The Adventures of a 3yr old Fashion Plate
Oct. 9th, 2006 01:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threadwalkerMy daughter, the fashion plate, turns 3 today. We had a party for her yesterday and friends and family made it a wonderful day for her.
We had snacks and juice in the courtyard outside The Jungle, which preceded the crawl-run-giggle fest. This turns out to be a good idea (snacks and juice ahead of time with light socializing) because we have people from preschool meeting family and friends. The new people were introduced to the gang and distant friends grabbed coffee at Panera and caught up. The kids threw pennies into the fountain.
The Jungle; think - kid sized hamster run. Bring knee pads. I did not - I forgot. My knees are bruised and swollen today. The kids had a blast. We hosted 8 kids under 3yrs and 8 kids 3yrs - 6 yrs. FYI - That's $115 at The Jungle just in case you want to throw a kid party there. Adults are free - why? because if we had to pay to crawl around, we wouldn't go and they know this. LOL
Then we began the phase of much shrieking, giggling and toe-tickling in the tunnels. I was in there almost the whole time. I got about 10 of the kids go do down the longest cork screw slide with me at one time - talk about laughing and screaming. It was hard to keep track of our 3yr old. She will take off with anyone she trusts from our party even after I say "stay here, wait for mommy". I think we need some more large group stuff so we can practice our listening and understanding skills. Da Spouse had a melt down at one point because we couldn't find her - she was in the upstairs arcade with another kid from our party. Anyway, his emotional equilibrium aside, The Jungle was fun. Da Apprentice showed up towards the end - her stunned look of sensory overload probably means she won't be going back any time soon. heh! But the kids had a blast. The school age set were a little pack that played very well together.
Then to Fudruckers. I confess gaps of organization .. meaning I had patches of extreme disorganization. I was out of my element; I've never organized a kids party that occured in a restaurant that wasn't also a pizza joint. For example, I had no plates for the cake and there was no stack of paper plates to swipe; the manager came to our rescue. Ah, well. I called Da Spouse on cell and summoned him back from the emergency store run. I gave a big tip for the manager, who made my life not-miserable. They gave us the room, too, so we had lots of space and the kids were confined. Very kid friendly and some of the parents were pumping me for how I got the space, so I suspect we may be attending other parties there, too.
I marvel at the group aged 5-6; I was watching them at the table for a few minutes and it stuns me how big they are. Mostly I was in constant motion and trying to make sure everyone was comfortable and chatting up the non-SCA-non-family preschool set, who were clearly not part of the larger SCA social group. It's not intentional, but when you get 80% of a room that shares a hobby, the other 20% feels excluded, so I was circulating there and talking them up.
My 3FP (3yr old Fashion Plate) picked out the cake from Safeway, the Princess Cake. Apparently this is the most popular cake they have. And then the presents. She got a lot of 'dress up' stuff - shoes, tiaras, etc. She was so excited by it all. She got some faux-barbies - Princess Aurora, Princess Ariel & Prince Eric. I want to resist the Barbie stuff for now, but it's funny how it creeps in. Lots of clothes, learning toys, some awesome looking books ... very lucky girl. She blew kisses to everyone as a thank you.
I was ready for a nap when we got home. The spouse actually went and took one while I was visiting with some people who followed us back to our place. What a stinker! He didn't even tunnel crawl. hahhha! But he missed 3FP and Becca clumping around the house in plastic dress-up shoes, which was priceless. And the bubbles from the party treats - we took those outside to blow.
And why do I call her 3FP? Because she is so stubborn and picky about what she wears. Her favorite outfits: orange tiered peasant skirt with pink Dora sneakers and bright Red M&M t-shirt. other fav: white pencil skirt w/ big bright multi-colored poka dots, pink and purple tie-died tank top and black mary-janes. Yeah - she has her own look. Honestly, I took a parenting class a few years ago. The two things kids and parents fight the most about: what they eat and what they wear. I don't think it's worth my time to fight over this, so I just let go of it. (see, I can let go!) Knowing this could cause Drama (of the bad sort) Monday morning with epic indecision and a forecast of tears, I made her go through her new gifts and pick out her clothes for Monday before we went to bed.
It was a good day to be 3FP. We all had a good time and slept really hard. Unfortunately I'm sick today. I credit the plague-bearing nature of kids and being in the Tunnels for a few hours. But I'll live.
We had snacks and juice in the courtyard outside The Jungle, which preceded the crawl-run-giggle fest. This turns out to be a good idea (snacks and juice ahead of time with light socializing) because we have people from preschool meeting family and friends. The new people were introduced to the gang and distant friends grabbed coffee at Panera and caught up. The kids threw pennies into the fountain.
The Jungle; think - kid sized hamster run. Bring knee pads. I did not - I forgot. My knees are bruised and swollen today. The kids had a blast. We hosted 8 kids under 3yrs and 8 kids 3yrs - 6 yrs. FYI - That's $115 at The Jungle just in case you want to throw a kid party there. Adults are free - why? because if we had to pay to crawl around, we wouldn't go and they know this. LOL
Then we began the phase of much shrieking, giggling and toe-tickling in the tunnels. I was in there almost the whole time. I got about 10 of the kids go do down the longest cork screw slide with me at one time - talk about laughing and screaming. It was hard to keep track of our 3yr old. She will take off with anyone she trusts from our party even after I say "stay here, wait for mommy". I think we need some more large group stuff so we can practice our listening and understanding skills. Da Spouse had a melt down at one point because we couldn't find her - she was in the upstairs arcade with another kid from our party. Anyway, his emotional equilibrium aside, The Jungle was fun. Da Apprentice showed up towards the end - her stunned look of sensory overload probably means she won't be going back any time soon. heh! But the kids had a blast. The school age set were a little pack that played very well together.
