If I told you I spent last week Friday, 14 May, worrying about missing people, helping someone with a fractured elbow, and dealing with a power outage, you would probably assume I was traveling through the American Midwest when the tornadoes hit. It would be a good guess....but you'd be wrong. That was my daughter's fifth birthday party.
My wife is a very brave woman. Our daughter will turn five while we are in Singapore and my wife wanted to have a party in Jakarta before we left so we could invite her friends. But not just any party. Not for a fifth birthday. My wife wanted to host a slumber party. Like I said, my wife is a very brave woman.
My wife and my cousin spent the morning and early afternoon preparing - decorating, coloring posters, last minute shopping, preparing the goodie bags. For a slumber party theme, we were giving all the girls a goodie bag with a flashlight, wash cloth with their names embroidered on them, toothbrush....the basic necessities a girl needs when preparing for the night. We also decorated our living room like a night sky; purple drapes hung from the ceiling with silver stars on them.
As the 4 PM start time approached, my wife received a text from the mother of one of the girls saying she wasn't going to come to the party because the girl wanted to play with a different friend instead. Not sure what we can do with a washcloth embroidered with "Norico" on it. The party hasn't started and we're already down a casualty. Our daughter was disappointed, but we worked through it.
Most of the girls, ranging in age from 3-5, arrived by 4 PM. A few who left home late fought rain-worsened traffic all the way here and didn't arrive until 6 PM. By then, we already had a broken bone. All of the girls were running around the living room, chasing each other as young girls do. One happened to step on the dress of another and when the girl wearing the dress took off, the girl standing on it slipped and fell hard onto the marble floor. She screamed in pain and cried inconsolably for nearly twenty minutes. She refused to do anything but sit on the couch but she also didn't want to leave. We eventually made contact with her mother and recommended she take her to a doctor. The brave little girl cried even louder when her mom pulled her from the party - she did not want to leave. Good thing she did, though. She had two fractures near her elbow. They took her to Singapore the next day for treatment. If that happens at a party for girls, I think I'm going to use a padded room when my son turns five.
Once the majority of the girls arrived, we started the games. The first was to find stuffed kittens hidden around the house. When they arrived, we gave every girl a unique barrette for her hair. Their task was to find the kitten with the matching barrette - another gift for them to take home. After they found the kittens, we moved to the next game. Each of them selected a clue about a Disney princess. For example: "I flew on a magic carpet." In our kiddie pool, which we fill with plastic balls, we taped a picture of the princesses to one of the balls. Their job was to find the princess that matched their clue. The next game was "pin the crown on the princess" (not to be confused with a game I often see at work: Pin the Blame on the Jackass). Only one of the girls actually got it on the paper - the rest ended up on the wall somewhere. The final activity before the cake was to decorate their own princess crown (the only activity the girl who broke her elbow wanted to do).
After the activities we served dinner and then cake. We were so wrapped up in preparing for the kids and the nannies we didn't have any food for ourselves. I made a (less than) quick trip to the nearby Indian restaurant and nearly missed the cutting of the cake. Good thing I made it back in time, though, as my daughter needed a little assistance with the candles.
The final activity of the night was to watch a movie purchases especially for the occasion. We even sprung for an original, not one of the copies they sell for 70 cents, because the copies often pause or have faults that you're willing to accept when you've paid 70 cents, but you want to avoid when you're hoping to entertain ten five-year-olds until they fall asleep.
Fifteen minutes into the movie, as my wife, cousin and I had just settled down to eat our dinner, the power went out. We remained without power for an hour. It's a good thing the goodie bags came with flashlights. The girls entertained themselves with the flashlights while I setup my laptop to play the movie "Up". They watched "Up" until the power returned, then finished watching the original, princess movie.
Most of the girls fell asleep watching the princess movie. The next morning, they were up at the late, late hour of 6 AM and we made everyone pancakes. By 10 AM, all but one of the girls were gone - the straggler remained until noon. After we finished cleaning up, my wife took a four hour nap. No lie.
A few other items on the party:
1) My wife, who had been battling a cold for several weeks, lost her voice before the party, leaving me and my cousin to handle the directorial duties.
2) Our daughter, probably from all the excitement and sugar, came down with a fever during the party. We treated it and she was fine and continued on.
3) One of the girls woke in the middle of the night with an asthma attack. Her nanny had left, so it was a good thing we had both of ours stay the night. They were able to help her through the attack.
4) I told my wife that when I was in high school and dreamed of being the only male at a party of twenty females, having the females be five-year-olds and their Muslim nannies was definitely not what I had envisioned. My son seemed to really enjoy it, though.
