every type of food imaginable at our party except kibble. Since there were so many people milling around there’s less food supervision and more of an opportunity to sample the goods.
2. Dog cannonballs into the pool are prohibited; human cannonballs are welcome. This one is just plain unfair and I’m convinced that my dad just didn’t want me to show him up with my skills so I was indefinitely sidelined with the babies.
3. Guest greetings. Slightly different than greeting my friends. Most of my parent’s friends do not want to be sniffed nor do they want to be forced into scratching my butt. I hardly think I’m asking for much; I am hosting a party for them and deserve a thank you!
4. Cleanup. Quite the production and it takes more than a handful of poop bags. My favorite part of cleanup is pre-washing the dishes; they can’t say I wasn’t helping!
Overall I think my parents were happy with my party planning. We had a nice day, good turnout and most importantly they didn’t embarrass me in front of my friends’ parents. I feel confident I’ve set the bar for future social events!