Bubbles had the most fabulous party for himself yesterday! That two year old knows how to party. When the mommies in class on Friday asked where he was, I explained that the day before had been his birthday, and since I had to run errands after class for his party on Saturday, he decided to stay home with the daddy and play with their his 'brand new' (ebay) collection of matchbox cars. When they asked what 'kind' of party we were having for him, I answered, "The kind at which tri-tip and lemon drops are served! And cake! Of course, I make a cake!"
The reactions were hilarious. Some were surprised. Some were wishing they had been invited, and some were taking notes for their toddler's next shindig.
I continued, "We mountain people don't understand you city folk with your renting of bounce houses and barney appearances! I've got a lot of crayons, two swingsets, a zip line and some juice boxes - come on over and party!"
This got a few laughs, but truthfully? The 'cultural differences' between these communities (where I often work and where I live) only 60 miles apart are astonishing, if not always funny. I could go on and on about how many families I see that have an air about them (if not mantra with which they are raising their children) that oozes entitlement; seriously believing that money can and will buy them (their child) anything. But I'll stop there with my gross generalizations and keep this nice.
There is a part of me that believes (and also shared with these mommies) that, until a child is old enough to actually make requests about his party, then it is pretty much a celebration of survival for the parents, and should be arranged as such.
This does not mean that I did not want to celebrate my son's birthday for him. Of course we did! And we had all of his favorite things there - he doesn't give a crap about having a birthday party with pony rides or hired entertainment. The cake was chocolate, with chocolate frosting. He generally loves (though did not eat one bite last night of) steak. Daddy set up a pumpkin patch with haybales and giant pumpkins in the yard (one truck + party after halloween + abandoned pumpkin patch = party decorations!), dumped new sand in the sand pile (bad kitty!) for the new construction vehicles, and we invited our friends (with whom we like to spend time) with Bubbles' favorite toddlers in tow. We were fortunate enough to have two talented guitar players present, and they played the most engaging repertoire of folksongs, velvet underground and grateful dead while the kids jammed along with drums and other percussion instruments that my career enables me to have on hand in great amounts!
Bubbles loves a good jam session. He would actually stop in between songs and look up at the guitar player and wait for his cue, then he would join in, carefully seeking out the rhythm, and would almost always find it right away! He has definitely benefited from the 'over-exposure' to music classes as mama's tagalong. I suppose I may have to start preparing for life as the mama of a 'moody musician'...
Do we know how to throw a party? I would say it was the perfect commingling of adult fun and childrens' fun.
The reactions were hilarious. Some were surprised. Some were wishing they had been invited, and some were taking notes for their toddler's next shindig.
I continued, "We mountain people don't understand you city folk with your renting of bounce houses and barney appearances! I've got a lot of crayons, two swingsets, a zip line and some juice boxes - come on over and party!"
This got a few laughs, but truthfully? The 'cultural differences' between these communities (where I often work and where I live) only 60 miles apart are astonishing, if not always funny. I could go on and on about how many families I see that have an air about them (if not mantra with which they are raising their children) that oozes entitlement; seriously believing that money can and will buy them (their child) anything. But I'll stop there with my gross generalizations and keep this nice.
There is a part of me that believes (and also shared with these mommies) that, until a child is old enough to actually make requests about his party, then it is pretty much a celebration of survival for the parents, and should be arranged as such.
This does not mean that I did not want to celebrate my son's birthday for him. Of course we did! And we had all of his favorite things there - he doesn't give a crap about having a birthday party with pony rides or hired entertainment. The cake was chocolate, with chocolate frosting. He generally loves (though did not eat one bite last night of) steak. Daddy set up a pumpkin patch with haybales and giant pumpkins in the yard (one truck + party after halloween + abandoned pumpkin patch = party decorations!), dumped new sand in the sand pile (bad kitty!) for the new construction vehicles, and we invited our friends (with whom we like to spend time) with Bubbles' favorite toddlers in tow. We were fortunate enough to have two talented guitar players present, and they played the most engaging repertoire of folksongs, velvet underground and grateful dead while the kids jammed along with drums and other percussion instruments that my career enables me to have on hand in great amounts!
Bubbles loves a good jam session. He would actually stop in between songs and look up at the guitar player and wait for his cue, then he would join in, carefully seeking out the rhythm, and would almost always find it right away! He has definitely benefited from the 'over-exposure' to music classes as mama's tagalong. I suppose I may have to start preparing for life as the mama of a 'moody musician'...
Do we know how to throw a party? I would say it was the perfect commingling of adult fun and childrens' fun.
1 comment:
I agree with you. My daughter is turning four this year and she has asked to go to chuck e cheese. Before this it was always pizza and family very low key. Untill they start asking keep it simple.
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