It was Smallsteps' birthday over a week ago, but today we will have nine of her friends over to celebrate for a few hours. In recent years, we have done the lame and easier thing of holding it at a local play center who hosts, but even the kids are getting bored of it. So we are going back to hosting ourselves, like we used to. Except this time, we are doing it my way.
Simple.
In my opinion, may parents go overboard when arranging kids' birthdays, where it is more about the parents and what other parents will think of them, than the kids themselves. I am not a fan of this approach, but it seems to have been inflationary over the last few years, driven by social media pressures.
They are only here for a couple hours, so the plan is to have them first come in and get a sugar rush on, with an ice cream buffet. A few different flavors of ice cream, some mixed candies, and some assorted sprinkles. Then of course, some popcorn, some chips, and some biscuits.
Easy.
And then after that, Smallsteps will open any presents she might get in the loungeroom, while I clear away the table of the copious amounts of mess I expect will be left. And replace it with a pile of loose Lego for a building competition, where they will be given prompts for what to build. It isn't a judged competition with a winner and prizes though, as Smallsteps doesn't want anyone to miss out and feel bad about not getting something. So instead, we are going to talk about them all, take some pictures of them if they want.
Smallsteps thinks this might be a bit iffy as an item on the agenda, because she thinks that unlike her, most girls don't like playing with Lego and building things. We shall see!
And the prize will be a bag with a Pez dispenser, a lollipop, some candy and some fairy stickers. Which I think is more than enough for an eight year old birthday party. I would have liked to get some more useful things, but there really wasn't anything available at the stores, and I ran out of time.
Kids like candy.
And, if the Lego does fail, we have a disco set up in Smallsteps room, complete with a little light ball that I bought her last year, but never gave to her as she already got other things. So, I gave it to her this year instead, knowing that she would appreciate it more now - which she does.
Well, it is going to be a fun few hours starting soon, and while I hope all the kids have fun, the most important thing is that Smallsteps feels that the event is for her, and she enjoys herself. It seems though, a big part of her enjoyment, is making sure that other people don't miss out. There are good sides and bad to this.
Time to steel myself for the onslaught.
Taraz
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