That's A Poor Purple Barney!

I just read a post from a classmate of mind which reminded of Poor Purple Barney.  "I Love You, You Love Me"....is what I heard Over and Over and Over in the 1990's the decade of me raising 4 daughters.  That was also the decade I went ALL  OUT on birthday parties.  This was ALL BEFORE CANCER AND BEFORE like Viola Davis says in the HELP......"The Devil done planted a bitter seed in me"...  My youngest daughter who is now 12 is lucky to get a  gift placed neatly in a Birthday Bag WITH TISSUE..  Nowadays it's mostly a Wal Mart plastic bag maybe with fruit next to the gift.  Getting back to Poor Purple Barney..If you have read my memoir there is a story about the Cinderella cake that I made from looking at a photo in a magazine, before Pinterest.  Let's just say, I put a LIVE goldfish in the middle of the cake which was suppose to be I guess, Cinderella's Looking Glass Pond Whateva.  Total disaster.... The goldfish kept splashing water all over the icing... Sounds delicious right? .....Fastforward 7 years my youngest was turning the precious age of 2.  So Mommy ME wanted this birthday special, this was before I had cancer, had entergy, and felt good ALWAYS (gotta read my memoir)....  First was the outfit.  I hand painted a cute Barney picture on a little white Tshirt dress and made a matching bow.  I then called to see if I could get a "Real" Barney to come to my house.  I looked in the yellow pages an found Spoiled Kids Are Us, sure enough, they had a "Real" Barney. I booked it and was all set for the party three weeks later.  That Friday I  called Spoiled Kids Are Us to verify that Barney was indeed coming to my house the next day because EVERYTHING was about Purple Barney.. I had Purple Balloons, Purple Plates, Purple Cake, Purple Candy, Purple Kool- Aide, I guess you can call it a Purple Paradise for Spoiled Toddlers.  The lady at Spoiled Kids Are Us said she hasn't seen Barney in about 2 weeks, and she had no way of contacting him, all she knew was that he was on probation for something.  My mind went Manic, I, screamed, WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE BARNEY IS AT THE MOMENT?, I'M HAVING A BARNEY PARTY TOMORROW, IT'S ALL ABOUT PURPLE BARNEY".  I then thought fast and said, "what can I rent besides a circus?"...   "Well she said", I have an Inflatable Bouncy Thing (with a slide) and I have a Mock Donald Ball Pit."  I screamed, "I'LL TAKE IT, I'LL TAKE IT". Of course my older 3 girls have never let me forget that I never went that far with their Birthday Parties. I now reply, "Well, she's is my favorite, go talk to your therapist about it."  The next day is Purple Party Day, the kids arrived to their Purple Paradise, minus the Purple Barney, and start jumping in the Inflatable Bouncy Thing (with a slide) and play in the Mock Donald Ball Bit.  I am looking from my driveway when I see this jalopy looking car pull up close to my house. Guess who it is?... A drunk man stumbles out of the car and precedes to put on his Worn Down Rugged Thrift Store Used & Abused St Vincent De Paul Costume of Barney, followed by his 8 year old daughter who was the MC for the party.  I screamed..."OH, MY, GOD....BARNEY IS HERE!!!"....The little girl guides her drunk daddy who can't see not because of the beer buzz but because of the Giant Barney Head to the backyard.  She plays the boom box while her daddy has to dance with the rich kids.  My 7 year old looks at Poor Purple Barney and says, "Barney why you got holes everywhere, I see your toesies"... Let me tell you, I never felt so ashamed in my life.  I kept offering the little working girl cake, candy,  ice cream, kool-aide, but she kept shaking her head no, "she was there to work only." I think I called "Cut" after 20 minutes of seeing the dichotomy between the working little girl and the party going girls.  It's been over a decade, I've never planned another Birthday Party again.  The end.