Top 10: Near Misses at Amelia & Stella's Birthday Parties

Lately Braydon and I have been joking with each other that we're on the Birthday Party Circuit -- technically, we're not on it, K & O are on it and we're just chaperoning them -- but you get the point: we're just jumping from Birthday Party to Birthday Party these days. For two three year olds I've gotta say that Kyle and Owen are very popular. They get invited to the birthday parties of every kid in their class-- even when the celebrations are small and the guest lists selective. Luckily, K & O love birthday parties, so this is just a joy for them. And luckily for Braydon and I, these Waldorf School birthday parties are so creative and so amazing that they are truly fun for us to attend with the boys. In the past two weeks we've attended two different Birthday Parties. The first was for their friend Amelia, who turned 3. Amelia's party was at her house but they live on a beautiful piece of land that includes horses/horse fields/horse barn, duck pond, etc., etc., etc. It may as well have been a party at a gorgeous park/petting zoo. The second was for their friend Stella, who turned 4. Stella's party was a "Ballerina Dance Party" held at a dance studio. Taking K & O anywhere can sometimes be a harrowing experience. But put them in Party Mode, give 'em some cake, surround them with their peeps (who all seem to think that K & O are just hilarious)... and now that is always a harrowing experience. Here's our Top 10 List of Near Misses at Amelia & Stella's Birthday Parties:

1. At Amelia's party there was a large fresh fruit tray laid out with a bowl of yogurt in the center to use for dipping. At one point the kids were all playing while some of the moms sat chatting. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Kyle leaning over the fruit tray, with yogurt dripping from his mouth all over the fruit, holding a spoon in his hand (somewhere he had found a spoon), and absolutely devouring the bowl of yogurt. Under the radar of the other mothers I carefully and quietly motioned to get his attention, gave him the 'hairy eyeball,' and mouthed the words to tell him to "come over to me right now." Still leaning over the fruit, yogurt and drool dripping all over the tray, spoon in one hand, the other hand unsuccessfully wiping yogurt off his face (and successfully smearing it all over his face/chin/neck) he says -- super loud-- "WHAT MOMMY? I WAS JUST EATING SOME YUMMY YOGURT!?!!????" All the mothers then of course turned to look at him. The one sitting closest nudged me and said, "At least Kim [Amelia's Mom] is still in the kitchen!" At that precise moment Kim shouted out, "Time for the cake!" and everyone got up to move to the dining room while I mopped up my kid and cleaned up the tray.


2. The dancing portion of Stella's Ballerina party was truly a lovely thing. All of the parents quietly sat along one wall as we watched the children in the center of the sunlit studio-- dance lessons to learn some graceful steps and leaps, enacting stories about fairies and magical forests, classical music playing all throughout. I was getting lost in it all, watching K & O as they became more and more entranced in their own imaginations, prancing around like little dancer boys. Until all of a sudden, from right in the center of the room, Owen shouts out, "MOMMY! I HAVE TO GO POOPIE! BADLY!" (Luckily for everyone we made it to the bathroom just in time).


3. As I noted, at Amelia's house there is a duck pond. It has a fountain in the center. As we were walking toward it to go feed the ducks a few of the kids ran up ahead. As we got closer Braydon and I could see that K & O had discovered the cord that runs electricity to the fountain. And the two of them were playing tug of war with it. Under my breath I told Braydon to "GET DOWN THERE AND STOP THEM!!!!!!!" He took off in a sprint, ahead of all the other adults, and got there just as they were about to pull the entire fountain out of the pond.


4. Stella's Ballerina Dance Party included a craft activity. Crafts are not K & O's strong suit. The activity was 'Make Your Own Magic Wand.' O.k., I admit, basically, on the sly, I made them each a wand. It was just easier that way. Neither of them could have cared any less about participating in this and both wanted nothing to do with it. When I had finished making them, they each danced around with theirs for all of two seconds before the Ballet Teacher running the show announced that "all the children should carefully place their wands on the studio floor." While other kids delicately put their wands down K & O nonchalantly tossed theirs into the heap. But later in the party the wands were suddenly important because the Ballet Teacher announced that "all the children should now find their magic wands!" I knew K & O would have no clue which wands were theirs. But of course, eager to find out what was next, they ran faster than any other child and got to the pile first, snatching up the first two wands they saw. Running back to the teacher they were passing all of their friends still on their way to the wand pile. Two of whom began crying out, "He has my waaaaaaand!!!!" Trying to divert disaster, I jumped up, ran out to the center of the studio floor, grabbed the wands from K & O and gave them to the two kids to whom they belonged. As we walked back to the wand pile, one boy on either side of me, my hands tightly grasping one of each of theirs, Kyle was saying to me, "I'm sorry Mommy, I just didn't know what wand was mine because YOU made it for me." "It's o.k. Ky Ky," I said, "but," (we were getting close to where the parents were all sitting), "please whisper!" Miraculously he obliged, whispering repeatedly, "I didn't know because YOU made it!"