Then to Fudruckers. I confess gaps of organization .. meaning I had patches of extreme disorganization. I was out of my element; I've never organized a kids party that occured in a restaurant that wasn't also a pizza joint. For example, I had no plates for the cake and there was no stack of paper plates to swipe; the manager came to our rescue. Ah, well. I called Da Spouse on cell and summoned him back from the emergency store run. I gave a big tip for the manager, who made my life not-miserable. They gave us the room, too, so we had lots of space and the kids were confined. Very kid friendly and some of the parents were pumping me for how I got the space, so I suspect we may be attending other parties there, too.
I marvel at the group aged 5-6; I was watching them at the table for a few minutes and it stuns me how big they are. Mostly I was in constant motion and trying to make sure everyone was comfortable and chatting up the non-SCA-non-family preschool set, who were clearly not part of the larger SCA social group. It's not intentional, but when you get 80% of a room that shares a hobby, the other 20% feels excluded, so I was circulating there and talking them up.
My 3FP (3yr old Fashion Plate) picked out the cake from Safeway, the Princess Cake. Apparently this is the most popular cake they have. And then the presents. She got a lot of 'dress up' stuff - shoes, tiaras, etc. She was so excited by it all. She got some faux-barbies - Princess Aurora, Princess Ariel & Prince Eric. I want to resist the Barbie stuff for now, but it's funny how it creeps in. Lots of clothes, learning toys, some awesome looking books ... very lucky girl. She blew kisses to everyone as a thank you.
I was ready for a nap when we got home. The spouse actually went and took one while I was visiting with some people who followed us back to our place. What a stinker! He didn't even tunnel crawl. hahhha! But he missed 3FP and Becca clumping around the house in plastic dress-up shoes, which was priceless. And the bubbles from the party treats - we took those outside to blow.
And why do I call her 3FP? Because she is so stubborn and picky about what she wears. Her favorite outfits: orange tiered peasant skirt with pink Dora sneakers and bright Red M&M t-shirt. other fav: white pencil skirt w/ big bright multi-colored poka dots, pink and purple tie-died tank top and black mary-janes. Yeah - she has her own look. Honestly, I took a parenting class a few years ago. The two things kids and parents fight the most about: what they eat and what they wear. I don't think it's worth my time to fight over this, so I just let go of it. (see, I can let go!) Knowing this could cause Drama (of the bad sort) Monday morning with epic indecision and a forecast of tears, I made her go through her new gifts and pick out her clothes for Monday before we went to bed.
It was a good day to be 3FP. We all had a good time and slept really hard. Unfortunately I'm sick today. I credit the plague-bearing nature of kids and being in the Tunnels for a few hours. But I'll live.
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-09 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-09 10:29 pm (UTC)And I thought taking a 2nd & 3rd grader to the Tech was tiring! (The 13 year old doesn't count -- she's basically an adult) But then we had the fun yesterday when one of the kids locked the bathroom door when they exited the room, and PULLED IT SHUT BEHIND. So we had locked bathroom, no key, hinges on the inside, and nobody inside to open it up.
Needless to say, we got some funny looks from people while we were standing outside throwing kids off ladders into the bathroom.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-09 10:37 pm (UTC)heh. Ah, no, I won't be going back to the Jungle. ;-)The rest of the day was nice, though... :)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 09:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 02:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 02:52 am (UTC)Your daughter sounds adorable...I remember age 3 with Rachel.
We never did the Jungle, but a friend of hers had a b-day party at Bamboola (very similar), and all the kids had fun.
We do sleepovers now. I think the most I had was 8 girls when she was 11...Whoa...that was a ton. I supplied movies, food, and space...they let me sleep. Thems the rules. Keep the mom awake, and you have to go to bed.
Thanks for sharing!
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 09:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 06:19 pm (UTC)The apartment here is nice, but a 2 bedroom just isn't big enough anymore! ;-)
Aaron is planning on moving up here within the next 4 weeks. We miss each other very much, and it will be good to be under the same roof again. We both definitely have a greater appreciation of the other one.
Oregon is beautiful and I love it here. I've met some nice people so far...joined a beginning ME dance class for conditioning, and I'm glad I did. It was recommended by a SCA person up here, and you dance for an hour and a half straight with zills. Good stuff.
I don't necessarily miss CA, but I do miss my friends down there. One of my best friends since 7th grade had a baby last December, and I'm really sad that I'm not there to watch all the progress he's making.
Rachel LOVES the scenery. The school is harder, so we're dealing with that, however, they seem to be very responsive and helpful, so that's a good thing.
I went to a small SCA event last weekend with a lady I met up here and met some of the local people. I met the lady who will be the next Seneschal of AnTir...she seemed really nice. Rachel was mistaken for a 16 year old. I'm gonna have to watch her closely! LOL.
All in all, things are good. I'm really looking forward to the house selling and us getting a place up here and getting settled in. After that I'll take a looksee and decide what's next!
I hope all is well with you and yours! I have loved every stage that Rachel has been through...I hope you are enjoying your little ones.
Hugs!