Not A Super Sweet 16 (Scheduling, Negotiation, Risk Management)

My daughter T is turning 16 this Sunday.

Last year, when she was turning 15, we were going to have a mini Quinceañera for her, with just our family and close family friends... but then she got in trouble in a BIG way, so I canceled her Quinces two days before the party.

Turning 16 years old is a big milestone for any adolescent. She's very excited about it, but she told me that she was also afraid of growing up.

Her biggest fear was Taxes.

I told my daughter that she doesn't have to worry too much about Taxes, because she can outsource it to a third party, like we do. --> Risk Management

Since we are going to Rome in December over the Christmas Holidays, and that will cost a lot of money, we decided as a family that we will just keep16th birthday celebration to a minimum, and have brunch with the clan instead.

As for her birthday wish list, T asked if she could get a Blackberry and a pair of Michael Jordans.

But I told her that she doesn't need a Blackberry, because she needs a job first to pay for it. However, the final trade-off was that I will get her a Blackberry, but not a data plan. So this means that she can continue with texting on the Blackberry, but she can't use Blackberry Messenger. If she wants to have a data plan, she needs to find a way to fund it.

Today, I ordered a "nearly new" Blackberry from Ebay, which should arrive in 10 business days. Yes, the gift will arrive past her birthday, but I felt this is a good trade-off, worthy of her anticipation. --> Negotiation, Scheduling

The rest of this post deals with Scheduling, Negotiation, and Risk Management

My other objective was to schedule Brunch for 11 people.

Since 60% of our family has relocated to Stoney Creek, Ontario, I figured that the best option was to find a restaurant that is as close to Stoney Creek as possible. The target locaton: Oakville, Ontario.

I've used OpenTable in the past, so I happily booked a table for 11 at Oliver & Bonacini Grill in Oakville.

Two days later, my mom emailed me and said maybe it's a better idea to have the Brunch in Toronto, rather than Oakville, because she and my dad will be in Toronto on that day to sing at Church.

Hmm.

So, based on mostly positive reviews, my next restaurant booking was for an all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet restaurant called Sushi on 7.

Two days later, my mom emailed me again, and said maybe we should stick to Oakville after all, cause my sister has been having contractions, and that she might have the baby any day now... maybe she might even go into labour on T's birthday, while we're having Brunch.

By this time I was getting really annoyed, because of all the Change Requests coming from my mom.

So I waited 5 hours, and emailed her back and said we will just stay with the Toronto plan, because majority will be here.

After 24 hours, I felt bad saying that, because it may mean Lulu and Olivia won't be able to come to T's 16th birthday brunch, and I really want to see them. Also, I'm trying to be a little less PMSy.

It is important to note that I kept the Oliver & Bonacini Oakville reservation, even though I had another reservation with Sushi on 7 in Markham. Why? Because I figured that something like this would happen, based on previous Lessons Learned from being a part of our wacky (but very much loved by us) extended family.

So to address logistical constraints, food preferences, the fact that my sister may pop out the baby any time now, I made reservations at an all-you-can-eat Japanese & Thai Buffet in Oakville, called Spoon & Fork.

I proceeded to cancel the O&B and Sushi on 7 reservations shortly thereafter.

I emailed my mom with the confirmation, and she exclaimed how good I am at project management.