5. At Amelia's party there were juice boxes for all the kids. You'd think this would have been exciting enough. But no. At one point we caught Owen strolling around Amelia's house, chugging from a can of Pepsi. We'll never know how he got his hands on it, or where it came from. But Braydon confiscated it ASAP.


6. Stella's party, being in a dance studio, was quite self-contained. I guess I got a little confident about it for awhile there because I got caught up in conversation with another mom and lost track of where K & O were. When I realized they were nowhere to be seen I frantically started searching the building. I found the two of them alone together having a grand old time in the women's bathroom playing with the soap/water/water faucet/sink.


7. At most of the birthday parties we attend the kids do not open their presents while at the party, but instead wait until everyone is gone. This was how it was being done at Amelia's party. They had quietly tucked away all the presents in the corner of a room that was set away from the festivities. About mid-way through the party Kyle came to me telling me that he wanted Amelia to open our present and asking where it was. I told him "No, Amelia is opening them all later and I don't know where the presents are." About five minutes later, while all the other kids and parents were in the family room and kitchen, I caught Kyle alone with Amelia at the dining room table -- with our wrapped present on the table between them. He was gently sliding it across the table toward her, trying to convince her to open it. She, being the good girl that she is, was refusing. He was all sweet and batting his eyelashes saying, "Please Amelia, you will see, it is music instruments inside, you neeeeeeed to open it nooooooooow." I got there before she caved to the pressure.


8. At Stella's party, as a party favor, her mother gave out beautiful silver musical wands that chime when you tap them on things. Each kid got one. They were really sweet and cute favors. At one point, while everyone was still eating cake, I caught Kyle and one of his friends Lydia in cahoots together, rolling with laughter, in the dance studio, banging their wands so hard that they'd ring super loudly (i.e., not 'chime' but ring super loudly), against the mirrored walls. They were hitting the wands to the mirrors so hard I was sure they were going to scrape the mirrors. I ran in there just in time.


9. Amelia's party included a 'Decorate Your Own Cupcake' activity. K & O thought this was just spectacular. Braydon and I looked at each other in panic when we saw the 'decorations'... which included neon pink sugar sprinkles. All the other kids carefully and neatly sprinkled some sprinkles on their cupcakes. When Owen got a hold of the container he literally squealed with glee, held it up high, then -- before B or I could get there -- wildly dumped the whole entire thing onto his little cupcake, shaking the container like a madman. Neon pink was everywhere. "OOOPSIE DAISY!" he said with sheer thrill in his eye. A nearby mother looked at me and said cheerily, "Luckily most of it just went onto his plate!" (This was a very generous statement on her part.) Just then Owen went to pick up the plate (why? I don't know), and I got there just in the nick of time to grab the whole thing from him. (By the way, he then proceeded to carefully and methodically lick all the pink sprinkles off the cupcake, then left the rest of it on his plate.)


10. Stella's party included a big white cake, outlined in pink, in the shape of ballet slippers. When the cake appeared, Owen told me that he thought it was "BEAUUUUUUUUUUTIFUL!!!" When he got his hands on his piece of cake he proceeded to meticulously lick all of the frosting off of it, leaving the now-very-soggy cake part on his plate and declaring, loud enough for everyone to hear, "MOMMY! I LOOOOOVE THE WHITE!!!!!!" Stella's mother offered him a second piece and I let him have one, after which he declared again, "MOMMY! I LOOOOOVE THE WHITE!!!!!!" He of course asked for a third piece. I said no. He whined. Then that was it. Or so I thought. Later, when all the kids had left the cake room and were dancing in the adjoining studio, I noticed that Owen was missing. I quietly left to look for him. And found him walking around the cake table from plate to plate licking "the white" off of anyone's cake that had left any. I scooted him back into the studio before anyone else noticed.