I said "No!"

I've never said "No" to helping someone or somewhere before. I'm a people pleaser at heart. So last night was Grace's American Heritage Girls (AHG) luau. I was asked to help several days ago and agreed to escort a group of girls from one craft to the next. At the conclusion of the evening (8:35pm), I escorted Grace to the restroom and was waiting in the hallway for her. Our leader walked by and asked if I could help break down the party room. Instead of jumping eagerly up, I remained seated and said, "No, I'm sorry, I can't." I felt a little guilty and a little proud of myself.


The fact is that I was exhausted and had been going all day Saturday. I am dealing with this early-pregnancy fatigue and absolutely could not remain. And I figure that I did help with a large portion of the event. I swept the floor in between crafts, helped 12 girls do 3 crafts, and supervised dinner time. The parents who were coming to pick up their girls could certainly stay and put up some chairs, sweep, put food away or mop.

So I came home, worrying about getting Grace to bed because she was so bouncy and sugar-high, and halfway home I glanced in the rearview mirror and she was FAST asleep. So sleepy, in fact, that she didn't wake when we moved her from our van to her bed. She's still sleeping at 9:20 this morning as I type this.

Anyhow, I emailed our leader notifying her of my new condition and explaining that was why I could not help last night.

I suppose I should find a more graceful way to say "no", but I'm proud that I actually said it!!!