Holiday Party

[DCJenn]

Well, the combined Air Force/Army pediatric holiday party is this evening. Last year's party was so horrible that I volunteered to help with this year's party. Last year there were no decorations, no music, a cash bar and the food was completely random: roast beef, cheese cubes, flan, cookies, mashed potatoes and finger sandwiches- all laid out at the same time! and the highlight of the event was one of Rick's co-workers doing his dinosaur imitation. Sober.



this year we're having it at a downtown hotel (historic hotel) and the decorations that were up two weeks ago were beautiful and they were going to add more. We've arranged a room for the people to bring their kids- we're charging $10 per kid and one of the docs nannies and friends have agreed to work. I went to the store and bought kid snack foods (juice, fake chocolate milk, string cheese, fruit roll-ups etc- ) and the grown-up food is going to be awesome. We told the chef- be creative but not too creative (military people aren't exactly known for their spontaneity or creativity) and no foofy food. So, he's come up with a chicken breast in a mushroom sauce, a salad, a fabulous sounding rice dish. We'll have open bar for a while and one of the other docs husband's have downloaded all kinds of music.



The way we were able to afford this was to charge the staff $45 per person and the interns and residents $35 per person. They didn't complain- we know their rank and their corresponding salaries!!



Let's hope its fun!



Jenn

Phew! With those prices there would be no way we'd be able to attend such a party! That would be $30 for our kids ($40 next Christmas) and then $70 just for Jon and I!!!! That's a hundred bucks (even more next year as I mentioned) just to attend a Christmas party! Good grief! - we spent waaayyyy less than that per child on Christmas presents this year!!!



Jennifer

Wow...It sounds like a wonderful party...I'm with Jennifer though....we missed all three Christmas Gala's during Thomas's residency because they charged 45$ plus childcare....



But that being said, we did make the choice to have children and of course knew that there would be financial consequences of me not working and caring for the kids....we went into it with our eyes wide open and so we knew we'd have to miss out on some things like that....



It sounds like you did a really wonderful job, Jenn...you should be really PROUD! I hope it is a BLAST!!!!!



Kris

OK- as the one with no kids, I have to say that you did an awesome job Jenn! I think the on-site babysitting is a great idea as was the kid-friendly food. The adult food sounds good and being someone that works full time, I don't think the prices are that bad. Sometimes the excuse to get dressed up and get out of your regular life for a while is worth a little money. I'm a big believer in that, and quite honestly I sense a little less wear and tear on our relationship than I do some of our friends that don't get out of this tedious med school life.



I'll get off my soapbox now. I just wanted you to know that I think you did a great job!



Wendy

[DCJenn]

Well-



It was fabulous! The food was incredible- my outfit was smashing and I painted my toenails red and green. every other toe- put on a toe ring and wore my completely finky black velvet flip-flops that I had to have. Excellent. Drank way too much red wine and paid for it all day. We three planners informed the bartenders that we would be drinking for free for the entire night. So, we did.



It was really fun though and everybody was duly impressed. As for the money- remember, none of these people have med school debt and some, like my spouse, were paid a very nice salary during med school. Therefore, I felt no pain in asking them to cough up additional cash!



Some people left their kids at home, and some brought them and they didn't go to the kid room, most brought the kids and they had a good time, too.



All in all- a lovely evening, even if my head was fuzzy all day.



Jenn

Well, there are two concerns I have about this: one is that in the miltary a lot of "socializing" type functions are required attendance for the military medical personnel (re: docs). If this was one of those events it would've severly handicapped us financially just send Jon. The second thing is that we are currently receiving the income of an active duty captain in the military and, even though Jon was on the HPSP scholarship in medical school, we still have a debt to pay off - so if Jon was an intern serving in a military residency (as opposed to serving in a civilian residency at the moment - but, yes, he still gets the full, active-duty income right now) we would definitely not be in attendance at that particular socializing event. It is just sad that events such as that exclude those who have the most important job in the world - raising children. Perhaps, however, much of the cost of the event could've been cut by curtailing the alcolhol bill (not everyone has to drink to have fun).



Jennifer

How fun! We got invited to the Saginaw, MI Osteopathic Christmas party with the $50 per plate fee waived for us. I was all excited to get spiffed up and go out (I gotta remember the red and green toenails!). Dave came home that evening as I was in the shower and told me he thought he had food poisoning. He said he was just going to lay down for a few minutes to see if he felt better. 10 minutes later, I heard snoring. So much for the party.....



I want to come to the next one you plan Jenn!