Quite the adventure. Most importantly, our daughter had a great time.
My wife is a very brave woman. Our daughter will turn five while we are in Singapore and my wife wanted to have a party in Jakarta before we left so we could invite her friends. But not just any party. Not for a fifth birthday. My wife wanted to host a slumber party. Like I said, my wife is a very brave woman.
My wife and my cousin spent the morning and early afternoon preparing - decorating, coloring posters, last minute shopping, preparing the goodie bags. For a slumber party theme, we were giving all the girls a goodie bag with a flashlight, wash cloth with their names embroidered on them, toothbrush....the basic necessities a girl needs when preparing for the night. We also decorated our living room like a night sky; purple drapes hung from the ceiling with silver stars on them.
As the 4 PM start time approached, my wife received a text from the mother of one of the girls saying she wasn't going to come to the party because the girl wanted to play with a different friend instead. Not sure what we can do with a washcloth embroidered with "Norico" on it. The party hasn't started and we're already down a casualty. Our daughter was disappointed, but we worked through it.
Most of the girls, ranging in age from 3-5, arrived by 4 PM. A few who left home late fought rain-worsened traffic all the way here and didn't arrive until 6 PM. By then, we already had a broken bone. All of the girls were running around the living room, chasing each other as young girls do. One happened to step on the dress of another and when the girl wearing the dress took off, the girl standing on it slipped and fell hard onto the marble floor. She screamed in pain and cried inconsolably for nearly twenty minutes. She refused to do anything but sit on the couch but she also didn't want to leave. We eventually made contact with her mother and recommended she take her to a doctor. The brave little girl cried even louder when her mom pulled her from the party - she did not want to leave. Good thing she did, though. She had two fractures near her elbow. They took her to Singapore the next day for treatment. If that happens at a party for girls, I think I'm going to use a padded room when my son turns five.
Once the majority of the girls arrived, we started the games. The first was to find stuffed kittens hidden around the house. When they arrived, we gave every girl a unique barrette for her hair. Their task was to find the kitten with the matching barrette - another gift for them to take home. After they found the kittens, we moved to the next game. Each of them selected a clue about a Disney princess. For example: "I flew on a magic carpet." In our kiddie pool, which we fill with plastic balls, we taped a picture of the princesses to one of the balls. Their job was to find the princess that matched their clue. The next game was "pin the crown on the princess" (not to be confused with a game I often see at work: Pin the Blame on the Jackass). Only one of the girls actually got it on the paper - the rest ended up on the wall somewhere. The final activity before the cake was to decorate their own princess crown (the only activity the girl who broke her elbow wanted to do).
After the activities we served dinner and then cake. We were so wrapped up in preparing for the kids and the nannies we didn't have any food for ourselves. I made a (less than) quick trip to the nearby Indian restaurant and nearly missed the cutting of the cake. Good thing I made it back in time, though, as my daughter needed a little assistance with the candles.
The final activity of the night was to watch a movie purchases especially for the occasion. We even sprung for an original, not one of the copies they sell for 70 cents, because the copies often pause or have faults that you're willing to accept when you've paid 70 cents, but you want to avoid when you're hoping to entertain ten five-year-olds until they fall asleep.
Fifteen minutes into the movie, as my wife, cousin and I had just settled down to eat our dinner, the power went out. We remained without power for an hour. It's a good thing the goodie bags came with flashlights. The girls entertained themselves with the flashlights while I setup my laptop to play the movie "Up". They watched "Up" until the power returned, then finished watching the original, princess movie.
Most of the girls fell asleep watching the princess movie. The next morning, they were up at the late, late hour of 6 AM and we made everyone pancakes. By 10 AM, all but one of the girls were gone - the straggler remained until noon. After we finished cleaning up, my wife took a four hour nap. No lie.
A few other items on the party:
1) My wife, who had been battling a cold for several weeks, lost her voice before the party, leaving me and my cousin to handle the directorial duties.
2) Our daughter, probably from all the excitement and sugar, came down with a fever during the party. We treated it and she was fine and continued on.
3) One of the girls woke in the middle of the night with an asthma attack. Her nanny had left, so it was a good thing we had both of ours stay the night. They were able to help her through the attack.
4) I told my wife that when I was in high school and dreamed of being the only male at a party of twenty females, having the females be five-year-olds and their Muslim nannies was definitely not what I had envisioned. My son seemed to really enjoy it, though.
Quite the adventure. Most importantly, our daughter had a great time.
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1 comment:
WHAT A HOOT! Grandma Barb is sorry she missed the great night. Love to all esp the birthday girl!
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