Princesses, Dance, and Stranger Danger

I hope I am not going to be a parent who lives vicariously through my children.  Frankly, I don't see that happening.  My life is pretty good right now and I have no desire to relive my younger years.  (As a side note, I remember a boss telling me how high school gives you the best years of your life.  I am not sure what her high school career was like, but I think that college was better than high school (and I enjoyed high school), grad school was better than college, and then having a job with real money was better than grad school.  I can't wait to see what retirement is like!)  So, the point is, I am happy in my adult life and don't quite understand people who seem to live through their children.  I feel qualified to voice an opinion on the subject, having viewed more than one episode of Toddlers and Tiaras.

But, I do have one big childhood regret. <cue sad music>... I never took dance lessons.  I was given the option once at the age of 11.  But, I was already too self-conscious and politely declined.  I can't even begin to imagine how my life would have been different if only I had said yes to "Intro to Jazz."   Recently, I asked Anna if she wanted to take dance lessons.  She, of course, immediately said yes. Jack wanted to go too, but since he can't manage to pull himself off the floor at Jump Bunch, I told him were going to wait until he was a little older.  He actually seemed to understand and has moved on to wanting to play t-ball.  Back to Anna, I told her that if she could independently follow all the directions at Jump Bunch, I would enroll her in dance.  She did, so I did.  It's only been 2 weeks, but so far she loves it.  She looks so cute in her little pink tutu and I am counting down the months until the big June recital.  We have already previewed the costumes--adorable!

On Saturday, the family went to Princesses on Ice.  We let Kara and Anna dress as princesses.  I told Jack he could wear his Buzz Lightyear costume, but Thomas pulled out a recently purchased (straight from Hawaii!) superhero shirt and he opted for that.  As another side note, my husband owns about 6 superhero t-shirts.  Jack now has 4.  Is this normal?  The show was good and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.  It kept their attention the entire time and Jack is now asking when we can go see Larry Boy (from Veggie Tales) on Ice.  Unfortunately, there is no such show, but if there was, we would certainly take them.  After Disney on Ice, we went to Red Robin and then out to a big outlet mall in the area.  It was a long, but superfun day.  Thomas' favorite part was when Anna and Kara started dancing at the end.  I like seeing Kara smile and clap, even for the bad guys when the audience was supposed to boo.

Yesterday was playgroup.  On the way to the park, Anna asked what a stranger was.  We had a long conversation about strangers, acquaintances, and friends.  I kept it child-appropriate (I don't want to freak them out) and gave some examples:

Me: If some man at the park comes up to you and says, "my name is Ned, would you like me to push you on the swing," what should you say?

Them: Yes

Me:  Well, is Ned a stranger?

Them: No!

Me:  Ned is a stranger, we don't know anything about Ned.  He may be a nice man, but we don't know him.  Remember, a stranger is someone we don't know.  Even if they tell us their name, and offer to push us on the swings, they are still a stranger. 

What they heard:  blah, blah, swings, blah, blah

Fast forward two hours.  We are at the park.  Jack has mosied himself up to two women trying to enjoy lunch with their children.  I gently try to get him to go somewhere else and play.  He refuses.  Fast forward 20 minutes.  Jack is still there.  By now, these women know his name, his two sisters' names, and he is calling one of them (Cindy) by her name.  He also invited them to his birthday party (in 49 weeks I guess).  When I told them it was time to go and to say goodbye to his friends, he yelled "bye Cindy," forgetting our actual playgroup friends, whom he knows very well and sees on a regular basis.  I think it's genetic and I blame his grandfathers; neither my dad nor Thomas' has ever met a stranger. 

Finally, Thomas and I had a date night Friday.  We went to dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise and did the Ghost Walk at Summerseat.  It was a fantastic date night.  Anna begged us to go, saying she promised she wouldn't be scared.  Since she was scared when they dimmed the lights at Princesses on Ice, I know we made a wise call.

The Big 04

When Thomas went away in July, we kept telling the kids "Daddy will be home for your birthday."  This sentiment, which led to constant discussions on when exactly their birthday was, combined with a new understanding that birthdays can mean parties meant that we weren't going to get away with a trip to the zoo or cake and ice cream with just the 5 of us.  Actually, I am sure we could have gotten away with just cake and ice cream, but it seemed like a good time for a celebration.  We gave the kids the choice between going to Great Wolf Lodge for a night or having a party with friends.  I was actually extremely confident they would choose Great Wolf Lodge.  I was also extremely wrong.  All three of them (not sure why Kara got a vote, but since it was unamimous, we let it slide) agreed on a backyard party.  I had them convinced that ponies at their party would be the greatest treat ever.  Well, until Jack saw a bouncy house in a nearby backyard.  So, we gave them some choices: pony rides & petting zoo, or bouncy house. 

