Frances Friday: Birthday Party Edition

The fun for Frances started Friday evening, when her Oma and Opa from Montreal arrived for the weekend and she spent two hours dancing in circles on the kitchen floor. Hop skip twirl laugh clap! Clap twirl skip jump skip! Jump clap twirl wriggle kick!

The party itself was wonderful. We started at 10:30 so all the kiddos could get home for a reasonable naptime, except for my parents, who forgot when it started and arrived around noon. The snacks and pasta were eaten. The big plastic tablecloth on the floor for the kids to eat their cake on minimized our sweeping. The Elmo party hats were well-liked, and the cookie-cutter goodie bags seemed to be too (note for attendees reading this: the thought was you could use them for cookies, or play-doh, or turn them into tree decorations if you're a tree decorating kind of family).

Of course, inviting the babies of bloggers to one's child's birthday party does present certain logistical challenges. For instance, how to make sure that everyone knows everyone else's secret online identity without letting the blogging cat out of the family bag? I think we managed it. And you know what? It worked. Really, surprisingly well. My family and friend and online worlds did not create a matter/anti-matter collision and wreak the death of the universe, for which we can all be grateful.

It does mean there are some things I'd love to show you, and can't.

1. The HUGE pile of presents (and thank goodness I did ask people to minimize the gifting, or can you imagine?) with the little boy of one of my blogging friend's standing beside it, jaw slack and eyes round with dumbfounded amazement.

2. The other blogging friend's daughter sneaking a taste of icing off the birthday cake while Erik removed the toppers. (Although you can visit her site and see the photo for yourself.)

3. A friend's daughter slung, monkey-style, between the coffee table and the couch.

4. A group of children gathered around Frances's brand new laptop, each vying for a chance to play with the mouse. I can't figure out how exactly they knew what laptops are. Any guesses?

5. A room full of kids (ok, eight) hyped up on sugar and snacks and wearing identical Elmo party hats, ranging in age from just-past-two to six, all being polite and respectful. No one stealing someone else's toy. No hitting, pinching, kicking, poking or biting. Temper tantrums only when it was time to go home (and that's a compliment, I think).

It was great. Exhausting, but great.

The laptop, by the way, was a hit. Frances is not yet bored of it, and for a modern children's toy that counts as longevity. In fact, as I type, I am using the laptop on one side of the kitchen table and Frances is using hers on the other. Does that count as family time? She uses the mouse and presses the letters and numbers and turning it on and off and closing it and opening it and commenting on how the monkey is crying now and the monkey called it a letter zee, Mummy! Occasionally, a small blond head with two big blue eyes will pop to the top or side and say, "I'm working on my computer, Mummy!"

I'm looking forward to reading her dissertation any day now.

Posted by Andrea at December 1, 2006 6:41 AM under Frances Friday

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