How To Make A Six Year Old (And Her Tired Mommy) Smile For Days...

Been busy, busy.

It's that time of year again - holidays, holidays.

Oh,

and a birthday.

Ro turned six. Her official birthday was February 4, but I returned from Miami on February second, so I did not even give it a thought until I returned, which delayed the birthday process.

On Feb. 8 I made her a little celebration in her classroom with some mini cupcakes.


I brought sister So and cousin Yo over to celebrate.
Yes, it was, Ro, So and Yo.


The class made her a book of birthday wishes for her. There were many wishes for her to somehow acquire much Polly Pockets. That was poor wishing on their part since I have a mobile nine month old who has perfected his pincer grasp and his fine motor skills have him pincing small objects and placing them in his mouth. So Polly Pockets are vetoed.



That was the easy part, but now I had to plan a birthday party for her outside of school.


LET THE HEART PALPITATIONS COMMENCE!!!


First, I hate parties in my house, and Ro is a winter baby, so where would I have a party.

Second, I did not exactly have the energy at the time to find art projects and activities to do with kids for one and a half hours.

Then, I was trying to find a Sunday, but...

..... every Sunday until March 7 was filled with other birthdays, Community concerts (Uncle Moishy), Purim - our upcoming holiday...

It looked like I had to wait to March 7 to make the party and now we are getting close to Passover, a holiday for which we are required to clean our homes of things made from grains, including all cake and snacks that 15 girls munch on during parties in places you won't know about.

So I absolutely refused to have this party in my house.

I called a local community center to see how much it would cost to rent a room. The price was so high, for just a room (I still had to provide the activities) that it made sense to go somewhere else that provided entertainment as well. But the bowling alley that So had her birthday at, is sadly gone. The local pottery place - shut down. Someone else was making a birthday two weeks earlier for the same girls at an indoor inflatable climbing place...


And then my sister-in-law called.

She would be honored as a "woman of valor" and guess when the luncheon is?

MARCH SEVENTH!!!

So, I asked her,

"Does this mean I have to go?"

To which she replied,

"If you love me you do."

Of course I was joking. Absolutely I am going.

But when the heck do I make Ro a party?

And then it came to me,

SATURDAY NIGHT!

See, we can't really make the same sort of birthdays on a Saturday, because that is our Sabbath and we don't drive. People who live far, wouldn't be able to come. We can't really do many activities either. So I had to wait until sundown, which was about 6 PM and give myself time to set up.

So I called the birthday for 7 - 8:30 Pm and it became a...

wear your pajamas,
bring your pillow
and
favorite stuffed animal

Tinkerbell themed,
undernighter.

And, because I went with this theme, it became a "movie" party, which took all the stress away and I was singing my brilliant praises (even though part of me thinks "movie" parties are cop-outs).

But it's 7 friggin' Pm at night and they are 13 five and six year olds and throw in a couple of 3 year olds all hyped up on sugar and salt, and what else can you do?

And because I made this party a bit easier on myself, I decided with the energy I had spared to make my own cake, which seemed like a bright idea at first.

Then I realized I had to make Tinkerbell!

I now bring you my cake making process...













Good Enough!!!


And Saturday night arrived.

Did I say we were showing a Tinkerbell Movie?

I mean,

WE WERE SHOWING A TINKERBELL MOVIE!!!



Our concession stand! Your choice of popcorn, chips, or pretzels.


Our Movie screen, aka - a big white wall.



Our, seating, laying, drop your snacks all over the blankets, area.



And (sadly) time to cut into THAT cake.

I don't really care if it was a cop-out. It was probably the most affordable, low maintenance, enjoyable party I ever made.

And more importantly,
it didn't kill me.

And even better than that,
Ro had the sweetest, most beautiful smile on her face for days after.