Wendy

[Meenah]

Jenn,

The party sounds great. I wish I could have been there!!! You may have found a new profession "Event Planner". My niece just graduated from college with a Liberal Arts degree, and she has a job with the Mariott as an Event Planner making an unbelievable amount of money.

Luanne

[DCJenn]

Luanne-



I have always thought that would be a great job to have! My sister-in-law is even better. I made her the Best Chick in our wedding so that she would have a 'job' because otherwise I knew she'd plan me to death! I also made her the Best Chick because she's exceptionally cool but really- she hand painted her Christmas Party invitations!!



Jenn

[DCJenn]

Jennifer-



I appreciate your input and want you to know that there were plenty of people who did not attend- for any number of reasons.



We had to have alcohol because that's how we funded a large portion of the evening after the 'open' bar closed. Not everyone drank, in fact, there is a rather large faction of people of diverse religious backgrounds who don't ever drink. We also had sparkling water, tea and coffee available, along with sodas.



The cost was high- but not much higher than what we paid last year and what we got last year was horrible.



We had the chief resident (who was a performance major) play the piano and people sang Christmas carols and in the other room we had dancing. It's an ethnic and religiously diverse crowd and we did what we could to accommodate the majority. (the guy who played Santa and gave gifts to the kids was Jewish) Actually, two couples who had complained the loudest about the costs complemented me and said now they knew why we had to charge what we did. (and it was only $10 more than last year but it made a huge difference in terms of venue and food)



We don't have any really 'required' functions that include spouses or kids. Most of their required functions are done while they're at work and they are usually not social. There are various other opportinuties for paid social functions- there's a ball every year, there's a roast and then there's boondoggle weekend. We have to pay for those functions. Boondoggle is required- the options are you pay and go away for the weekend or you work. Everybody goes because it's the beach and it's always at a kid-friendly resort. (instant babysitters- pediatricians watch their kids, other peoples kids, strangers kids!) Plus the staff cover the hospital and it's the only opportunity for the interns and residents to get away together.



So, all in all, it was a great party, attended by those who wanted to go and those who did go said they had a great time.



Jenn

It sounds like a wonderful event, Jenn, and I'm glad you had such a good time...I bet your hubby is proud of the job that you did! It sure beats the party that they had last year, huh? So now we know who to get to do the planning if we manage to pull together a get-together for all of us

I'll bring the Gluehwein! (alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions to please all pallets!)



Ummmmmm.....they actually CHARGED people for the party last year????? yipes!



It's actually not just military where you are expected to attend certain functions...this year, the hospital had a couple of "optional" (required) parties....and we weren't reallly in a position to foot the childcare bills for them.....at $8/hour with a 3 hour minimum......so.....just one of us went...I was happy to let Thomas go to the hospital galas and I went to the neighborhood get-together...also not required, but since it was for everyone in our cul-de-sac and everyone was going, it would have been perceived as unfriendly if I hadn't gone...and I went and had a real blast!



Glad to hear it went so well, Jenn!



WooHoo...party, party....nothing like the holidays to put me in the celebrating mood!!!



Kris

i'm thinking more like "Out of Control Chick" I'm doing good to get make-up on each day.. hand painting invitations to a party is out of the realm of possibilities!



wendy

[houseelf]

Jenn!



What a blast! I'm so jealous. The department party here is always a grand affair and we take it as a our yearly opportunity to leave our mundane suburban lives and live the grand life for a night. Unfortunately, there has never been an offer for onsight childcare and we must rely our own resources to procure a sitter in our home. How thoughtful of you to provide this service to parents! We would have taken you up! We really appreciate all the effort that goes into planning such event and I'm sure that the revelers appreciated all of your attention to detail as well. I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself.



Kelly

Jenn -

Congrats on the successful party! It is much more difficult than people think to plan a SUCCESSFUL party! I must tell you that I am going to steal your toenail polish idea for a party this weekend - I love it! The two department parties we have been to so far have been OK - nothing to write home about. There is one this weekend that should be much more fun b/c it is only the residents.

[Amiens]

We just had our holiday party at the beginning of this month. I am surprised that people have to pay to go to their department holiday parties.



Here, the Univ of CO IM Dept threw a beautiful holiday party for their staff and residents. In fact they provided call coverage for all of the interns and residents for that night so that they could attend the party, using fellows from other specialities. I think that it may have been sponsored in part by a drug rep company but I am not sure (I do know that the Fri Afternoon Reports {FAR}s- once a month they have a catered barbeque like dinner that is sponsored by a drug company). I didn't see any name recognition on the invites or at the event itself.



They had it at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver (nice place), with a complete sit down dinner, a band, and dancing.



I had a ton of fun, as did Matthew.



Crystal