Anna chose the petting zoo. Jack insisted on a bouncy house. Kara wanted pony rides (again, not sure why she had a vote, but she was pretty vocal on this).  Once upon a time (i.e. a few months ago) I was able to sway them in whatever direction I chose, without them having any idea what I was doing.   Unfortunately, those days are gone.  At least where the party was concerned. I am not sure if the kids are wiser and have caught on to my ways, or they actually felt strongly enough on this one to take a stance.  Regardless, we started talking about this party in July;  in September, they were still holding firm.  Thus, we made an executive decision of having it all (in reality, the "petting zoo" was an add-on to the ponies, but that's neither here nor there).

Today was the day.  I wanted a low-stress, fun, backyard party.  We tried to keep it as simple as possible.  No organized games.  Instead of presents we did a book exchange.  Every kid came with a wrapped book.  Every kid left with an unwrapped one.  And, no gift bags.  As a sidenote, I am not sure who came up with the idea of gift bags for little kids parties, but personally, I think it was a terrible one.  I could write a whole other blog on my rationale for that one, but I'll try and stay focused.

I booked the bouncy house and ponies about a month ago.  Most of the other party preparations took place yesterday (Friday).  For Thomas, that meant spending the entire day in the yard (mowing, pressure washing the playset, weed whacking, etc.).  For me, it involved a lot of shopping and baking of cakes.  The cakes was actually the most stressful part.  Note to self: don't tell everyone you took a cake decorating class, because then you will feel unrealistic pressure to make really nice cakes, even if it means staying up until midnight, and you probably aren't going to be pleased with the results.  Another note to self: when the kids are "helping" bake the cakes, make sure you stay on top of keeping track of things, or you will forget a cup of flour and have to throw an entire (soggy) baked cake away.  Final cake note to self: your handheld beaters are not a Kitchenaid, if you place them on the bowl and walk away, even just 2 steps, they will knock the bowl, and all its gooey contents, to the floor.  As you may surmise, it was a long day of cake baking.

Fortunately, the other food was simple--salad, plain sandwiches, pink lemonade, hotdogs, and chips.  Easy, generally liked by kids (at least my kids, which is how I tend to judge things).  I assumed people weren't expecting a lot on a Saturday morning.  Our friend, Isabel Parker handled all the decorations, which was also wonderful.  Oh, one more "lesson learned" from this party.  We choose 10-12 because I didn't want to interfere with naptime for our toddler friends.  But, I wasn't really thinking about how it's still a tad chilly at 10 and the grass is still wet and it's really kind of early.  Fortunately, it was a beautiful, sunny day, but that could have turned out badly. 

Okay, now the party itself.  I was thrilled that so many of our friends could make it.  The kids seemed to like the bouncy house, the ponies, and our playset.  So, if I had to choose just one, I am not sure which way I'd go (but, probably the bouncy house.  Thomas said the ponies & "zoo").  The two hours flew by, at least for me.  After our friends left, Jack, Anna, Kara and the Reynold's kids (friends who visited from Virginia) played in the bouncy house for another 4.5 hours.   Those kids better sleep tonight!

I really liked the book exchange.  My kids got three great books, which we have already enjoyed reading.  Jack and Anna didn't miss a big pile of presents at all.  I hope they will be as agreeable to the book exchange idea (or something similar) for years to come.  We did, of course, give them gifts on their actual birthday (bikes).  They also got presents from extended family so I don't feel as if they were deprived of anything.

I just asked Anna what she liked best about her party and she said, "my favorite part of the party was when Jewel played hide and seek with me on the bounce house.  And when I jumped inside it."  I asked her if she liked the ponies and she said, "I loved riding Lightening."  Jack said his favorite part was also the bouncy house.  Kara said she enjoyed riding the train.  I am not sure if she is thinking of our trip to Bowles Farm last week, or some game she played today.  Considering no nap, and 7 hours running around outside today, I will cut her some slack. 

One other thing--I made their birthday outfits.  I really want to start sewing.  So, I decided to start with a simple skirt for Anna and a cupcake shirt, and an applique shirt for Jack (he chose the design of a "J" wearing a birthday hat).  It was a little disheartening, I spent hours on Anna's shirt.  Kara's cupcake shirt was $3.50 (on sale) at Target.  Of course, Anna's was made with love.  But, still maybe I should rethink the sewing thing...

In retrospect, there are some things I'd do differently, but overall I am very happy with the way things turned out.  And, I can't believe my little babies are 4!  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some pictures from the party (and one from when Jack and Anna were teeny tiny).

Our little Anna, right around 3 weeks old.

Jack, also around 3 weeks old.

The petting zoo consisted of 3 super soft bunnies and 3 goats.

Jack, Anna and Lily bouncing around

Pony making it's way around the playset

The birthday boy and girl

Kara in her Target birthday shirt

Candles wouldn't light thanks to a gentle breeze, but we still sang Happy Birthday (twice in fact)

Jack with his book exchange book