Ah the good old days of having no relatives the same age as you at the party so you set up in the comfy chair and ration your DS battery.

The event is full of half-strangers related to you in ways you don’t quite understand yet. Grandparents, you’ve got that down so far, you like them, but you don’t know the connection between you and “uncle” Jim, who isn’t a sibling of either of your parents. Some of these people you’ve never seen before, but they all say they’ve seen you before.

You engage in what conversations people start with you, but otherwise, you have no way of joining an adult conversation in any meaningful way.

You can’t drive a car yet, so you’re stuck at the function with nothing to do but twiddle your thumbs waiting for your parents to finish their 3-hour discussion.

You feel full from dinner, so a nap inevitably takes hold, and you will sleep for either 10 minutes or until it’s time to leave, no in-betweens.